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I advocate boycotts of stores that sell animals because regardless of how well meaning their associates are they source all their small rodents from mills (which are as bad, if not worse than the mom and pop places you find abhorrent), and they fuel the overpopulation problem by selling to whoever strolls in the door. That huge bust last year from the Petco supplier? If I remember right, they were begging homes for about 500 hamsters. I think the TX guinea pig rescue ended up taking them. They were overcrowded, breeding rampantly, and attacking each other. It just kind of baffles me that people who sperg about how you should never get a dog from a pet store because of how awful puppy mills are will stroll into Petco and buy a hamster from essentially the same place, but with less regulation.
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Jan 2, 2013 01:52
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MacGyvers_Mullet posted:As far as good resources go, I haven't found a single positive recommendation for a place to buy a hamster in my entire state in months of searching. I've found hundreds of "Don't go here they're horrible!" comments, but it feels like nobody gives a poo poo about any animal that lives less than five years. It's incredibly simple to find good gerbil breeders, good guinea pig breeders, good ferret breeders, and even good rat breeders. You want a hamster? The prevailing advice is nothing but a torrent of "whatever you do, don't get one here!" without a single piece of useful advice of where people CAN turn to. Usually I've found the best way to go is to find a rescue in your state that does handle exotics and shoot them a note asking for help. Typically they can either refer you to shelters that do take in these animals, help you find private parties rehoming, or give you suggestions for places that aren't awful. We've transported animals to people from cross-state when needed.
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Jan 2, 2013 02:30
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Kluliss posted:Does anyone have any experience of taking piggies for walks - there're loads of untreated green areas (yes I'll be careful not to let them eat just any old thing) nearby and I'm thinking that when the weather's not being ridiculously cold, I'd like to take them for exploring walks. I do grow plants already so I'll plant a few more that they can be fed, and as they're apparently getting a little chubby, I'll be swapping their diet around - currently they're being fed mostly pellets with a little fresh stuff in the evening...I'll be using pellets as treats mostly, the majority of their diet is going to be veggies with the odd bit of fruit thrown in and just a small amount of pellets for when I'm out during the day. *and hay, I know it's important just forgot to write it in... I've had the best luck making fences from the grids they use for the homemade cages to contain the pigs. They'll tend to skitter off at the least sound or shadow, so they're easy to lose if they're not contained somehow. Are they getting any hay? The majority of their diet should be hay, and lots of it. (Grass hay if they're adults, with alfalfa mixed in if they're <1 year). I generally aim for around 70% hay, 20% veg, and 10% pellet.
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Jan 25, 2013 14:26
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cuntvalet posted:How different are guinea pigs from other rodents? What things should I know that are species specific? So, to me, they're not like other rodents at all. Pretty much everything suitable for rats, mice, hamsters, etc, food and toy-wise are inappropriate for guinea pigs. They're much closer to rabbits, or very small horses, in their dietary and habitat needs. Have you checked out GuineaLynx? They've got a great site with tons of info. One of the few ways they are like rats is that they like to have buddies. 
Rodent Mortician fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Mar 12, 2013 |
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Mar 12, 2013 18:57
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Saint Darwin posted:I really recommend starting with 2 who know each other. My first pig was a single one I had for a year until I got the second one and they HATED each other. They were also unaltered males which is really bad (get them neutered) (males are mean to each other either way). You will not be in the cage poking around 100% of the time and they need that level of social interaction. It's barely any more care for another one (since you're [url]http://www.guineapigcages.com/]building a coroplast cage, RIGHT???[/url]), more consumables but it's worth it. Although it is easier to get two guinea pigs that are bonded (especially if you're a first time owner), unaltered males aren't bad, and it's not generally recommended that you neuter them. Neutering male guinea pigs produces very minimal behavioral change (especially socially) and is fairly difficult to find a vet to do, making it somewhat dangerous if you don't have a skilled vet with cavy surgery experience. It's NICER to have neutered males, since one of the main benefits is that you don't have to clean their anal pouch because they don't really have one, but health and behavior-wise it does practically nothing.
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Mar 13, 2013 01:53
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Climbing isn't impossible. I've got a pair in foster now that will scale a grid wall to escape a cage. However, these are two out of several hundred I've fostered. The average pig won't.
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Mar 17, 2013 03:11
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Someone I saw used a cloth clothes hamper to retain the hay. It had wheels (so they could roll it over to the cage to fill up racks), good ventilation because of the cloth, and contained the hay dust fairly well.
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Jun 5, 2013 16:29
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I know of more than one person who has scored a lost pig by taking veggie bags outside and crinkling them.
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Jun 21, 2013 20:03
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I'm really sorry. As someone who's had multiple stones pulled out of guinea pigs, it is a very rough surgery on them. I've almost always felt during recovery that I was on the brink of all the survivors dying. At one point one of the girls I had would only eat one specific kind of leaf from one specific spring mix. I fed her ONLY that for 3 days (in between handfeeding) and I still think it's a miracle she survived.
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Jun 27, 2013 13:59
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Agree with what everyone else said. I've had few pigs that would share houses and cuddle. Also, most probably your piggie isn't an albino. Pink eyes are naturally occurring (and you get pink eyes in various other colors too), and pink-eyed whites are very common pigs. Typically they don't have any specific health issues with it, and pigs in general don't necessarily have the best eyesight. They're just goobers, and some of them never learn that movement doesn't equal "hawks will kill me".
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Jul 15, 2013 14:01
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A hamster was one surrendered to our rescue living in a giant plastic container that once housed cheese puffs. People are awful to little animals.
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Jun 6, 2014 16:04
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Fewd posted:You should ask at the store and make sure they are siblings and same gender. If they don't know, do your best imitation of Typically if they don't know, they won't tell you they don't know. They'll bundle up 2 "girls" and let you discover the fun surprise for yourself. Just FYI.
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Jun 13, 2014 14:48
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and walk away.
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That's not entirely true, there are a few oddball things that wouldn't take down a pig immediately. I know Cushings isn't too common, most vets don't check for it, and you'll most often notice excessive eating and drinking. Not saying it was something like that, but not everything is an immediate death knell... just most things. But yes, weighing is essential, regardless.
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Jul 10, 2014 20:32
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Captain Invictus posted:That said he is well over two years old at this point, so it's just as likely his body breaking down, as aren't redeyed rodents inferior or something? Pink eyes aren't typically associated with problems in rodents, it's just an eye color for them (unless they're due to albinism, which has its own set of issues). Animals with pink eyes can tend to have vision that's a bit worse, but as said above, hamsters have pretty crap vision anyway. Diabetes is very common in hamsters, and can cause blindness. It's more often seen in dwarf hamsters, but I've had a couple of Syrians that had it as well. He could also just have normal older age cataracts.
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Sep 9, 2014 13:03
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