Feeder guinea pigs!

Question
Hello

My locale pet store carrys guinea pigs and they carry LIVE feeder guinea pigs! The person who worked there said that the feeder ones are mean thou maybe she didnt want me to get a good pet for cheaper I wasnt sure, I have gotten feeder mice from that same pet store before to keep adn breed as pets they werent mean acctuly I could pick them up and hold them I could even sit them on my shoulder they didnt bite either, they would take treats from my hand thou they were in a poor condtion when I got them because ther was like thirty in a container the size of a ten gallon tank with little food and no hiding places! Anyways I was wondering if these "feeder" guinea pigs are as mean as she says I will ask to see them the next time I'm there but my question is; do you think that these "feeder" guinea pigs could be tamed and kept as pets and maybe bred in the future? I dont blame the poor things if there jumpy at first because they are probly kept the same way as those poor mice. Even if they dont become fully tame even enough to let me pick them up to change there cage adn to let them out and to have them take pieces of food from my hand will be enough.     

Thanks for any help you can give

Answer
Hello,

I have also bought feeder mice and was very happy with them. I have never heard of "feeder" guinea pigs being bad pets. The only reason why they would be less tame is because of the way the employees probably handle them at the pet store. Typically, the feeder animals are the ones in the litter that have poor markings or the "ugly" ones in the group. But usually, the health is fine. Just don't get a runt - these WILL have health problems, feeder or not. So long as you are willing to tame the pig, I think you will be fine. Sounds like the pet store wants a larger profit.

Good luck! Matt