Getting Your Guinea Pigs

There are 3 basic places to get your cavies from: rescues, pet stores or breeders. Each option has pros and cons, but there is one place which I highly advise you look into first:

Rescues and Shelters

When you first think of getting guinea pigs, most people won't think about going to a rescue as they simply don't know that such a thing exists. In fact, there are well over 30 guinea pig rescues in England alone, some well known, others not.

A very useful list of guinea pig rescues can be found at Guinea Pig Rehome UK. You'll be surprised at just how many there are, and remember that not all guinea pig rescues are advertised in such a way.
Do more research - Yellow Pages, local telephone books, local newspapers, the internet; don't give up just because you can't find a rescue near you.
Don't be afraid to travel a few hours to adopt your cavies - many have travelled for a day or more simply to save a pig in need and provide a loving home.

There are many, many benefits of adopting cavies from rescue centres and shelters. To list just a few:

• You are creating vital space in the rescue for more abandoned and unwanted cavies;

• You have the time to find out more about individuals, and find a suitable personality match to any current piggies you may have;

• You can sometimes find out about the conditions your chosen cavies were kept in before they were taken in by the rescue;

• You can find a pair of piggies to suit your lifestyle, i.e. if you adopt two 'older' pigs, they can manage with a little less exercise time, whereas two younger cavies need more attention and exercise time.

• The pigs are usually in good health and have been cared for well in their time at the shelter, and when they get sick you are often given support and advice from the rescue;

• You are saving countless cavies' lives simply by adopting just one or two piggies from one shelter.

 Those are just a few good reasons to adopt from a rescue or shelters. The most important one is that you are helping both the rescue and the pigs you choose to adopt.

An adoption fee is often charged, but this is usually no more than £15. Many rescues prefer you make a donation instead of charging you for adoption, so you can choose how much to give them. Remember, even just £10 will feed many cavies very happily for a few days. The money you donate to the rescue will always go towards helping the animals and the running of the rescue.
You can often buy supplies from rescues too. Some are happy to sell you a bale of hay for a reasonable price, some offer beddings, some even have their own "pet supplies store" where you can buy anything you'd ever need. Every single penny donated makes a difference.
So please...

Adopt, don't Buy.

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Case Studies

Some guineas have terrible rescue stories. The following articles are stories of how Laura's own Lottie and Jasmine fared before (and after) they were adopted in June and July 2005.

Lottie's Story

Lottie was adopted from Green Fields Rescue on Monday 27th June 2005.
I went in the previous day to volunteer as normal and saw her in the hutch all alone. Lorna, the rescue manager, told me her background: Lottie had lived with a rabbit for 2 years in a children's nursery.
During a school holiday in early June the usual carer asked someone else to pop into the nursery and feed and clean the piggy and rabbit. The person who was asked to look after the two animals fell ill, and failed to get a replacement to do the job. She just left the rabbit and cavy for one week with no food, no fresh hay, no fresh water, and of course no veggies. They didn't get clean out during those 7 days, so when the nursery started again after the holidays, the rabbit had slightly scalded feet (from sitting in his urine), horrendous matted fur, and both the piggy and bunny were very hungry, thirsty and uncomfortable.
Rather than dealing with the problem, the nursery took them along to a veterinary surgery and never came back for them. The Vet rang Green Fields Rescue, and after one week of recovering at the Vets, the piggy and rabbit moved to the Rescue.

The day after they arrived at Green Fields Rescue, I went to help out as normal, cleaning the cages and hutches and cuddling all the piggies. This was when I first saw this adorable black-and-tan guinea, then called Lolly. She was so placid, and just loved being fussed up by Lorna.
Lorna told me all about Lolly's history (or what she knew of it), and we decided to take Lolly home with us the next day to introduce to my other two piggies, Charlie and Tuppy.
Lolly had been at Green Fields Rescue only for 2 nights - one of the shortest staying pigs they have had at the Rescue.

I renamed her Lottie-Primrose, which suited her much better than Lolly. I must admit it did take me a little while to warm up completely to Lottie - she looked a little odd with her flabby chin, black coat and unusual square frame, but after seeing how Charlie and Tuppy first reacted to Lottie, and then 2 weeks later when they got on, I fell totally in love with her.

I'm so glad that Lottie arrived at the Rescue when she did, and that Charlie and Tuppence finally accepted her. I couldn't imagine life without her now - she's always the one who wheeks the loudest for food, she has such a funny way of popcorning, and her general character is adorable.

While we were given a good estimate on her age, we do suspect she is at least a year older, which means she'll be turning 6 in 2008.

Lottie-Primrose, pictured in January '08

Jasmine's Story

Jasmine's story is quite typical of those seen at rescues and shelters: Jasmine had lived with a group of guineas, mixed genders, in a small hutch. Overall there were about 15-20 piggies split up between 5 small hutches. The 'owner' of these piggies had originally bought 2 pigs from a pet store. The pet store mis-sexed them, so instead of having two females, the owner ended up with a male and female. The sow soon had pups, and this is where the main problem started. The owner did not take the pups out at the right age, nor the father pig, so the pups bred with their mum and with each other, meaning 2 or 3 more litters. This continued about 4 or 5 times, and was only stopped when they contacted Green Fields Rescue to ask for their advice.
Green Fields sexed all the piggies, separated them, and took at least 10 pigs away that day. Little Jasmine was part of that group. She was only 4 weeks old when she arrived at the Rescue in early June 2005, and had been put with a group of 4 other sows in a large hutch. She was on pregnancy watch for 3 months, having lived with boars. Although gestation is usually only 10 weeks and sows can usually only fall pregnant at 5-7 weeks old plus, the Rescue wanted to be 100% sure that she was not pregnant before being rehomed.
I expected Jasmine (named Pistachio at the Rescue) to be reserved within weeks of her arrival, but Lorna must have quietly marked her down as reserved when she knew I wanted to see if she got on with my other 3.

Jasmine was the most beautiful, beautiful girl. Such stunning colours and so shiny. She was very frightened - it was a nightmare trying to catch her and hold her still - but she still seemed a little feisty and determined. 

Two weeks before I moved to Northern Ireland, Charlie, Tuppy and Lottie travelled up to Green Fields Rescue and met Jasmine. The completely neutral territory and the grass worked wonders, and Jasmine was totally unfased by Tuppence's moody nips. It only took 2 hours for her to have won Charlie, Tuppy and Lottie over, and they all started 'mothering' her (or 'fathering' her in Charlie's case) - even Tuppence snuggled next to her in a large PVC pipe for a while!

Jasmine is such a sweet girl now. She is as brave as she'll get now - she runs away and is timid, but does love her cuddles and being fussed up sometimes.

Jasmine-Peaches, pictured in December '07

Gwenivere's Story

Gwenivere's story is perhaps typical of that seen by many rescues and shelters. I don't know her full background, but I do know she wasn't in the best of health, and she was rescued with the rest of her colony - 40 other guinea pigs. She was with two other guineas in a hutch, but they were picking on her and she was often sat alone. It wasn't her looks that made my decision; it was that everything about her was just like Jasmine, from her rank within a group to her overall personality.

Gwenny - rescue name Daisy - had been at Wood Green Animal Shelter for a month before I saw her, and her skin looked nasty then. She had a bad case of mites and fungal infection, which was treated with ivermectin and bathing. She had a few other minor health concerns, such as eye problems and infections, but these were all cleared up by the shelter vet before she came home.

Gwenny is a happy, content little girl. Her name fits her perfectly - Guinevere (original spelling of Gwenivere) means "white phantom" - and her mid-length hair and pink eyes make for a very pretty piggie.

I did plan to add her to Charlie's group, but Gwen took a violent dislike to Jasmine. I didn't expect Lottie and Dexter to accept Gwenivere, but I tried introducing them on the off-chance. Lucky I did, since they got along wonderfully. I only put Dexter and Gwenny together at first, as Lottie is the most dominant, and once Gwen had found herself a friend in Dexter, she was safe from Lottie.

Gwenivere and Laura, pictured in January '08