Where to Get Your Guinea Pig

Once you have decided that a Guinea Pig is the perfect pet for you, your next decision will be on where to obtain your new pet from. There are three possible places from which you can get your guinea pig from: breeders, pet stores or rescues and shelters. This article will focus mainly on rescues and shelters.

You’ve probably not even thought about visiting your local rescue or shelter to look for a guinea pig.

These days, local rescues and shelters hold more than just cats and dogs; they also have other types of animals, guinea pigs included. There are many, many benefits of adopting a guinea pig from rescue centers and shelters. Such as:

• Creating space in the rescue for other abandoned and unwanted guinea pigs;

• You will have more time to find out about each individual guinea pig, and find a suitable personality match to any current guinea pigs you may already have;

• You will usually be able to find about the conditions your chosen guinea pig was kept in before they were taken in by the rescue center;

• You can find a pair of guinea pigs that will best match your lifestyle. For example if you adopt two older pigs, they can manage with less exercise time, whereas two younger guinea pigs may need more attention and exercise time.

• Guinea pigs that are kept in a rescue center or shelter are usually in good health and have been cared for well during their time at the shelter, and when they get sick you are often given support and advice from the rescue;

• You are saving a guinea pigs life just by simply adopting it from a shelter.

 These are only a few reasons to adopt from a rescue or shelter, but one of the most important reasons is that you will be helping both the rescue and the guinea pig that you choose to adopt.

Sometimes an adoption fee is charged and even at some rescues and shelters a donation instead of an adoption fee is preferred. Remember, though, that the money you donate to the rescue will always go towards helping the other animals as well as the running of the rescue.