Adopting or Buying a Guinea Pig

I recommend you adopt from a shelter rather than buy from a pet store. Simply because pet stores are out for a profit while shelters are really only concerned about finding a good family or owner for the animal. If you do adopt you are pretty much guaranteed to get a healthy guinea pig with no surprises. Buying from a pet store is when you must pay due diligence.

When buying from a pet store or home breeder you need to ask about the sex of the piggie. If they are not sure then you need to check. You should also be a little suspicious if the staff  person does not know. Either way, check for yourself as every guinea pig can be sexed.

Next, find out the age of the piggies you intend to adopt. Guinea pigs need to be around their mothers for at least the six weeks of life. If they don’t they find it very hard to acclimatize to other environments.

You must make sure the cavy you are adopting is not pregnant. In order to know whether the guinea pig you are interested in is pregnant, you can do a bit of detective work. One way of doing this is to see whether the male and female piggies have been kept in different cages.

If the people in the pet store are not sure, then you need to avoid these ones. Look for stores that have a good environment set up. If the people cannot guarantee that they have been kept in different cages, you should not buy from them.

Checking The Health Of The Guinea Pig Before Buying

If you want to buy a female take a good look at her rear end. If she has a large rump then you know she is pregnant. This should be quite obvious in most cases. Don’t not buy a pregnant female. If you don’t know what you are doing within several months you could have a litter of up 30 piggies running around.

You can check for the health of a pig by looking at the droppings in the cage. They should be solid. If they are not, then it is possible that the pig has diarrhea. This is a bad sign and shows that the animal is unhealthy.

Observe the one you want to adopt or buy for several minutes  and see how it interacts with the other animals and people. You need to ensure that the cavy you take home will be happy to play with you and your family. If it is not joining in with the others then this might mean it is too unhealthy to interact and play. Be sure to check this.

You should als check the fur and skin. It should have an even coating of fur all over the skin. If there are patches missing then this is another sign of bad health.

To learn more about guinea pig health issues take a look at this guinea pig care guide.