# Free guinea pigs!!



## imported-varanus (Aug 27, 2017)

Gotta love neighbourhood parents who are over looking after their child's unwanted pets.....and a bit mean.


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## Bl69aze (Aug 27, 2017)

I'm so confused, did u take someone's pet guinea pigs and feed them? >.<


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## bluedragon (Aug 27, 2017)

what the hell dude did you just murder someones elses guinea pigs


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## imported-varanus (Aug 27, 2017)

Apologies, owner's consent first.


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## bluedragon (Aug 27, 2017)

dude your not a good animal sitter i wouldn't trust yo with any of my animals


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## SpottedPythons (Aug 27, 2017)

Dude. That's the reason people breed lab rats!  Guinea pigs? That's cold...


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## baker (Aug 27, 2017)

What's the big deal here? What's the difference between a baby guinea pig and a baby rat? As long as the feeder animal has been humanely euthanized does it really matter what is getting fed? 

A neighbour didn't feel like taking care of another guinea pig, so they gave it to imported-varanus (potentially dead already) to use as they seem fit. Just so happens it was used to feed a large monitor. Nothing wrong with that. Looks like your monitors enjoyed the added variety into their diet imported-varanus. Also great looking monitors! 

Cheers, Cameron


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## Buggster (Aug 27, 2017)

Better than letting them go to waste! Monitors look to be enjoying their meal, and the unwanted guinea pigs were humanely euthanised (i hope!)


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## Bl69aze (Aug 27, 2017)

baker said:


> What's the big deal here? What's the difference between a baby guinea pig and a baby rat? As long as the feeder animal has been humanely euthanized does it really matter what is getting fed?
> 
> A neighbour didn't feel like taking care of another guinea pig, so they gave it to imported-varanus (potentially dead already) to use as they seem fit. Just so happens it was used to feed a large monitor. Nothing wrong with that. Looks like your monitors enjoyed the added variety into their diet imported-varanus. Also great looking monitors!
> 
> Cheers, Cameron


It's not that he's feeding it guinea pigs.. it's just disturbing that that particular guinea pig was someone's pet and potentially lived a happy life just to be killed for some reptile food

The stuff you buy hasn't been raised as "pets" and from day 1 are seen as food by the people breeding them.

It'd be like giving your dog to someone who said they will use it for shark food.. doesn't seem morally right


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## Nero Egernia (Aug 27, 2017)

Bl69aze said:


> It's not that he's feeding it guinea pigs.. it's just disturbing that that particular guinea pig was someone's pet and potentially lived a happy life just to be killed for some reptile food
> 
> The stuff you buy hasn't been raised as "pets" and from day 1 are seen as food by the people breeding them.
> 
> It'd be like giving your dog to someone who said they will use it for shark food.. doesn't seem morally right



Throughout my childhood I've raised countless of pets (lambs/calves/chickens/ducklings) and when it was time they were slaughtered to be eaten. They had names. They enjoyed pats and cuddles. They lived good lives. What's disturbing about that? 

Animals raised primarily for consumption deserve to be treated well too. It shouldn't be restricted just for pets.


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## Iguana (Aug 27, 2017)

Beautiful monitors! looks like they enjoyed the meal.

I don't know the whole story, but if they just didn't want the guinea pig anymore, I gotta question the ethics of a person buying an animal and then deciding they don't want to look after it. Good that it didn't go to waste though.


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## SpottedPythons (Aug 28, 2017)

Iguana said:


> Beautiful monitors! looks like they enjoyed the meal.
> 
> I don't know the whole story, but if they just didn't want the guinea pig anymore, I gotta question the ethics of a person buying an animal and then deciding they don't want to look after it. Good that it didn't go to waste though.


As long as it was killed humanely, and with the permission of the owner, I have no problems. Better than burying it in the ground...


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## Iguana (Aug 28, 2017)

SpottedPythons said:


> As long as it was killed humanely, and with the permission of the owner, I have no problems. Better than burying it in the ground...



I agree that it's better than burying it, and yeah very important that it was killed humanely. 
But as I said before, while I don't know the whole story, if the owner of the guinea pig, bought it as a pet, but decided they didn't want it anymore, it bothers me little. I've got no issue with it being killed and eaten, i'm not blaming the OP, i'd do the same. 
It's the owner of the guinea pig who decides they didn't want to care for it anymore that kinda bothers me.
Just my opinion


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## Prof_Moreliarty (Aug 28, 2017)

on the topic of guinea pigs and pet owners the last house we moved into had 2 free roaming pet guinea pigs in the garden. the old house owners said they would be back to pick them up... I was more concerned with how they had managed to survive without meeting a cat or python lunch for so long. The owners never came back and after 2 weeks of looking for them I found a local carpet python with a guinea pig sized lump in its belly and the other one dead in a bush (maybe one of the dogs/cats scared it to death). Have pics I'll try and dig up of the CP


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## vampstorso (Aug 28, 2017)

LOL omg people, he wasn't babysitting for someone. The neighbour clearly went "hey, my kids aren't taking care of their pets, I know what hobby you're in, would you like them for food?"

Honestly.

Also the notion that pet rodents live a good life the majority of the time is laughable. They are treated terribly and neglected all the time. Just dumped in the yard and forgotten about because the kids are bored and the parents never wanted them.
Look at the thousands for give away on Gumtree, no one wants them.


I like Guinea pigs, but I know this animal would've been euthanized nicely, IV is a great guy, and it's now fed a native animal.


Too many rodents, not enough homes, and if you eat meat or feed your animal meat... It doesn't much make sense to have a meltdown about this.
For reference I'm a vego of 14 years and I can understand it.



Regarding morals of it being raised as a pet, it'd be different if he was saying "yes ill give it a forever home and love it for eternity" and then used it for food, but I doubt that happened. I'm sure the use was made very clear.


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## pinefamily (Aug 28, 2017)

Since moving, we decided to not breed rats any more; the cleaning, the smell, etc. So we got ourselves a pair of guinea pigs to breed. It looks like the female may be pregnant at the moment. We are also in the process of building a rabbit hutch, for breeding purposes. These animals will all be looked after, fed well from our organic veggie patch, and their offspring will feed our reptiles. Euthanised humanely of course.
Good score on the free guinea pig, Richard. 

Another thought, before getting upset about a parent getting rid an unwanted pet, give some thought about how humanely the rats and mice you buy are treated.


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## Bl69aze (Aug 28, 2017)

pinefamily said:


> Another thought, before getting upset about a parent getting rid an unwanted pet, give some thought about how humanely the rats and mice you buy are treated.



I'm not upset, I'm all for a change of food.

I understand it was euthanised humanely and the owners probably understood it's fate.

The rodents I buy live a wonderful life :/ in the 6-7months they get enrichment, constant food/water refills (even when they still have food left) change overs of tubs every 2-3 days etc


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## Pauls_Pythons (Aug 28, 2017)

If everyone is getting upset on the morality of feeding a guinea pig to a snake I better keep my mouth shut with some of the feeder animals I have used over the years.
Having said that all the meat eaters on here should take a look at how well their feeder animals are treated these days before they comment. (Just saying)


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## Bl69aze (Aug 28, 2017)

Pauls_Pythons said:


> If everyone is getting upset on the morality of feeding a guinea pig to a snake I better keep my mouth shut with some of the feeder animals I have used over the years.
> Having said that all the meat eaters on here should take a look at how well their feeder animals are treated these days before they comment. (Just saying)


I think ur missing the point of why people are "upset" it's not that he fed a guinea pig to his monitors.

It's the fact that it was a pet.

As said before we should be targeting the owner of the guinea pig for allowing it instead of giving to a kid or something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

You agreeing with it is the same as saying "giving my dog away don't have time for it" and giving to someone who says "I'll take it and use as shark bait" then allowing the person to take your dog.


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## pinefamily (Aug 28, 2017)

No offence, Bl69aze, but the owner (or parent of) gave the guinea pig to Imported_Varanus willingly, knowing what would happen to it. We treat all of our animals like pets, the guinea pigs even have names. It doesn't mean we won't be feeding them to our reptiles. When we get rabbits, I hope we breed enough to be able to eat the odd one ourselves. But they'll still be our pets.


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## Ashleyyedwards7 (Aug 28, 2017)

Bl69aze said:


> It's not that he's feeding it guinea pigs.. it's just disturbing that that particular guinea pig was someone's pet and potentially lived a happy life just to be killed for some reptile food
> 
> The stuff you buy hasn't been raised as "pets" and from day 1 are seen as food by the people breeding them



How is it that a guinea pig that lived a happy life before being used as feed is upsetting, whereas it is much more acceptable for rodents to be bred specifically for food and often have a terrible life? Seems it should be the other way around to me.


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## SpottedPythons (Aug 28, 2017)

My guinea pigs haven't been eaten, because we don't breed them... but they have a pretty good life. They have access to dried hay, pellets and water in their hutches, and we release them into the garden during the day for them to eat grass and clovers and all the pot plants... but they always go back to their hutch at the end of the day by themselves, and they are locked up for the night.


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## Pauls_Pythons (Aug 28, 2017)

Bl69aze said:


> I think ur missing the point of why people are "upset" it's not that he fed a guinea pig to his monitors.
> 
> It's the fact that it was a pet.
> 
> ...



I'm not missing the point but I think you are. The animal WAS a pet until the time a decision was made that it was no longer wanted. Options could include re-homing or selling said animal, though they were unlikely to get much success as the market is flooded. Once the owner or parents of the owner made the decision to get rid that animal was almost certainly on death row......potentially to end up being euthanised in a not so ethical manner as it has been. The means of its demise was thus passed to someone with experience in ethical euthanasia and the carcass disposed of in a manner that put it to some use rather than it being thrown in the garbage bin.

What you are doing is confusing emotions with logic. What happened here was both logical and ethical but without emotion.


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## imported-varanus (Sep 2, 2017)

Apologies for upsetting people, it was not my intention, I should have chosen my wording a bit better. Thanks for the support from those who know I would never intentionally inflict cruelty on ANY animal, feral or no. The GP's were humanely euthed in my Co2 setup, then frozen for several weeks prior to feeding out. Great conditioning for the female in the up coming breeding season. I think the extra fat/ protein provided by GP's may have had a hand in the huge clutch she (my female Rosie) produced last season. 25 all up, unheard of, as far as I can tell, with this species.


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## pinefamily (Sep 2, 2017)

No need for apologies. Any distress was easily discussed and explained, for those who are still learning in the hobby. Not to say that I'm not still learning myself.


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## imported-varanus (Sep 2, 2017)

The day I stop learning is the day I enter politics......ie; never gunna happen!.


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