I know this is kinda random, but a lot of people on here are animal people so I figured I'd ask. I used to have guinea pigs when I was younger, and I was considering getting back in to them. I miss my little piggies. I was also considering maybe breeding them, having a couple females to rotate and have one or two litters a year, maybe make a little bit of profit from it but that's not my main concern. I'm worried I wouldn't be able to find them homes. I live in the upper peninsula of Michigan and as much as I would love to keep all the little babies, that's just not possible. I'm just curious if anyone has any tips or information. I saw someone selling guinea pigs for $20 and I saw someone selling them for $150. Is it possible for it to be profitable on a smaller scale?

I don't suggest getting into animal breeding for profit.

Edit - to elaborate: reputable breeders do it for the love of the animal, and to better the gene pool of whatever it is they're breeding. Guinea pig breeding will never support you financially. If you don't have people already asking for your animals (you mentioned you don't know if you'd find them homes), do not start breeeding.

So I would just get a pair of boars (males) because they can be a bit friendlier than the females. But make sure you get them fixed.

Oh and make sure you always get them in pairs or a group of 3. They are very social animals. In some countries it's illegal to just have one guinea pig.

Definitely not doing it for the profit, or to support myself. I'm just curious. I had two females a couple of years ago that I adored. I think it could be cool to get a more "rare breed".

We only have one pet store, PetSmart, and I would prefer to not send the babies there. Is it possible to ship piggies?

Pet stores have designated vendors, animal health standards/procedures by which they must abide, and they're not shelters. Unless you know someone personally at a mom and pop pet store and they've agreed to take or buy your animals, don't bank on it. There's no reason to breed anything if you don't have a reason for it or a good place to put the resulting offspring

You could ship piggies, but it's expensive, and you got to follow live animal shipping codes. It's not worth it. If you're looking for a rare breed of piggy you're only going to really find those at mom and pop pet shops or at guinea pig shows. Where I live we have a PetCo and a mom and pop shop. The mom and pop shop in the mall have skinny pigs and some Peruvians. You'll find Absyinans at Petco and Petsmart most likely and sometimes a white crest.

Please do not breed chain pet store guinea pigs. Try local guniea pig facebook groups for selling babies. If you don't have the means to care for possible babies that don't get homes I would say don't breed.

That's what I was thinking. I'd want to send them to local places. I just think it could be fun to have little babies around and maybe increase a rarer breed. Maybe a little later in life

I don't know much about guinea pigs, but I do breed rabbits, I have a pretty well wanted breed, and I don't make much of a profit off of them, often it takes awhile to sell, and I always make sure to send them to good homes. I have maybe 4 litters a year (not the same doe), and you do lose a good amount of babies, so you have to be prepared for that, and any unexpected expense that comes up. I recently had to spend 40 dollars on a tarp to cover their cages because its been storming pretty bad.

You have to love doing it, and spend lots of time handling the babies, always be checking them, cleaning their houses, keeping their food and waters topped, etc.

It is a side thing I do, but its a pretty large part of my life, its not like they'll breed, feed, water, clean their houses, and sell themselves, you have to do all of that.

So yeah its a big commitment