Munster guinea pig rescues?

Rabbitandcavy

Does anyone know any rescues or shelters with guinea pigs in Munster?

I've been looking around, but can't find any. I decided before never to buy guinea pigs from pet shops again. So far, all my guinea pigs have come from people who, for what ever reason, need to ''get rid of'' their guinea pigs.

I have three male guinea pigs, and a home made cage that is three levels high, with each level being 4ftx2ft.

My cage is massive, and I'd love to help more male guinea pigs by adopting them.

Sigma Force

There's no rescues dedicated to guinea pigs atm but there are individuals who take in the occasional guinea pig looking for a safe haven.

It'll be a couple more months before people get tired of their easter presents and want to get rid of their little guineas or end up with accidental litters so if you aren't in a rush it's well worth waiting it out. I can also let you know if anyone contacts me looking to rehome some.

Are your boys all housed together, if so how are they getting on with each other atm?

The Irish guinea pig forum might be worth a try as well, there are breeders on there..some more genuine ones but some also take in the occasional piggy looking for a home so well worth having a look.

Rabbitandcavy

Thanks
Actually I got my last piggy from the Irish Guinea Pig forum, he travelled from Dublin to Clare! My three boys are getting on great. I find the trick is a large cage, they will fight if in a small space together. They occasionally get in an occasional tiff, not major fights though or anything out of the ordinary.
I'm definitely holding out, I'm keeping the space for piggies that are in need of homes.

Definitely let me know if you hear anything

Rive Gauche

It might be worth checking with your local vets. A friend of mine used to work at a vet clinic and they were always rehoming small furries - they kept it quiet because they would have been snowed under with the cuties if people knew they did that sort of thing. I think you're great to rescue guinea pigs, well done!!!

morganafay

It's definitely not worth getting them in petshops. I got two before Christmas, in two different pet shops, since I couldn't find any anywhere else. One was pregnant and one had mange! My 7 year old pig caught the mange, and she did get better with treatment, but shortly after she died. I'm sure she would have died soon anyway, but the mange could have shortened her life.

The guinea pigs are also not very friendly, but are getting much better now. I can't handle them but they'll come up to me for treats and squeak at me.

Luckily I got a lovely baby pig from the pregnant one He is so so tame, and I got him a friend, from someone with an accidental litter, and he's really tame too. So I'd never buy from a pet shop again. They'll just never be as tame.



Though I would buy from Maxi Zoo, in Midleton, since they're meant to be brilliant. I've never been there, but my friend has gotten two guinea pigs there, and both are perfectly friendly and healthy. She said they have them in huge pens too.

morganafay

Also, someone told me that Limerick Animal Welfare often have guinea pigs in. I think it was LAW anyway, I know they have lots of rabbits, but she said they get lots of guinea pigs in, mostly young ones.

Sigma Force

LAW get the occasional guinea but mostly rabbits.
Although who knows this year things change there could be more bunnies than rabbits.
No harm in contacting a few rescues even just to let them know you are looking for pigs.

Rabbitandcavy

Thanks all!
I also have no problem taking in pigs who can't be handled very well, I know guinea pigs aren't cuddly creatures and I'm sure some rescue pigs would come from situations where they were handled very little.

I'd love a long haired piggie though, wishful thinking

morganafay

Rabbitandcavy wrote: »

I'd love a long haired piggie though, wishful thinking

Not if I get there first :P

Sigma Force

Opps I meant more guineas than rabbits not more bunnys than rabbits.

Long hairs do come in to rescue, not as often as shorthaired but have had 3 here at one time or another.

Rabbitandcavy

Oh so LAW get in more piggies then bunnies?
I might email them

ETA: I have no problem with home checks, I can also post pictures of my set up and answer questions over email/phone, if that is easier since I live in the sticks :P

Outkast_IRE

morganafay wrote: »

It's definitely not worth getting them in petshops. I got two before Christmas, in two different pet shops, since I couldn't find any anywhere else. One was pregnant and one had mange! My 7 year old pig caught the mange, and she did get better with treatment, but shortly after she died. I'm sure she would have died soon anyway, but the mange could have shortened her life.

The guinea pigs are also not very friendly, but are getting much better now. I can't handle them but they'll come up to me for treats and squeak at me.

Luckily I got a lovely baby pig from the pregnant one He is so so tame, and I got him a friend, from someone with an accidental litter, and he's really tame too. So I'd never buy from a pet shop again. They'll just never be as tame.



Though I would buy from Maxi Zoo, in Midleton, since they're meant to be brilliant. I've never been there, but my friend has gotten two guinea pigs there, and both are perfectly friendly and healthy. She said they have them in huge pens too.

Have also got my 2 current guineas from maxi zoo in midelton , they were sexed wrong initially told they were two females but were in fact 2 males , some of the staff are very good there it was a case of the males and females were already seperated but the staff memeber wasnt very good at the sexing and wasnt sure which cage was males and which was females (the staff memeber that seperated them wasnt there at the time)

Both guinea pigs had mites which i got them treated for shortly after purchase took 3 doses of ivermectin at the vets

morganafay

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Have also got my 2 current guineas from maxi zoo in midelton , they were sexed wrong initially told they were two females but were in fact 2 males , some of the staff are very good there it was a case of the males and females were already seperated but the staff memeber wasnt very good at the sexing and wasnt sure which cage was males and which was females (the staff memeber that seperated them wasnt there at the time)

Both guinea pigs had mites which i got them treated for shortly after purchase took 3 doses of ivermectin at the vets

I guess any shop can be bad then . . . It's very easy to sex them once you know how. You'd think everyone in the shop would know.

I got my pregnant one in a shop that someone told me was very good, and she knows alot about animals and has worked in rescue. But the shop had loads of guinea pigs and loads of rabbits all in one medium sized cage.

If anyone knows any really good pet shops though, let me know.

Sigma Force

No, LAW generally get more rabbits than guinea pigs.
I'm confusing myself now.

Dissapointed to hear that about Maxi Zoo re the mites although sometimes pigs that are a bit stressed from things like a move to a new place can end up a bit under the weather and more prone to mites.

There's no excuse really for allowing a pregnant guinea to be sold guinea pigs are very easy to sex esp. once over 5-6 weeks. If unsure they shouldn't sell them until they are.

When I did take in guineas I kept all the females longer on purpose, mind you it took so long to home pigs they were here for a long time anyway. With 4 of the guineas we knew they were pregnant from the info. from their previous home, the rest we held on to until we were sure. A lot of males came through too lot of people seem to be put off my the boys.

Rabbitandcavy if you want I can stick a notice up on my site for home offered.

EGAR

Whereabouts in Clare are you/ I am on the Clare/Galway border and have two GP's up for adoption. Pm me for details. HC etc apply

morganafay

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Dissapointed to hear that about Maxi Zoo re the mites although sometimes pigs that are a bit stressed from things like a move to a new place can end up a bit under the weather and more prone to mites.

There's no excuse really for allowing a pregnant guinea to be sold guinea pigs are very easy to sex esp. once over 5-6 weeks. If unsure they shouldn't sell them until they are.

Oh yeah, didn't think of that. It might have been demodectic mange mites? Pretty much every mammal carries them, or so I've been told, and they just become active when they get stressed out or their immune system is down. A move to a new home can bring it on. Do you know what kind of mites it was?

Also my pregnant guinea pig was in with other females (so they said anyway) but she was 4 weeks pregnant. So they said she must have been with males before they got her. We went back and complained (and got €15 euro off a hutch and run, since we had to seperate the mum anyway, though we were happy she was pregnant!) and they pretty much said it wasn't their responsibility to know if they're pregnant or not. When I look back at photos of her, then I think that a guinea pig expert would have known she was pregnant. I didn't know because I'm used to guing pigs being fat! And because I picked the youngest one on purpose. But I would know if I saw a pregnant one now I think . . . Also she was really young and small, and one of her babies was still born, after a long labour. I think it was because the baby was big and she was too small She's still tiny actually, I expected her to grow more after the baby.

Sigma Force

Typical of some pet shops, who's responsibility do they think it is I would of been demanding a free cage/hutch. Usually what some say is oh give us the babies we'll take them off your hands. That's not helpful when god knows where the babies end up.
The Maxi zoo I've been to in Limerick didn't sell pets but if other Maxi zoos do and don't take responsibility for their mistakes then I'm not going to be bringing my buisness there again. I'm not 100% against shops selling small pets but I am 100% against shops making a bags of sexing an animal
They're supposed to be the ones that are good at their job and they go on about how they will help and advise you, that's a great help if they are talking through their ahems.

Mistakes can be made esp. with smallies that's fair enough some are hard to sex, but when someone isn't willing to accept responsibilty for it then that really bugs me.

morganafay

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Typical of some pet shops, who's responsibility do they think it is I would of been demanding a free cage/hutch. Usually what some say is oh give us the babies we'll take them off your hands. That's not helpful when god knows where the babies end up.
The Maxi zoo I've been to in Limerick didn't sell pets but if other Maxi zoos do and don't take responsibility for their mistakes then I'm not going to be bringing my buisness there again. I'm not 100% against shops selling small pets but I am 100% against shops making a bags of sexing an animal
They're supposed to be the ones that are good at their job and they go on about how they will help and advise you, that's a great help if they are talking through their ahems.

Mistakes can be made esp. with smallies that's fair enough some are hard to sex, but when someone isn't willing to accept responsibilty for it then that really bugs me.

Sorry that was misleading, I didn't get the pregnant guinea pig in MaxiZoo. It was another shop. Oops. Only the one in Midleton sells pets. I was just saying that I've heard that MaxiZoo is very good, because my friend got some lovely guinea pigs there.

The shop I went to offered to take back the pregnant guinea pig! :mad: which was obviously not an option, since I had had her for 4 weeks and was attached to her. I thought they'd probably offer to take the babies, but they didn't, and I wouldn't have given them to them anyway

Outkast_IRE

Im not slating the midelton maxi zoo , as i said there are some great staff there, but this particular member just messed up , as i said the sexes were seperated .
If i was buying another guinea pig i would use maxi zoo midelton as anytime im there the small animals look very well taken care of with plenty of room ,food and hay.

Rabbitandcavy

EGAR, sent you a PM

Topcat1234

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Typical of some pet shops, who's responsibility do they think it is I would of been demanding a free cage/hutch. Usually what some say is oh give us the babies we'll take them off your hands. That's not helpful when god knows where the babies end up.
The Maxi zoo I've been to in Limerick didn't sell pets but if other Maxi zoos do and don't take responsibility for their mistakes then I'm not going to be bringing my buisness there again. I'm not 100% against shops selling small pets but I am 100% against shops making a bags of sexing an animal
They're supposed to be the ones that are good at their job and they go on about how they will help and advise you, that's a great help if they are talking through their ahems.

Mistakes can be made esp. with smallies that's fair enough some are hard to sex, but when someone isn't willing to accept responsibilty for it then that really bugs me.

Hi Guys, I'd be willing to take in some unwanted Guinea Pigs in the Limerick area if people were stuck!! Though thats only half true- they'd make great presents for the niece and nephew!;-] Anybody stuck.. feel free!!!

morganafay

Rabbitandcavy wrote: »

I'd love a long haired piggie though, wishful thinking

Since this post I actually did get a long haired rescue piggy A sheltie, his hair was matted before I got him so they had cut it but it's almost grown back now. He's such a nice pig, completely tame too, will run over to you to be picked up.

morganafay

And RabbitandCavy, did you ever find more boys? If you did are they all living together and how are they getting on? I have my three boys together now but people on the internet keep telling me they'll start fighting, so far they're getting on really well though, they have a big cage and all.

Sarah13

Hi there. I breed and have a refuge for guinea pigs. I also do a minding service, although I'm in dublin

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

There's no rescues dedicated to guinea pigs atm but there are individuals who take in the occasional guinea pig looking for a safe haven.

It'll be a couple more months before people get tired of their easter presents and want to get rid of their little guineas or end up with accidental litters so if you aren't in a rush it's well worth waiting it out. I can also let you know if anyone contacts me looking to rehome some.

Are your boys all housed together, if so how are they getting on with each other atm?

The Irish guinea pig forum might be worth a try as well, there are breeders on there..some more genuine ones but some also take in the occasional piggy looking for a home so well worth having a look.

Rabbitandcavy

morganafay wrote: »

And RabbitandCavy, did you ever find more boys? If you did are they all living together and how are they getting on? I have my three boys together now but people on the internet keep telling me they'll start fighting, so far they're getting on really well though, they have a big cage and all.

I didn't get another boy, but I do have three boys living together already and they are getting on fine. The odd tiff every now and again but nothing serious

zoeybelle

Hi Sarah13! Do you rescue pigs on your own or have a centre for them? Also do you mind piggies while owners are away?

Sarah13

zoeybelle wrote: »

Hi Sarah13! Do you rescue pigs on your own or have a centre for them? Also do you mind piggies while owners are away?

Hi zoeybelle. I run a small cavy refuge, I only take guinea pigs in if they are no longer wanted. I don't take in rescues. And yes I mind most rodents while the owners are away. Please visit my website for further info

www.rodentminderireland.weebly.com