Guinea pig? Mouse?

[Smurfgirl]

I am thinking about getting a guinea pig. How hard are they to care for? Are they expensive?

Would i be better finding a breeder or would one from a pet shop be ok?

I really want a rabbit but I think a rabbit would be too big and I do like guinea pigs a lot.

Its either that or a mouse? Anyone with pet mouse experience?

How about a rat?! We've got 3 and they are fantastic pets!!

Guinea pigs are so easy to look after, as long you change the bedding when needed as it may be everyday or every 2 days, its depending and always get them in pairs as they can get lonely being by themselves... but Rabbit are more easier than G pigs, you can buy a dwarf rabbit.. never had a mouse - sorry

mice smell! i would also recommend a rat.

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but hamster sleeps all day... what about a gerbil as i had a few of them wheni was younger and they dont smell, or make a noise and they are active little pets

As a child our family had guinea pigs, rabbits, gerbils & hamsters over the years & the guinea pigs were my favourite.

IME they are hardier & easier to look after. We got ours from a local breeder. Wouldn't buy from a pet shop personally as I hate the way most pet shops keep animals.

Do you have a local 'bunny rescue' centre or similar ? - ours has guinea pigs too.

thats where i bought mine from too a bunny rescue and it was this old lady who was retired and she had loads of different little animals that people didnt want and she loves them. if you buy pets from shops they poss carry a disease or they dont live long

and they were all in her back garden and kitchen... awwww i remembered this black big short haired rabbit, one day the owners found their rabbits head lop sided for unknown reason so the owners didnt want it any longer.. it had no trouble walking

My DS has had a guinea pig for 3 years now. Very easy to care for, large enough for ds to handle, Need to be cleaned and cuddled few times a week but i love ours. DS puts fresh veg in hutch every day and puts fresh hay and straw in every other day. Rabbits tend to be harder to keep due to vets visits etc and mice do smell bad even if cleaned out regularly. Hamsters and mice are hard to handle for young children so i would defo go for guinea pig. We currently have 2 together in a big hutch and love it every day when we are greeted with squeaks for food!

Gerbils are fab because they don't smell they can be a bit fast though for small children, our local pet shop has giant gerbils (not sure what they are called) but they look really cool!

We just recently got two budgies, I've never had birds before and thought they would be boring but they are great and have their own little personalities. They will sit on me and then have a fly and go back to their cage on their own. If I take one of them into a different room then they will chirp to each other until it finds it's way back - oh we have so much fun at our house

Having worked in a petshop (believe me when I say it is a nice petshop - we give out birth certificates with our animals and they have regular health checks etc.. just before you all shoot me down for my career choice !!) for over 8 years I've found that people tend to go for a hamster for smaller children but this, in my opinion, is often a mistake as they sleep all day and when they bite it hurts and they hang on!!! They need a lot of handling to be super friendly!

Guinea pigs are v easy to care for - as most others have said - and the squeaking is actually quite nice (they 'chatter' to you, esp if you're bringing them some veg!!). They should really go in a pair tho as get v sad if on their own.

I love rabbits but don't tend to recommend them for younger children. Unless you go for a calmer breed like a mini lop (not a dwarf lop as this is actually a med/large breed rabbit).

Mice do smell and are v quick.

Rats are lovely but need lots of stimulation - they respond well to children and interact (ie will come when they're called etc.).

Bubblerock - the giant gerbils are either Jirds or possibly Degu's (both of which are fun to watch but not brilliant for handling).

As everyone else has said tho - pop along to your local rehoming centre as quite often the animals are a bit older and therefore calmer (its a fallacy that you need a get a baby in order to have a really tame pet). Best time to go is at the beginning of the school year as this is when people decide they can't cope with the new pet they bought at the beginning of the school holidays...

guinea pig

cuddly, slower than mice, cleaner than mice and sooooooooo cute

Mice don't live very long...guinea pigs can be v v sweet and with lots of attention they will chatter to you all the time (not scream!). Can you keep one indoors where you are?

We have twice had a gp which turned out to be a pregnant female and each one had 2 little boys so had to be given away (they start breeding very early and don't care that it's their mum ) but while we still had them they used to trundle up and down, nose to tail, like a train - hilarious.

Sarjon - they are Degu's !! The Toucan & Skunk have now been sold so god knows what he will be getting in next!

I love guinea pigs. My sister and I each had one as children. They lived outside the whole year round in ahutch raised a few feet off the ground that my Dad made. They survived the harsh winter of 1963, even though we had to dig their hutch out of a snowdrift! My sister's lived to 6 years and mine to 8 years old. Would definitely recommend as an easy, trouble-free pet fro children. We cleaned them out about once a week or so.

I would say go for a guineapig but then I am biased and have 5 (hence the username ) We keep ours indoors and they don't smell as long as you keep them cleaned out properly.

Definately get a pair, they are social animals and like each others company. I would recommend checking out local shelters first (whatever animal you decide on), you can often find an already bonded pair. Failing that, try a (reputable) breeder.

As mentioned before pet shop animals often come with a host of problems ranging from lice/mites to respiratory infections and what ever you do don't believe everything the pet shop staff tell you about all the rubbish treats and other crap they tell you they need. All they need is hay 24/7, a good selection of veggies once or twice a day, and regular cuddles

so have you decided what u are getting, Smurf?

We are now seriously considering guinea pigs going to start seeing how much it would be and buying books etc.

Also rats are not pets. They are disease-carrying vermin. Yuk. DH used to have a 'pet' rat before he met me. I told him someone must be making a good living capturing those things from a close at night and selling them to mugs for a fiver.