To ask about guinea pigs...

[MushySeas]

I adore animals and really want a pet, but can't get a dog or cat at the moment.

I'm just thinking about guinea pigs. Are they high maintenance? Would I need to buy 2 or 3? Are they boring? Smelly? How big a hutch/run would they need? Cuddly? Expensive?

Please share your advice and photos

All pets are work. Guinea pigs don't seem to bite much compared to hamsters and they are very cute. They subject themselves to cuddles and seem to enjoy it once they are out, but as prey animals they will always be suspicious of a hand appearing near them. Parsley seems to help with this though :)

Those saying about low/no vet bills have a very different experience to me!

First five years was quiet, but we've had one with a recurrent eye poke (think he's blind on that side), and one having investigations for bladder issues. If he needs X-rays and an op it'll be ~£370 on top of what I've spent thus far

IME they only smell if they aren't being cleaned often enough, or the bedding material isn't suitable for the length of time the owner wants to leave it between spot cleaning.

If a guinea pig is giving you "nothing" back, and doesn't seem to like being handled, it is possible that they haven't been given the time to get used to the handling/petting.

It's kind of like getting a puppy and expecting it to be fully trained from the get go. You have to put the work in.

We have a pair of boars that were rehomed separately and have never gotten on, so we ended up with two sets of everything and keeping them side by side.

They are funny little creatures, and by no means an "easy" pet.

MrsPlesWearsAFez - but they don't need vaccinations twice a year as rabbits do, and they seem to suffer from fewer conditions. I spent over a grand on two of my rabbits last year who came down with a mysterious illness. They saw three vets, but all were mystified. They did recover, but it was a near miss.

Guineas tend to just die.

The other thing with guineas is that it can be much easier to bond strangers together than it is with rabbits. When I was down to one lass I popped two babies on the floor of the kitchen with her together with a large pile of food and all was well.

When the aforementioned rabbits were better it took me three weeks to get them to the point with the other two (their sisters/daughters) where they could go back to their shed without drawing blood. It took another 4 months before the tension in the shed vanished completely.

Guineas tend to be so much easier!

MrsPlesWearsAFez - we spent nothing at all at the vets for our Guinea pigs - not one penny. Some piggies are easy.

They lived til 9 and 10 then just died. No pain on handling, no wheezing, no rashes or lumps and bumps, good eyes, good bladder/digestive systems - just came a point where they each seemed to die of old-age - just didn't eat that day, went into their huddle area and stopped.