# Prairie Dog Breeders And Sales Help



## Tommy99

Hello

I am trying to find a prairie dog, I am not having much luck. However I have found a company that supplies that but they only supple to the pet shops and they want near to £350 for one. Now I know that they are a great animal but I am not willing to spend that sort of money.

I have been searching online for breeders and other people how sell them. But i am not having much luck, the supplier is called www.simonsrodent.co.uk, but they will not deal with anyone how has not got a pet license.

Could anyone help.

p.s I know that they live in groups but I work for myself and work from home.

thank you


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## u-look-like-a-hamster

If you cant afford the animal you cant afford the upkeep !!

you wont find one cheaper than that! the breeding of prairie dogs is extremley hard alot of money and effort goes into ther breeding, so you have to expect to pay a fair bit of money!

anyway i dont agree on keeping them.
You need a license to keep them. if you dont have one its illegal to keep them!! 
Do you have the space, the time, the money, the food!

They must live in groups a lone PD will self mutilate, which is a fancy term for fight with themselves eventually killing themselves.

Okay
x


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## Nicky09

If you can't afford £350 for one then you shouldn't be getting one they cost a lot of money, take a lot of effort and need a large group to live in.


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## CarolineH

Prairie dogs, yet another highly social animal that needs others of its own kind and a large enclosure to give it the opportunity to forage and dig.  Yet people want to keep these animals singly in their homes a a pet because *I want one*? Get real folks and leave these animals to those who can afford the time and space for these poor creatures instead of being so airy fairy and sentimental! :cursing:


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## Tommy99

I appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

Yes £350 is a lot of money, and I understand that a lot of money goes into breeding them my issue is not the fact that i cannot afford the money it is the issue of the fact that paying £350 for any animal creates issues they become money making exercises which creates its own problems with the breeding, far too many people then see this as a way of making a quick buck and they are not the type of people that i would wish to buy off of, i would rather buy off of people that obviously appreciate the animal as a living thing rather than an asset. 

In regard to the second point off not being able to take care of it, the animal would be insured, a vet has already been sourced that has experience with this type of pet, a large indoor cage has been sourced that is over 12 foot square which is seven foot high and an outside enclosed area allocated for good weather. i have spoken too numerous proffessionals to ensure that what i have decided is both acceptable and humane and lastly to the criticism of another person that just thinks that i want one of those, this decision has been made after over a year of both research and discussions and can hardly be called a quick decision i have had numerous pets before including rodents so i am not knew into keeping animals that need constant challenges support and care. 

And as for a license, could you please give me a link. Because I believe you are think of America. The ban was lifted over there a few months ago and was only due to the case of monkey pox that was affecting indigenous species and then i believe that was spread by a gambian pouched rat.

The reason i have posted a link on line is due to the fact that there appears to be very few places to purchase and i would rather get an animal that had been bred in captivity and not one snatched from the wild, i was hoping to find one from a responsible breeder rather than someone wishing to make a profit.

I hope this clears up my intention


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## MerlinsMum

Just a little word.... many rodent dealers do not have a good rep among the best rodent keepers. None that I know would recommend the one you mentioned. I'm sorry I don't know where to send you but it would be better to have none at all, than have one from a less than reliable source...


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## u-look-like-a-hamster

it costaround £300 pounds ish to breed them each time!
Im sure most dont do it for profit!!

The last i heard about the license thing was a while ago so i dont noo, im just saying u cant afford the animal u cant afford the up keep

i personally think its mean to keep themas pets

but thats MO


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## Marcia

An indoor cage?!
Their should have an outdoor enclosure!


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## CarolineH

A single prairie dog will be a lonely, insecure, frustrated prairie dog. Is that kind?


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## Flissy

CarolineH said:


> A single prairie dog will be a lonely, insecure, frustrated prairie dog. Is that kind?


whats the point of having one if its going to be unhappy


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## CarolineH

Flissy said:


> whats the point of having one if its going to be unhappy


But the owners will convince themselves that it has food, water and shelter and won't mind being on its' ownsome because it is safe from predators etc....
:001_unsure:

That makes it ok then you see?

<tongue firmly in cheek of course>


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## devo

I have kept prairie dogs as companions for 14 years. I initially had one named "Pup" . He was the special pet of my life. He did not self mutilate nor does the one male PD that I have now. He is alone due to the death of his female companion almost a year ago. I live in the US and there is no license required. It is advised or imperative to have acess to a vet with PD experience. I was lucky to have lived near a vet that knew a great deal about PDs and pioneered some procedures with PDs. Normally care and feeding PDs is very economical. They eat mostly timothy hay, rodent pellents and some fruits and veggies. They are usually robust and healthy. They will become very attached to the keepers, especially if kept singlely. Pds can be very affectionate, comical and they have unique and individual personalities.They will bite if you don't know how to treat them. They usually only do this after warnings are not heeded. Pup taught me this: You don't have to earn respect as many sayings go, you start with respect and then you can be friends. I have said enough. I'm willing to answer any questions asked.


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## terrywilley

CarolineH said:


> A single prairie dog will be a lonely, insecure, frustrated prairie dog. Is that kind?


In regards to your comment about a single prarie dog being alone and unhappy, With all do respect I owned a prarie dog for the past 8 years. He played with my cat! My two dogs loved him and he was never alone . Unless you have ever owned one of these wonderful creatures then advice should only be limited to I would think that they would be lonely. Thanks!


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## blade100

have you tried the reptile forum?

they sell all exotic pets from rats to skunks,pouched rats,meercats the list goes on.

there are different sections on the site one for snakes one for lizards,domestic pets,re homing section,spiders etc etc etc.


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## chimaira123

I Work on an open farm in N ireland that houses various exotic animals and here's my two cents...
I know we have a licence to keep the various animals we have im not sure which in particular require the licence though its not really that expensive £75 i think not 100% if you get into dangerous animals like tigers your looking at a very specialised licence and they cost a ton. 

As for the Praire dogs- umm no they're not really all the that expensive to keep in terms of food the cost for a pair is'nt much more than a few guinea pigs really. Though vets are hard to find that are confident and this normally comes with a higher bill. But over all not really expensive to keep. They do require a fair amount of space preferably with a basement like compartment where they can get out of sight. 

As for the cost of them given my dog cost £900 £350 seems cheap to me for a pet lol. They are very hard to breed as ours have been sexually mature for 2 years and settled and as yet no young. Though i think the female may be pregnant at the minute even though its a bit past their typical seasons- captivity may account for this. 

As someone else stated they are very social animals and you need a minimum of 2 absolute no question minimum preferably you should have more. 
Another thing to be cautious off is that they have a season every year called a rut where they're personality changes drastically our male used to be friendly and happy to get picked up and petted now he tries to bite me everytime i clean the enclosure or change the water. And let me tell you a praire dog doesn't give a hamster nip its bites hurt.

In summary, they're fairly expensive to buy and set-up the enclosure for, feeding isn't really that bad cost wise. In terms of caring for theyre not the hardest but not the easiest either. Really i don't think they make ideal pets for the home though. Perhaps you should look into something a bit smaller A RICHARDSON GROUND SQUIRREL has a fairly similar appearance and care sheet to the praire dog but is a bit smaller and more manageable. We have four of them and they're pretty much a mini praire dog but more open to handling.


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## Lil Miss

sorry i have skim read this so some one may have already said this but the very first thing i have to say is

DO NOT EVEN *THINK* ABOUT BUYING FROM SIMONS RODENTS

any one who knows anything about breeding and the pet trade knows every one should avoid them like the plauge, they do not breed for quality or health or longlivity, they breed to breed, just to make money, no thought is given to ANY of their matings and as a result MOST of the animals that come from them are VERY sicky and very short lived
just dont do it

on a second note

if you cant afford £350 for the animal, how are you going to afford their vet bills? they are an exotic creature, and their vet bills will come with exotic price tags, you could easily spend £1000 + on 1 single illness.....

secondly, if you can only get one, you shouldnt get any, you need to put the animals needs before your own, and PD's NEED company, they are social animals that crave company of their own kind, they also need a very large out door enclosure, with a shelter to hide in when it gets cold (EG HUGE shed and run combo)

im sorry but it sounds to me like you want one for selfish reasons, if you want one, start a fund, put money towards it each week, and in the mean time go and do a heck of a lot of research, in if you still want them, in however long it takes you to save up that much, start another fund for your vet bills when that reaches about £500, go and get 2 as they NEED company

your best place to find a breeder is RFUK


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## magpie

Lil Miss said:


> sorry i have skim read this so some one may have already said this but the very first thing i have to say is
> 
> DO NOT EVEN *THINK* ABOUT BUYING FROM SIMONS RODENTS


I was just about to say this aswell!!

If you are really determined to find a good, ethical breeder that breeds healthy animals then you need to steer well clear of places like that. Simons Rodents is a rodent farm (bit like a puppy farm, but with rodents). They mass produce small furries for the pet trade and breed for quantity, not the health, well being or good temperament of the animal. They are the least ethical place you could possibly get an animal from.



devo said:


> They will become very attached to the keepers, especially if kept singlely


That's probably because they're so horribly lonely! Rats will do the same thing, as will many small furries kept alone that should be kept in pairs or groups. When they get no other interaction with any living creature except for their owner, of course they become attached to you. Doesn't mean it's not cruel.


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## Tommy99

Hi There

Its been a long time since i started this thread.

Since then I decided not to get a prairie dog as I was not sure what position I would be in etc...

However, I did buy to richardson ground squirrels, this is what i sent to someone how was interested. 


> Sorry forgot to say that I got my 2 boys when they were only a few weeks old. I recently bought another 2 girls that had been given back to the pet shop, they were very hard to look after and they had never really been handled. I had to chase them around the flat, which scared the hell out of them but unfortunately was the only way. I did lose one a few months ago and the second is in the vets at the moment. However, I think this is due to them not being happy, as my two boys have never had a problem and only go to the vets for checkups every 6 months. I was lucky with the first 2 as the pet shop loved looking after them and handling them every day.
> 
> Some bad points:
> 
> They do chew, but you can tell them off. My two know that they are doing something wrong and scarper.
> one of my boys loves to explore everywhere and can even open kitchen cupboards. This is a problem in my last flat as there was a void where he got down into it and I thought I had lost him forever. But I managed to get into the flat below and take apart their kitchen.
> My 2 have a box which is where they stash their food
> Not really a bad point but they do know when you open the fridge, are eating dinner or cooking and they will be on you so quickly to get some.
> 
> Good Points:
> 
> They both know their names and will come to you when called.
> You will be used as a climbing frame
> They do fall asleep on you
> They will work around your timetable and be up in the morning and up when you get back from work.
> 
> Hope this helps, is does take time to get them to that point but they are also happy to just run around.


However, over past month I suddenly lost them both. From what I read it was CHF, which is also found in rats.

The first boy (India), became very lethargic, only wanted to sleep and was finding it very hard to breath (not here normal energetic self). She went straight to my vets which I was using that was the specialised exotic animals. I was going to pick her up the day after getting a call saying she was better, but on my way to collect her she passed.

Now, Harry the other boy, he from what I thought was very lonely. He was fine but India had been to the vets before for a few days and he became depressed. However, this was not the case, 1 week later he was showing the same signs as India. I already had some baytril from the vets so started him on that as soon as i released. Now, I made a decision not to take him to the vets, as I felt very guilty that India went on her own with no one there. I took a few days of work, and spent every hour with him in from of the sofa. He didnt move, as he would sleep on me for hours. After a few days, I woke up at 5.30am and saw he was trying to get down the bottom of the cage I picked him out and within a few minutes his heart stopped.

Before anyone says anything about not taking him to the vets, they were already unable to help the previous three RGS. And I want to be there when he went.

Getting back to my point, and one someone else made. CHF could have been treated by the vets. However there overall experience of looking after the was minimal. I would now advise anyone looking a getting an exotic animal to get the best possible vets they can.

RGS are great but its hard to say bye.

Now I have decided that if I get another animal it will be a shiba inu.

ps sorry went on for so long and thanks for reading.

tom


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## chimaira123

Lol what you ended up getting is what i suggested. Maybe i just read your mind mwahaha.
Busy week for us we added 2 mongoose and indian star tortoise and 2 fire bellied newts to the farm and i shall be discussing with the owner 2moro about another possible addition an Egyptian spiny mouse fun fun.


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