Considering a Guinea Pig

Eviledna

Hey All,

Myself and the OH have been considering getting 2 little Guinea piggies, and I'd really appreciate any first hand experience that anyone can offer...was in a pet shop earlier and they had them housed with Rabbits (thought that wasn't supposed to be a good idea?) and the pet shop sales assistant said that they are "grand" housed on their own, but everything I read says keep them in 2's. She also couldn't sex them, and said they wouldn't be responsible for any accidents that would occur if they said male when it was in fact female.
So now I'm a bit dubious. They seem like lovely pets, but I want to be a responsibile owner and do this right. Are there breeders out there that would have more offer? Also, what are feeding costs like? Any advice really appreciated!:)

Sigma Force

I would avoid that particular pet shop like the plague or you could end up with god knows what by the sounds of it. If they can't sex them then you could end up with pregnant pigs.

There are a lot of guinea pigs looking for homes at the moment there a some females in Dublin and neutered males in Clare. One neutered male can be paired up with one of more females.

The most expensive part of owning a guinea pig initially is their housing, invest in their housing and the rest of their care is pretty cheap. Obviously unforseen vet bills may crop up but with good care with any luck these will be only for health checks and nail clipping if they need it.

I could type loads on guineas but probably easier if you click on my website below as it has a step by step guide and deals with the basics things like housing and diet with some fun ideas too.

They make brilliant pets.

Highly recommend you read 'Guinea Pig' by Peter Gurney it's a great basic guinea pig care book. Also any other book by him esp. Piggy Potions.

I have links to some important guinea pig sites on my links page like Gorgeous Guineas etc.

bigpinkelephant

A rabbit can give a dreadful kick, they can jump 3 times their own height- from a standstill!- and balance on their hind legs much more comfortably than other 4 legged animals so you can imagine their legs' strength compared to a little piggy,

Plus their diets are different, so I wouldn't keep them together.

Guinea pigs are lovely little things, they make little chattering noises to each other. They come in every colour imaginable and loads of different coat types- short haired, long haired, rosetted.

Eviledna

Wow, thank you both, thats really excellent advice I knew that petshop seemed like a bad idea and I'm delighted to hear that you can adopt a piggy!
I'm saving up as we speak...

bigpinkelephant

Yep here is a site where rescues/shelters post about their animals, if you are interested- http://petsireland.invisionzone.com/index.php?showforum=52