This is why you ask first

[bhskittykatt]

Today at work, the closest parking I could find to my destination whilst on my bank run was in front of the pet shop downtown, so on my way back I stopped in to look at the critters and get a couple items for my own furchildren. They had several little baby guinea pigs in the big, open-topped pen where they're always kept here, with signs that say "Please do not handle without assistance."

There were a lot of kids in the shop, and one of them picked up a guinea pig while another little girl pointed out the sign to them. The girl called over one of the employees, and the employee said that it was okay as long as they had parents supervising and held the guinea pigs really close. (And to put it back in the gender-appropriate side, please.)

Why supervised and really close? According to the employees, just yesterday someone came in and picked up a piggy without asking, dropped it, and the piggy broke its leg.

And that is why you only handle them with supervised permission. Those signs aren't there just to tempt you. They exist for a very important reason.

(As an aside, when I was getting acclimated to Pippin, there were times when I thought I was holding her normal, and she apparently thought differently, because she would suddenly chomp on my finger, and it was hard not to drop her. She's very particular about how she's held, and if someone else wants to pet her I personally make sure I have her set up in a good position rather than have the other person pick her up. We've come to an understanding, Pippin and I, but Hubs, who also experienced the chomping, is still paranoid about picking her up and he won't let her lick his face or hands.)

[auntiem]

Do baby piggys heal well from broken legs? That sounds like a really painful way to start life.

[Seshat]

(As an aside, when I was getting acclimated to Pippin, there were times when I thought I was holding her normal, and she apparently thought differently, because she would suddenly chomp on my finger, and it was hard not to drop her. She's very particular about how she's held, and if someone else wants to pet her I personally make sure I have her set up in a good position rather than have the other person pick her up. We've come to an understanding, Pippin and I, but Hubs, who also experienced the chomping, is still paranoid about picking her up and he won't let her lick his face or hands.)

Seph - our ElderlyCat - has also always been fussy about how she's held. She's less fussy with people she trusts completely; but anyone who knows Seph is amazed at some of the ways she'll let my husband handle her.
She wouldn't even let ME do some of the things she'll let him do* - and I'm the one who she lets do medical things to her!

* like dangle her upside down, or pretend to toss her in the air. She even seems to enjoy it - as long as it's HIM. Noone else.

[PepperElf]

Why supervised and really close? According to the employees, just yesterday someone came in and picked up a piggy without asking, dropped it, and the piggy broke its leg.

is there any legal action they can take against the customer for that? I mean fuck, that sounds more than rough if you ask me.

[Cooper]

Reminds me of how we got our first rabbit. My sister was looking to get a new hamster, but we saw this itty bitty bunny with a bald spot on her head. I picked her up, then was informed by Mom that I had to put her down and go ask to pick her up.

Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but anyone who knows rabbits knows she very well could have been--rabbits are so fragile. We had that bunny for 10 years.

[Automan Empire]

Awww, I kept guinea pigs for over 20 years, they can be adorable pets.
They are not evolved for jumping or landing AT ALL. I have seen broken baby legs that healed mostly OK, some ended up lame, some not.

The REAL wrecker of guinea pig legs is wire bottom cages! NEVER keep guinea pigs in cages with square holes! Their feet have a heel to them that gets stuck in the wire, then they spin it around and break it!

I gave more than a few lame guinea pigs a home over the years.

[Flying Grype]

We had a lame piggie but it was because one of his previous owners didn't know how to supply vitamin C properly (hint: use the powdered supplement and put it in his water bottle, and replace the bottle before you think you need to because it does break down over time), and he got scurvy and broke his hips. They healed funny so he always had this peculiar bouncing gait in his back end. He loved to run around on the carpet but if we put him on the linoleum he'd run in place and freak out because he couldn't get a purchase on it with both back feet. Sometimes he'd venture to the edge of the area rug and stare off into the vast linoleum void...

[Lace Neil Singer]

Grr... ignoring of signs is something I really hate, as a former pet store worker. I once spent nearly an hour trying to catch a loose rabbit after Rosemary's Baby (the demonic child of SCs who was often left in the pet section while his idiot parents went round the garden centre) opened the cage, took the rabbit out and let it go. Another time, a different child caught a budgie, took it out and let it go; that poor birdie ended up escaping out of the door into a cold February day and more likely died.