Degu's anyone?

[SamJones]

DD (11) wants one - well, more than one, as replacement for her recently deceased hamster. But I know very little about them other than the rather contradictory websites I have found so far.

Does anyone have experience of them? Any clues on suitability as pets for children - also have ds who is 5, though DD would have primary responsibility.

My dd( 13) saw some in a (quite good) pet shop near here. They look like large gerbils/guineapigs. But unlike guineas, they are quite skittish as far as I can make out- guineas are very biddable and cuddly.
We put her off, and she's now getting mice!

I since asked people about them, and most said they're more of a handful than some other small pets. They need quite a lot of space, kick their shavings etc around, ( live indoors) and aren't brilliant at being caught / being handled.
Oh- and- they live for YEARS I think- I imagined her maried with kids, and me still cleaning out degus.
Get guinea pigs-- they're gogeous.

I know - I love guinea pigs, and have already said that we could look at that in the spring when we lost our old Golden Retriever recently. (I'm not at a point to be able to deal with the puppy the dc would really like)
And I didn't think it would be fair to get young guineas and expect them to go into an outdoor hutch area in the winter.

But now the hamster has gone too, we are down to just the fish tank - which Will Not Do apparently.

Tbh I would love a cat, but having lost two cats already on the increasingly busy road outside I don't think I could stomach the prospect of that again.

I'm not overly fond in principle of caged animals either really, but that seems the best option for now as long as we provide the best conditions we can. And I do love listening to guinea pigs!

The more I read about Degus the less I like the idea.
Does anyone keep guineas indoors??

Aww- sorry about your retreiver sam...puppies are hard work, you could get a young dog from a rescue ? We rescued a terrier chihuahua cross from the RSPCA who was 10months- still playful but house trained, and permanently puppy sized- perfect! He's a really lovely, loyal little dog- the dc's totally adore him, (old lurcher less sure... she remebers a hazy time when things were more agreable...)

Some people keep guineas indoors quite hapily, but personally I think they're happier outside- ours always have been, they like access to grass and lots of hay. We moved them into a barn during a very cold winter and they really weren't happy, so we lined the hutches with lots of cork tiles, and carpet tiles I think, stuffed in loads of hay and they snuggle up for warmth too.

I agree about caged animals- I always felt our gerbilss were a bit desperate and felt relieved when they went.

How about rats? Very intelligent and indoors too- we've had the full range of pets as you can see!! But I always really liked the rats- they loved human company and contact, and could run freely around- on us and the room.

We have had guineas inside. They had been in an outside hutch, but when one died we brought the other two in to keep an eye on - and they never went back. They lived in a hutch in the kitchen, and I found they had much more attention from the children because they were more visible. They became very friendly and would put their paws up for vegetable scraps when I was cooking, etc. In warm weather, they went outside in a run during the day.