Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs

[Wiebke]

1 Intro: Reality check on where your pets come from
2 Are guinea pigs really the right pet for me?
3 Rescue adoption
- What extra services do good rescues provide that other places don’t?
- What about not recommended rescues? How can I spot a bad place?
- Shelters and rescues – is there a difference?
- How does the adoption process run?
4 Pet shops
- How will you choose your pets?
- Why double-checking the gender on arrival is so important
- Quarantine nor no quarantine?
- Smaller chains and independent pet shops
5 Breeders
- How is breeding regulated?
- What to look out for
6 Online or informal – New and second-hand piggies
- Buying new piggies
- Getting second-hand or neglect piggies on your own
7 Looking for a new companion
- Rescue dating
- Buying a companion of your own choice
8 Pros and cons at one glance


1 Intro: Where do our pet guinea pigs actually come from?
We all want our newly arrived guinea pigs to be fit and healthy and ideally used to humans and a home.
It is however usually not quite easy for somebody to work out which options are available to them and which will be best for them; how to spot a bad place and which potential pitfalls to brace against.
This guide is here to list all the possible options with their advantages and their potential pitfalls to help you make the best choice for your own specific circumstances and location. Not everybody will have all options available.

It is very important to know that in most countries anybody can call themselves a breeder or a rescue without licensing or welfare control and that this also applies to suppliers of small pet shops.
Pet shop chains rely on commercial supply breeder where guinea pig are mass-bred and then carted around the country to be delivered to the various branches. These supply breeders may on occasion also be located in another country in order to keep cost down and makes welfare control more difficult.

It means that in most cases, the prey animal babies you are about to bring home won’t have had much in the way of human interaction and won’t be prepared for a complex home, whether that is from a pet shop or a for sale breeder.
How this process looks from the piggy perspective is told in this link here: Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs

Online pet sales or adoptions are still totally unregulated areas when it comes to welfare control and what hidden problems your new piggies come with.
While many large pet chains maintain that there are no problems with their bought pigges, our health/illness and our pregnancy/baby sections do tell a different story. It is well worth taking the time to read this guide, do your research and go into your pet ownership with open eyes and appropriate preparations.

Around 50-80% of guinea pigs in rescues have started out with pet shop guinea pigs. Whether you adopt or buy from a shop or for-sale breeder, your piggies originate very much from a similar pool of mass-bred guinea pigs.

 

[Wiebke]

2 Are guinea pigs really the right pet for me?
Guinea pigs live in groups; they are not wired to be on their own and should not be kept as singles. Anybody who offers to sell or rehome guinea pigs as single pets without at least next door cage company is in violation of one of the most important animal rights. Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

It would also be good if you considered whether you can provide a safe space, away from extreme weather (cold, storms, rain, heat waves and spikes). Hutches are sadly all to often a death trap. Your guinea pig will need garden predator/predatory pet protection – including from other pets of yours.
Guinea pigs are also a ground roaming species that needs a lot more space than you might think. There has been an increasing shift to keeping guinea pigs as indoors pets; especially in the UK and Australia whereas the USA and Canada with their much larger seasonal climate swings have always been countries that have kept guinea pigs as indoors pets.

Guinea pigs should not be kept with other species, like rabbits (bullying, different nutritional needs, transmission of diseases that are fatal for guinea pigs).
While pictures abound on social media showing dogs and cats interacting with guinea pigs, the reality is that it takes only seconds to kill a guinea pig and that you are never fast enough to prevent it. Predatory pets and prey animals don’t mix and should never be mixed. It is always the guinea pigs that pay the ultimate price. We see that often enough on the forum when we are contacted in the upsetting wake of such an incident.

Parental control and saving up for a vet fund or monthly insurance plus some money for extras are also vital aspects that need to be considered. The average life span of guinea pigs is around 4-7 years; with good care and a good hay based diet, your guinea pigs are more likely to reach or surpass the upper end – and that is irrespective from where they are sourced.
Because guinea pigs are small prey animals with a fast metabolism, by the time they are showing any illness, they are already very ill and cannot wait until your convenience. Serious falls/blind jumps, deep defences bites, escapes, accidental pregnancies etc. are issues we are confronted on this forum with very regularly.

Guinea pigs are also much more labour-intensive and expensive than most people expect. Their main diet consists of hay and dog pee-free grass (around 80%), NOT veg (ca. 15%) and pellets (ca. 5%) of the daily food intake. Because digesting their main food requires two runs through the gut in order to break down the highly nutritious but tough grass fibre, they do produce A LOT of poos.
Guinea pigs should have a twice weekly cage/hutch clean and fresh clean and ideally filtered water daily as well as daily hay and feed. They should have a weekly body check and weigh-in in order to catch any slowly developing issues early on when recovery chances are much better and vet cost often smaller and not yet running into the hundreds of pounds or dollars.

Can you meet those requirements for that length of time as owners or parents, long after your children have lost interest?
Here is more in-depth information on some aspects:
Quick Information Bundle For Wannabe Owners

Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview
Children And Guinea Pigs - A Guide For Parents
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
Guinea Pigs And Rabbits - Why Not
Guinea Pigs as Classroom Pets - Why Not
Cage Size Guide
Boars, sows or mixed pairs; babies or adults?

 

[Wiebke]

3 Rescue Adoption
By far the best place for having a problem-free start into your guinea pig ownership is a vetted good welfare standard and practice guinea pig rescue. The vetting process on this forum for UK rescues and the comparable criteria on the Guinea Lynx website for US and Canadian rescues comprises a close look at the whole rescue process, the level of care and medical provision while in rescue as well as rehoming criteria and the adoption process plus some other ethical criteria as to how the rescue is run and financed. Please accept that we can only guarantee for your being in safe hands for the rescues listed in the links below – and it is not for lack of trying!

Here are the links to our recommended good welfare standard rescues:
UK: Rescue Locator
US and some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: Rescue Organizations


What extra services do good welfare standard and practice rescues provide?
- All guinea pigs arriving in a rescue will be carefully sexed and separated before there can be further accidents, including any rescue born babies, which are often available for dating with single or bereaved guinea pigs of yours.
- All incoming guinea pigs undergo a mandatory quarantine upon arrival and will receive any necessary vet care.
- Any sows over 4 weeks should pass a mandatory 10 weeks pregnancy watch to ensure that there won’t be any unplanned surprises.
- Guinea pigs are either kept at the rescue itself and are regularly handled there or they are living in a foster home environment and are getting used to human interaction there.
- Any pairs are carefully personality matched for mutual liking and character compatibility for long term stability.
- Guinea pigs will only be put up for adoption when they are ready for a new home. You will be made aware if there have been previous illnesses that have been treated. Guinea pigs that need a more special home will be advertised as such, i.e. a guinea pig needing an experienced or no other pets home won’t be matched with a lively first owners family environment.
Any guinea pigs with chronic expensive health issues or those that are too frail or old will stay on at the rescue as permanent residents or live permanently with an experienced rescue fosterer who has access to the rescue’s vet clinic. These guinea pigs can often be sponsored.
- Mixed age pairs or stably bonded adults that are used to handling and a home environment make often much better starter pets than wiggly, skittish pet shop or breeder babies that may defence bite or blind jump out of arms and that are often already teenagers by the time they are actually coming round.
- The rescues will offer support during the settling phase.
- Adopted guinea pigs that you can no longer keep for whatever reason will automatically revert to the rescue; you can find that clause in the adoption contract.
- Many rescues will now increasingly help you with finding a companionship solution for your last remaining guinea pig when you no longer want to continue with guinea pigs.
- By adopting, you are not only saving the piggies you are bringing home, but you free up much needed rescue space for more vulnerable piggies to come into rescue and get expert and medical care to ensure their own future. While piggies in a good rescue are in a safe place, a rescue that is full to the rafters needs to find new homes for the piggies that are ready for a new home. If these homes are not forthcoming, then a rescue cannot to the job for which it has been designed. You are indeed helping with piggies in need getting exactly where they are best cared for.
Sadly, in view of a rising flood of no longer wanted and discarded ‘toy pets’ or the inevitable messes from mis-sexing or neglect breeding (usually meaning lots of pregnant sows and babies), free rescue spaces are needed more than ever – and so are committed adopters and owners who will find a surprising range of piggies in any rescue!


What about not listed rescues? How can I spot a bad place?
Unfortunately anybody can call themselves a breeder or a rescue; and the results can be according in terms of welfare conditions. Breeding and rescue are also often not as cleanly separated as you may think and come in a shaes and variations. While any piggy has the same right of a happy and secure life and cannot choose where they are ending up, you may want to consider the wider implications of your own choice as to whether you want to contribute to the growing flood of discarded ‘toy’ pets.

How can you spot a bad place? It is very often not quite as easy as it takes experience to look past a clean cage or a savvy online presence. Some of the more doubtful practices often happen behind closed doors and in closed groups.

But here are some pointers:
- Rescues that are registered charities have to fulfil some pretty stringent requirements. Not all good rescues are necessarily a registered charity and not all rescues with that status are necessarily in the top tier but you can generally count of them as a safer place to adopt to still avoid the most common pitfalls that await the unwary.
- Take a look at the website and how they talk about/promote welfare. You can start with looking at recommended rescues first to have some comparison if you have doubts.
- Places/rescue owners who also have an active breeding website can be a big clue.
- No home-check or any questions about how your piggies will be housed and cared for.
- No decent piggy-savvy rescue will rehome a guinea pig into a single situation. The very few true single piggies will be found a home where they can be kept in an adjoining cage to other piggies and usually go to known and trusted adopter. A fighting/biting boar is a piggy failed by a pet shop or breeder and then their first owners, and is now being failed a third time by the rescue by being convicted to a single life.
- Ask whether any adoptees (or their mother upon arrival if you are adopting a baby or two) will have undergone a mandatory quarantine and any vet care when arriving in rescue.
- No decent rescue will ever ask for unwanted pets; good rescues will find animals in need or will be found by them. Beware of those places that do!
- While with the pandemic at large, many rescues won’t necessarily let people come behind scenes anymore, any good rescue people are generally still willing to answer questions as to how their piggies are housed while in rescue and what medical care and especially vet care is provided.
- A rescue being passed by an RSPCA (the UK welfare organisation) inspection does NOT mean that it is a good or safe place, but only that it is not so bad that the RSPCA can alert a vet to certify that lives are risk or that animals are left permanently seriously maimed in order to step in.
- Rescues that promote DIY home care, diagnosing without seeing the guinea pig in question or just from a picture and that promote home-made medical treatments via their shops usually mean that piggies in their care are not treated any differently.
- Rescues constantly asking for donations for every standard routine vet care are not run in a solid way. While all rescues (including the RPSCA) rely entirely on fundraising and donations, they are usually well enough organised to only need to ask for extra help if they have to cope with extreme situations like a large intake of badly neglected piggies or a run of expensive operations or complex medical issues; or like this year due to all the loss of fundraising venues from events and adoption fees arising from the pandemic. A rescue that is struggling to provide normal medical vet care is generally one in need of being rescued from itself.


Shelters and rescues – is there a difference?
Shelters in the UK are called ‘pounds’ and only exist for dogs. They are a temporary holding place for found strays or dumped pets and they don’t provide any medical care and only limited time before unclaimed animals are euthanised. How long this stay lasts depends on how busy a shelter is.

While some US, Canadian and Australian shelters are non-kill rescues, the majority are not and they do not necessarily provide medical care; they are just limited time holding centres. If you want to adopt from a euthanizing shelter, by all means do so; but do so only if you are able to pay for any necessary vet fees (which can run into the hundreds of dollars) and are willing to go on a sometimes very steep learning curve.
Many US guinea pig rescues are cooperating with shelters within their reach (sometimes even across state borders) in order to help out with any ill, frail or highly pregnant piggies to give them the necessary medical or access to immediate expert care when alerted by the shelter. So when you adopt from one such non-kill rescue, you may adopt a guinea pig that has come via a shelter and is now ready for the next chapter in their lives, allowing the rescue to take in more at risk piggies and give them the expert care they need to bring them back to health for a good start in a safe home.


How does the adoption process work?
The process differs depending on the country and how far a rescue rehomes.

United Kingdom
In the UK, you contact a rescue via email, phone or facebook for an adoption or to find a new companion via dating. Please be patient; all UK rescues are mainly small outfits that are entirely run by volunteers in their free time (including the RSPCA and Blue Cross). Depending on how busy the rescue is with new intakes or emergencies behind the scenes, you may not be hearing back straight away and may need to send a reminder. You are NOT dealing with a well-staffed big centre with their own reception staff in any case…

The next step is a chat with a rescue person. Your adoption permission is usually given pending a home check (mainly to check that everything is as you have said and safe for the piggies you are adoting) and an adoption pick up date or a rescue dating session to find a new companion for a piggy or group of yours will be arranged. Keep in mind that rescues are looking for a normal home and household and not for a home that could feature in a glossy magazine!
Please be open to any requests by the rescue; most of them are there to improve your piggies’ lives or the result of some bad experiences by the rescue, usually at the cost of adoptees’ lives. These requests are never frivolous. PLEASE let the rescue know in time if you are delayed or have changed your mind. Their wasted time could have much better used in doing one of the many jobs in a rescue than waiting for people never turning up.

USA and Canada
In the USA and Canada rescues generally operate over much larger distances (sometimes over the several states), so their procedure starts with you filling in and mailing the adoption form you find on their website. You will be contacted by the rescue and if your adoption request has been accepted, and an adoption or dating slot to allow a single or bereaved piggy of yours have a say in who they get on with (if the rescues offers bonding sessions) on one of their adoption days will be arranged.

Australia
In Australia, you will find a mix between the two models; depending on the size of the area/state or how locally a rescue operates.
Please accept that rescues have to put the safety of their volunteer staff as well as yours first and that adoption practices and rehoming/dating services are subject of conditions imposed by the pandemic and are liable to change with the safety of people and pets upmost in mind.


More helpful information for single/bereaved guinea pigs
Rescue Locator (link to recommended rescues in other countries below UK map)
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

 

[Wiebke]

4 Pet Shops

The majority of guinea pigs come from pet shops. Not everybody has necessarily access to a good rescue - the can be far and few in between or not exist at all, depending on the country and area of the country you live in.

Large pet shop chains like pets@home in the UK or Petco in the USA dominate the scene. They are supplied by commercial mass breeders. Babies are ferried round in regular supply runs which go round a number of branches and then they are first kept at the back of the store, which doesn’t look as nice as the shop front. This means that your babies have had no friendly human contact when they are brought into a home where they are supposed to function as an instant cuddly toy pets.


How will you choose your pets?
Will you choose for looks or by spending some time in the shop looking for which two babies are hanging out together the most and are therefore much more likely to make a stable and happy pair that survives their teenage without major hubbub?
Please always opt for two piggies and do not choose three or four boars – teenage boar trio or quartet fall-outs are one of the most common problems we are contacted about on this forum as the fall-out rate is so high. There is always an influx in February and May/June when the Christmas and Easter boys hit their teenage months.

Are you planning to surprise your children or are you rather involving them in the research and acquisition process so their new pets mean a lot more to them than just breathing new toys that are as quickly abandoned as other toys?
You can find lots of advice on how to settle in new piggies and making friends with them via this link here (it includes a quick course in ‘piggy whispering’): Settling In And Making Friends With Guinea Pigs - A Guide

If you bring home a single or a couple of babies as companions to a bereaved piggy please always make sure that you have a plan B in case acceptance doesn’t happen. Key to any successful piggy bond is mutual liking and character compatibility – and that is not something you won't know until the piggies are formally introduced.


Why sexing upon arrival is so important
With sows you may need to be aware that the pretty little babies you are coming home with may already be pregnant if they have at any stage been with a mis-sexed boar over 3 weeks of age or if you are bringing home a mis-sexed piggy or two. Sadly not all pet shop staff are very good or even passably knowledgeable about species biology or needs as you’d expect.

While you cannot prevent a pet shop pregnancy which will only really show in roughly the last three weeks of a 10 week pregnancy, please double-check the gender of your piggies immediately upon arrival with the help of our sexing guide or post clear and day-lit pictures of both the genitals and the gently prised open slit area.
Our sexing guide is aiming to teach you exactly where to look and feel in order to establish the gender via areas that are less obvious but where the genders are looking and feeling much more different than the outside arrangement. We want as many people to know where to look and what to look for in order to cut down on the inevitable messes and upset caused by mis-sexing.
Here is our illustrated sexing guide with plenty of reference pctures of piggies of all ages and states (including babies, neutered boars and teenage boars with decending and fully descended testicles): Illustrated Sexing Guide

Please be aware that unless you have a vet who sees lots piggies, they won’t be much more experienced in cavy sexing than you.

If you suspect or worry about a pregnancy or have surprise babies, please open a support thread in our pregnancy and baby section and read up on our comprehensive step-by-step pregnancy, birth, mother and baby care advice. You need to be a registered member in order to so as we are a strictly no intentional breeding forum and have accepted our explicit rules on that point during the sign-up process.
Pregnancy, Mother & Baby Care Guides


Quarantine or no quarantine?
Babies and youngsters until 4 months of age (when they hit teenage) are desperate to belong and for guidance of an older piggy to help socialise them and help them learn to master their environment. That is the reason why rescues often pair up babies with an older guinea pig that is willing to take them on; it generally makes for a more stable bond.

Any single baby you bring home to be a companion needs to be introduced immediately and your own piggy will have to spend the quarantining period with their charge and if necessary will have to be treated with them.
Any new pair you bring home into a household that doesn’t come from a place with a mandatory quarantine (i.e. any place except a good welfare standard rescue), should be kept for 3 weeks in a different room from your other piggies in order to prevent the spread of respiratory or fungal infections or parasites.

Know your customer rights
You can reclaim any vet fees arising from any illness or parasitic problem where exposure and infection must have happened at the pet shop. The period in which you can claim varies between countries. Do not be tempted to home treat on spec as you will lose the right to claim and will have more cost in the long run – and your piggies will suffer for longer and worse.

The same goes for any unplanned pregnancies/births. In this case, you can also claim an extra cage and support for any unplanned babies, especially as you need to separate any genders asap and any male babies at 3 weeks or at 250g of weight (whichever comes sooner).

This guide here deals with the specifics in terms of customer rights and the most common problems that can come with new guinea pigs that do not come from a good rescue: New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

From what we are seeing on this forum, ringworm seems to be a currently a persistent and increasing problem of some pet shop branches in the UK, while in the USA and Canada respiratory infections (URI) are the most common issue. This problem is compounded by the fact that the mass-bred babies sold in American pet stores are coming from comparatively sterile conditions and can struggle with sneezing when they are transferred to a home with a lot more complex scents and irritants. If in doubt, please always see a vet straight away and reclaim the cost. URI can potentially kill whereas sensitivity doesn’t. The latter can usually only be diagnosed by default. Of course, all of the listed issues do happen not all that rarely (unfortunately), or they wouldn’t be on our list.

If you are finding yourself with a suspected pregnancy or surprise babies, please read our comprehensive pregnancy, birth and mother& baby care advice and open a specially monitored ongoing support thread in our pregnancy, baby and sexing section. You will however need to register as a member in order to access both the information and the section and in the registering process accept our very clear rules and terms (which we recommend to you read careful and not just tick).


Smaller chains and independent pet shops
The quality in those shops can vary enormously from much better than those in chain pet shops (which can also vary from branch to branch) to truly abysmal. Don’t look just at the piggy pens; you can judge the quality by asking some leading questions to the personnel re. recommended cage size, diet, care, compatibility and the age when babies reach sexual maturity (all those facts are in the Wannabe and New Owners guide collections). That will give you a clue on how well the shop is run and how much welfare actually matters.
Are Guinea Pigs For Me? - Wannabe Owners' Helpful Information

Please never take any surprise babies back to a shop that has sold you a pregnant or mis-sexed piggies; even more so when you have become victim of a shop that props up its business by knowingly selling pregnant sows, so that all the birthing risks (about one in every 4-5 births goes wrong and ends with fatalities) are on your side and they then make more money out of selling your free babies to the next unsuspecting customer. We have seen a couple of cases on here in recent years.
Here is the access link: Pregnancy, Mother & Baby Care Guides

 

[Wiebke]

5 Breeders

How is breeding regulated?
It is important to know that welfare rules only cover shows but NOT how any piggies are kept at the breeder’s themselves. There is no control or supervision; so buying your piggies at a show is not quite as safe as you may think, as some people have found out the hard way when they found us over things having gone haywire.

As a rule of thumb, most good welfare breeders are extremely careful and picky who they give any of their piggies to (most likely people personally known to them or vouched for by people they trust) and they are not likely to get into the hands of the wider public or new owners.
If you do, and if the breeder is insisting on the same welfare standards we are recommending on this forum, then you are one of the lucky few.


What to look out for
Sadly, anybody in most countries can call themselves a breeder without licensing and welfare supervision and the vast majority of breeder/farm/independent pet shop piggies are churned out for sale. A clean pen doesn’t necessarily say anything about potential pregnancies/sexing issues or any necessary medical care.

Beware of any bald or crusty patches that are not symmetrical; ‘dry skin’ and ‘seasonal baldness’ are breeder lingo for not or undertreated mange mites, lice or ringworm. Never get any piggies from somebody who is not letting you see how their piggies are kept or if you have any doubts about the state of water bottles, presence of hay or the state of hutches or pens in any pictures. Getting your piggies quickly with no questions can mean a rather steep and expensive learning curve. The only comeback you have against them is report them to your local council over trading standards – if they sell ware, they are liable about those standards; but don’t necessarily hold your breath.

The risks are basically all on your side.

As long as welfare in breeding is not regulated and guinea pigs, like other pets, are being produce en masse for the sake of a quick buck without any concern of where all those pets ultimately go and end up, then we do strongly object to breeding and do not support it on this forum, having all too often to pick up the sorry results and the ensuing emotional mess and financial headaches.
Our forum stance in detail: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...-breed-showing-forum-policy-explained.134670/ (visible only to registered forum members)

 

[Wiebke]

Online

Buying new guinea pigs
Buying your piggies online on free-ads sites has really taken off during the pandemic – and rescues everywhere have been picking up the pieces as soon as schools reopened. You may have some recourse against an established breeder, but you won’t have much against totally unregulated backyard breeders that are selling remotely and are not bothered about back-to-back pregnancies or genetic time bombs from unchecked breeding.

When looking at pictures, don’t just look at the cute babies, look at how cages look, the state of water bottles, the presence of hay etc.


Getting second-hand or neglect piggies
Many rescues are trying their best to pull any obvious free to a good home neglect cases from free-ads in their local area; it has become one of the major sources. But if you are in a place without any decent rescue access, then it is often the only way you can get hold of second-hand piggies.

What you need to consider when making this step - especially as a minor relying on the permission of a legal guardian or householder - is that you need to have sufficient funds in place in order to provide any necessary veterinary care right from the start.

Sadly, it is anything but uncommon of owners keen on getting rid of their no longer welcome pets to lie through their teeth about any existing health problems, fights and fall-outs in boars or a likely pregnancy in sows. They will also usually go incommunicado as soon as you are in physical possession of their piggies.
This is of course not always the case, but it happens often enough for you needing to be prepared for this eventuality and going into this with your eyes open. Please don’t fail vulnerable piggies yet again by being unable to give them level of care they need. Also take into account whether you have the necessary experience to cope with the home care that has to go hand-in-hand with any vet care.

If you are in an area with decent rescue access, rather consider adopting already treated and stably bonded rescue piggies in order to allow the rescue to take in more piggies in clear need of expert medical and home support care than trying to rescue directly. The adoption fee is always much less than a rescue is spending on their piggies. You are in effect doing the same job in terms of saving piggy lives but without risking getting in over your head.

 

[Wiebke]

7 Looking for a new companion

Finding a new companion for a single guinea pig can be a gamble. Unless you can rescue date your piggies to make sure that they can have a say who they like and want to be with and have the rescue to fall back on in case things don't work out, you need to have a plan B solution in hand when you bring a new companion of your own choice home. Your piggy may have a very different set of criteria and preferences than you!


What is rescue dating?
Most good welfare standard rescues offer a dating/bonding service for single or bereaved guinea pigs to allow your pets to find a personality match for a happy and stable new companionship so you don’t come home with a piggy that will not be accepted or quickly fall out.

Rescues either offer speed dating (acceptance has happened) or residential dating via rescue boarding (all of the critical stages of the bonding process have happened and the new bond has been tested for stability before they come home to you).
It means that your guinea pig can decide on who they want to live and be happy with. Age and gender (provided that one party is de-sexed) are much less important than mutual liking and character compatibility. Dating works for all ages and genders. It is also a way to extend sow groups or to introduce a neutered boar to a sow pair or group, or to find a fallen-out and neutered boar pair each their perfect sow-mate.

You will find that you will fall in love with the new arrival in your own time, simply by seeing your bereaved or single guinea pig happy and active again.


Buying a companion of your own choice
If you can’t rescue date, then you only have the choice to either buy or rehome privately on spec. It is unfortunately a myth that every baby is accepted.

When you are the one bringing a new companion home, then you have to have a plan B at hand (living next to each other with full interaction through the bars). Quarantine depending on age (with youngsters under 4 months the need for company comes first) and how depressed/frail your own piggy is to risk a joint quarantine may also need to be considered

If you have a choice in which piggy to bring home, take your time to observe and look for a more submissive but healthy piggy.

Here is more information:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (including quarantine and sexing advice)
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

 

[Wiebke]

8 Pros and cons at one glance

Getting your guinea pigs is not quite as straight forward as you may think.

Here is a quick recap of the advantages, risks and pitfalls and also your customer rights when getting new guinea pigs:

Rescues in short
Our carefully vetted recommended good welfare standard rescues in several countries are by far the safest place to avoid the pitfalls and get a lot of extra service and support for a little extra effort.
With unlisted rescues please read the information in the rescue chapter above so you have a chance to spot some of the black sheep and save yourself potential trouble.

Pet shops in short
Pet shops can be run on very different levels, from excellent ones that encourage customer to follow welfare standards to those where staff have very little knowledge about the species they are selling and where cheap pets are the lure to gain repeat custom and where welfare is not encouraged (cage sizes, sale of single babies or boar trios/quartets without questions).
Sexing mistakes/sale of already pregnant sows, single babies or boar trios, problems like ringworm, respiratory issues or mange mites can be endemic.

The advantage is that with larger pet chains is that you have better recourse on your customer rights. Please refuse to sell back any ill piggies because this means that you give up those rights.

Breeders in short
Good welfare standard breeders are still a minority, sadly. Anybody can call themselves a breeder without licensing or control; unfortunately, this means the majority of piggies comes from a source you have very little control about.
A clean pen doesn’t say anything about whether babies are properly sexed and separated. Any piggies with ‘dry skin’ or bald patches that are not symmetric suffer from untreated ringworm or skin parasites.

Your recourse is much less good. Reporting to the local council over trading standards may be your only option. Charitable welfare organisations like the RSPCA can only intervene by request of a vet if animals have died or lives are acute risk. They do NOT have the legal powers to intervene on their owner.

Online and informal rehoming in short
This is the most fraught way of getting piggies. Access to online breeders and checking the standard to which they run is not good.

No longer wanted second-hand piggies advertised on free-ads can work out, but you have to be aware that chances are high that their owners are not truthful about the reasons, any problems (health/pregnancy/fighting or fall-outs) and their level of care. You will find that the owner goes incommunicado as soon as the piggies have left the premises. The same goes if you take on piggies informally via family, friends, work or locally.

The risks are entirely on your side and can turn into a very steep and expensive learning curve. Make sure that you have got a fund ready to cover any necessary vet cost and have your piggies vet checked and sexed upon arrival.

More information for Wannabe Owners:
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Are Guinea Pigs For Me? - Wannabe Owners' Helpful Information