best place to get guinea pigs in leicestershire or east midlands

[LeftTheBlimminWashingOutAgain]

wanting to get two baby guinea pigs. struggling to find any in the area atm (local rspca said it's the first time they have had to tell anyone that there are no baby guinea pigs available - which i know is a good thing really). we want babies really because we have a young child and we know that older guinea pigs from rescue centres generally need a lot more peace than we can offer. can anyone recommend anywhere in this area. don't fancy pets at home, have heard mixed reviews. thank you :-)

[BonkeyMollocks]

Please don't write off older ones!

You may find they will be much much easier to handle than babies. I struggled to keep hold of my baby pig until he grew out of the wriggly stage. He jumped out of my arms once . There is no way my ds (4) would have been able to have him on his lap, he just wouldn't have kept hold.

As for peace and noise, they will all be the same in a new place until they learn that they aren't going to get swooped on by a eagle. They are naturally skittish animals so will always scatter at a scary noise, a cough for example .

There are loads of piggies in rescues. Find one and have a chat with them. they will be able to find you a good pair for what you want. They likely won't be 'old' anyway, just not babies. There is a poster 70 who had two boys from a rescue who were about a year which while its mature, its still young in GPig terms.
At least phone round and have a proper chat with them!

And please please don't go to P@H. So many bad storys :(

good luck :)

[LeftTheBlimminWashingOutAgain]

thank you! i did ask about some older ones but the ones they had in the area did not like being handled! i don't think they would be happy with us unfortunately. there are a lot of breeders but a lot of them ring alarm bells...i.e. "lots of guinea pigs in lots of colours" and "i have the perfect guinea pig for every family"...i know there can be a lot of problems with some breeders as well. i don't want to encourage a irresponsible breeder

[LeftTheBlimminWashingOutAgain]

i didn't trust pets at home for a second! i had some teenage girl who had memorised the booklet talking to me and the guinea pigs were very cramped!

[kateclarke]

If you can get to nottingham , avalon guinea pig rescue is great. We got two young ones from them and would really recomend.

[guineapiglet]

Hi - do keep trying local animal rescue and RSPCA as they come in all the time - also try local vets who usually know of litters which are available - but like everyone else has said, avoid P@H like the plague. Bonkey is right, slightly older guineas are much easier for younger kids to handle, and you might find this is a better route, we have had two sets of rescues aged about 6 months, and they were really gentle and used to being handled. I have had some babies from P@H in the past who died very suddenly - I am not convinced any of them were old enough to have left their mothers and they were treated appallingly - would never do it again, babies can be quite labour intensive for small children, so just something to think about. I am sure some will find you eventually. Good luck.

[guineapiglet]

PS - if you can get to Windyway in Buxton, they often have deserving rescues, there are probably similar places like that near you.

[Lozislovely]

If its not too far from you Barwell Small Pet Rescue often have gp's. The owner Liz takes in all manner of small pets and often has gp's. We've had a rescue bun from her.

[SquigglePigs]

I second the Avalon rescue in Nottingham recommendation. We got 1 year olds from them nearly 2 years ago and they are wonderful. If you are positive you want babies they often have babies because people dump the piggies when they're pregnant. Their website is here:
www.avalonguineapigrescue.webs.com/