I was chatting with someone today who turned out to be a guinea pig owner. They aquired 1 pig after the pig's companion had died.
This kind, well meaning person told me that they wanted to get a new companion for their pig, but a pet store employee told them not to because pigs from different litters couldn't live together, but would fight and bully each other for dominance!
I was appalled that pet stores give out such terrible information! I did my best to educate this person without being preachy and encouraged them to check out local rescues... I can't believe such misinformation is out there.
Unbelievable!
We have 3 girls from 3 different stores so no blood ties at all. They are also 3 different breeds as well. They seem to get on alright. There is the odd spat every now and then one one of them invades the others space but they still all snuggle down together.
One bit of advice I was given early on was we needed to have a older pig so they would be the alpha and avoid any dominance issue but I am still not convinced of that. That said we got Chunkita (Chunky) from them who seems t be slightly older and definitely bigger and she seems to be the boss girl but doesn't give the other two that much of a hard time other than forgetting they are there when she steamrollers through.
One bit of advice I was given early on was we needed to have a older pig so they would be the alpha and avoid any dominance issue but I am still not convinced of that. That said we got Chunkita (Chunky) from them who seems t be slightly older and definitely bigger and she seems to be the boss girl but doesn't give the other two that much of a hard time other than forgetting they are there when she steamrollers through.
I used to work for *big brand name petstore* and, unfortunately, they don't often train their employees well or give them false information in order to sell pets. :/ That store employee probably was told "don't sell small mammals to people who have them already because they will fight" because hamsters. Of course, gps are nothing like hamsters, but most chain petstore workers do not know that!
Lemme tell ya, the online modules (hours and hours and HOURS of them) had sooo much bad info. They wanted us to try to sell those teeny tiny cages (the ones that are like max 4 sq ft) for people with multiple pigs!!! Ugh! I knew better, as did the workers in MY particular store who had experience with piggies (and advised customers to get C & C cages and to come to this lovely site for info!), but most people start working in pet stores like that with no animal experience.
Not to mention, employees aren't allowed to refuse to sell animals to customers, unless they know they are going to literally feed the animals to another animal. Even if an employee thinks the person they are selling to is NOT a good fit for the animal (i.e. very aggressive hamsters to toddlers YIKES) they HAVE to sell them (or risk termination, which obviously is not a possibility for a lot of people because rent). In fact, I got my first two piggies because as I was quitting my job, a family RETURNED THEM TO THE PET STORE. Why? THEY HADN'T ASKED THEIR MOM FOR PERMISSION TO BUY THEM AND SHE DIDN'T WANT THEM IN THE HOUSE!!! AAAAH!!! My poor babies spent a while in a family that didn't want them and even longer in a stupid Big Name Pet Store. :(
I ended up taking them (for free) because I had the means, the space, the time and a family that really wanted to be a part of caring for them.
Blame corporate! Complain on those surveys at the ends of receipts! Employees can't change company policy, but customers and corporate can!!!
Lemme tell ya, the online modules (hours and hours and HOURS of them) had sooo much bad info. They wanted us to try to sell those teeny tiny cages (the ones that are like max 4 sq ft) for people with multiple pigs!!! Ugh! I knew better, as did the workers in MY particular store who had experience with piggies (and advised customers to get C & C cages and to come to this lovely site for info!), but most people start working in pet stores like that with no animal experience.
Not to mention, employees aren't allowed to refuse to sell animals to customers, unless they know they are going to literally feed the animals to another animal. Even if an employee thinks the person they are selling to is NOT a good fit for the animal (i.e. very aggressive hamsters to toddlers YIKES) they HAVE to sell them (or risk termination, which obviously is not a possibility for a lot of people because rent). In fact, I got my first two piggies because as I was quitting my job, a family RETURNED THEM TO THE PET STORE. Why? THEY HADN'T ASKED THEIR MOM FOR PERMISSION TO BUY THEM AND SHE DIDN'T WANT THEM IN THE HOUSE!!! AAAAH!!! My poor babies spent a while in a family that didn't want them and even longer in a stupid Big Name Pet Store. :(
I ended up taking them (for free) because I had the means, the space, the time and a family that really wanted to be a part of caring for them.
Blame corporate! Complain on those surveys at the ends of receipts! Employees can't change company policy, but customers and corporate can!!!
This reminds me of when I got my guinea pig Bella. The employee at the store told me not to hold her like a baby against my chest because she will bite me. He also proceeded to say guinea pigs are afraid of heights and don’t jump.
He also wouldn’t let me check the guinea pig’s sex while I kept repeating I need to make sure because I already have a female and I don’t want to end up with a male. The only reason I got her at a pet store is because Pumpkin became depressed after losing her cagemate and the shelter I could get to by bus didn’t have any female guinea pigs.
Currently Bella and Pumpkin only give little kisses and never bit me. And I find it funny because their favorite place to stay is on my chest. And if I put Pumpkin down on the floor next to me she will jump up to my chest, so I don’t know where that employee got his facts.
He also wouldn’t let me check the guinea pig’s sex while I kept repeating I need to make sure because I already have a female and I don’t want to end up with a male. The only reason I got her at a pet store is because Pumpkin became depressed after losing her cagemate and the shelter I could get to by bus didn’t have any female guinea pigs.
Currently Bella and Pumpkin only give little kisses and never bit me. And I find it funny because their favorite place to stay is on my chest. And if I put Pumpkin down on the floor next to me she will jump up to my chest, so I don’t know where that employee got his facts.
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RavenShade
- Thanks for the Memories
There are reasons many of us do not shop at chain pet stores that sell animals.
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