Guinea Pig Breeders???

Question

Does anyone know of any good, responsible ones???

preferably one with a website i could look at, and an email so i could talk to them.

im thinking about breeding them myself, but i would like to see and talk to other breeders first.

thanks

=]

Answer 1

A good website with lovely pictures doesn’t mean that someone is a good, responsible, or successful breeder. It just means that they are good at making websites!

Look at websites to help you decide which breed you are interested in and then approach the club with special interests in that breed.

Not sure if you are UK or USA – In the UK we have clubs for each of the recognised breeds – for example, ‘English Self Cavy Club’ ‘National Agouti Cavy Club’ ‘Rex Cavy Club’. Contact the secretary of you chosen club (via their website) and find out who the successful local breeders are for that variety (not just the ones with flashy websites).

Buy the best that you can. Breeders won’t sell you their top show animals but should let you have something related to their winners (you may have to go on a waiting list). A responsible breeder will tell you if their breed is not suitable for a novice because they require more care – longhaireds, satins etc. rather than just trying to palm you off with their ‘spares’.

Stick with ONE breed at first; don’t fall into the beginner’s trap of buying two of this, two of that and two of the other.  If you breed from good quality purebred stock (don’t be tempted to cross breeds to produce pets) you will not have problems finding homes for them.  Plan ahead and make sure you have adequate cages and money for feed, veggies, bedding, vet, etc.    Ask advice from the breeder in your area about how much you can expect to pay locally for all these things. A responsible breeder will also be happy to answer health questions later on if you have any problems – often basic problems such as parasites, hair loss or minor wounds can be dealt with at home to help keep vet costs a little lower.

You will find out that successful breeders put a lot of time, care and money into breeding their stock – do this too and you will avoid giving ammunition to all these little people who constantly post links to self-righteous breeder-hating forums instead of offering advice!

Answer 2

I like these sites

http://www.cavyspirit.com/breeding.htm

http://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html