Buy Guinea Pigs at animal shelter
This is always the best option. Spend abandoned piggies a new home! In most cases they are healthy if animal shelter give it to your hand and furthermore buck cavies are almost castrated so you can familiarize it directly into your group or create a new with two or more Guinea Pigs.
Please go to animal shelter at first, relieve them and give a cavy a new chance for a happy time!
Buy Guinea Pigs directly from a breeder
You’ll easily find a breeder for cavies nearly. These breeders are always a better option than buying any pet at a pet shop. Breeders take care about the animals, about genetic dispositions, genealogical tree and trained in breeding. It is unlikely to get a ill or pregnant cavy at a breeder. Responsible breeders let you inspect the cages and what he feeds them. At least he can give you a lot of information about the cavies in store. If there are no piggies at animal shelter in your region you should decide the breeder for buying guinea pigs. The initial outlay might be higher but you’ll get a robust pet and this is worth the price!
(Don’t) Buy Guinea Pigs at pet shops
We can not recommend to buy cavies at pet shops – this is the worst idea! Most pet shops in almost every country obtain their pets from breeders with horrible conditions for the piggies. Every at pet shops bought animal keeps the system of cruelty intact. In fact, Guinea Pigs are often sold much too young and female Guinea Pigs are often pregnant furthermore because male and female pigs won’t be separated correctly due to higher costs – or they will be separated too late. Beside this cavies in pet shop are often affected with vermin like acarian.
Shops assistants in pet shops are usual unskilled and you’ll get the worst advises for your new cavies you can get. A Guinea Pig has individual requirements, needs more space and a bigger cage as other rodents.
Common wrong advises from pet shops:
- A cage of 60x40cm fits the need for cavies and can be alone.
- To keep a cavy and a bunny is a good option for both.
- Provide enough dry food, salt and vitamin-contained water and your pig is happy
You can determine a bit whether your pet shop care about cavies or not:
Checklist to recognize good pet shops
- Every species has its own room
- Pets are separated strictly by gender
- Clean litter, hay and water
- Clean and relaxed pets
- No sale of too young pets (Guinea Pigs > 3 /2 to 4 weeks old)
- No sale of clearly ill pets (“It is ill but you can manage this easily by …”)
- No sale of cavies without information about group-living / question about existent fellows at home
- No sale of too small cages (>0,7qm / cavy)
- No sale of pets to teenagers
But there is no guarantee of course. Anyway, try the animal shelter at first!