hamster or gerbils?

[Aranea]

I would like to get a pet for my 6yo. I'm thinking of a hamster or a couple of gerbils. Can anybody enlighten me as to the pros and cons of each? I tend to think of hamsters as a bit less interesting than gerbils, but maybe that's a good thing!

She'd have it in her bedroom - I don't know whether gerbils might be quieter at night?

anyone?

gerbils quieter at night, yes, but a bit harder to play with as they jump, hamsters are a bit calmer and easier to handle

Um, I'm terribly biased but I genuinely think guinea pigs would be a better pet for a child of that age.

Hamsters are nocturnal so she won't get much day-time interaction with them and they are also much more fond of biting!

Gerbils are also most active in the evening and at night but they don't tend to bite as much. They are fun because they enjoy "playing" in sand and running through tubes etc. I found them difficult to handle though because they are so quick and run and jump about, almost impossible to catch, and I was always losing them ...

Guinea pigs don't do much playing but they are lovely, sweet gentle personalities with very friendly personalities. They "sing" to you when you bring them food. You can put them out to graze on the lawn in the summer and they are very easy to look after. They do need lots of salad every day (carrots, endive, cucumber, parsley in moderation, apples etc) because they don't manufacture their own Vit C. You can easily buy dried food and drinks with added vit C too but fresh is best. They eat lots and lots of hay too! They will be very nervous when they first come to you so explain to your dd in advance that she might have to hold back from handling them too much when they first arrive. But if you offer them titbits every day and allow them a bit of time to adapt, they will become tame in no time.

Neither, gps or gerbils should be kept alone (unlike hamsters) as they are group animals and get depressed.

If you are buying gps then I recommend two sows.

Another option is a domesticated rat (sounds awful I know but they are very popular in France) and make clever, sociable pets apparently but have no personal experience of keeping them!

Rabbits can be very stroppy and I would recommend them for an older child.

Have fun whichever pet you choose!

can guinea pigs live outside all the year round? Mine did when I was a girl, but I hear of them being kept indoors now.

I went to an environmantal centre once they had a turf roof, and guinea pigs living on it to keep it trimmed! (it was quite a shallow slope) but they had to have hiding places or they were got by birds of prey! But I never found out what they did in winter.

That's uncanny, I was just saying to dh, 'maybe a guinea pig would be better...'

I do think dd would struggle to handle a gerbil.

I like rats. My sister used to have one. My only real objection to it was that it used to pee on people in what I assume was a territorial way. I'm not so very sure about one for dd, partly because it would be sad if her friends weren't so keen because of the 'eww' factor.

Do guinea pigs need very big cages? Especially if you'd have to have two?

And re. hamsters.... are they bad for biting? I've heard people say so but is that down to insufficient handling? I'd hate dd to get bitten.

Oops sorry stillconfounded, just realised you've already said that hamsters are bad biters. Hm.

Shallishanti gps tolerate the same sort of temperatures as us but they don't do well in very damp conditions.

In the summer, mine live in a cage in our basement at night (because of local cats) and outside all day in our walled garden. We do put a shelter on the lawn for them to bolt to if necessary though, or if they need shade and water (one of those toblerone shaped ark structures)

In the winter, they tend to live in a double-size cage in our basement but we bring them upstairs every day to spend some time being handled/running about/and chilling in a day cage.

Aranea see here for info about cage sizes

My summer 'night' cage isn't as big as that tbh. It's about 1.5 metres x 1 metre. I find that easier to clean out (every 4th to 7th day) and so it's a balance between freedom for the gps and hygiene/welfare.

In the winter though, when they are indoors much more, I have two cages of that size wired together (and am about to add a third as they have grown quite large now!)

Neither, get a couple of rats. Hamsters and boring and sleep all day, Gerbils bite you and hide in tunnels.

They are actually happier in cages that aren't too huge btw (a) because they have very poor eyesight and (b) because in the wild they would naturally spend time in holes or burrows in grassland so like to feel "fairly enclosed"/"safe" if that makes sense.

Definately go down the guinea pig route. They are too stupid to bite and like sitting on laps and being stroked. Much bigger than hamsters/gerbils for a child to handle.

And I have to admit, I am a hamster lover, but the guinea pigs have grown on me.

I got this cage with a stand for two, but the shop did say a smaller one would be ok as well. www.petsathome.com/shop/rabbit-100-guinea-pig-and-dwarf-rabbit-cage-by-ferplast-37559

And DO NOT go for degus. EVER. (been there, done that)

I'm another one who says Guinea Pigs all the way. Delightful pets and much easier to handle for a 6yo.

Do guinea pigs need to come out for exercise then? What are their needs? Are they going to be harder work for me than gerbils/hamster when dd gets past her initial flush of enthusiasm?

They're all hard work: lots of heavy lifting of cages, giant packs of dusty sawdust, food and hay...

Much as I loved my pet rats, I don't miss the lugging of stuff around, or the dust, or the mess. It was only worth it because they were so affectionate and I don't feel that a gerbil, rabbit, hamster or guinea pig give enough back.

I also had house rabbits which were also a tremendous amount of work. They rewarded my efforts by chewing through a live cable and nearly killing us all.

I have 2 cats now and they are almost no work at all: scooping the odd turd from the litter tray is nothing compared to scrubbing out the base of a rat's cage in the bath once a week.

So, my advice is to get a cat.

I was thinking about a cat (might also help with the mouse problem!) but feel 2yo dd2 might be a bit young. I'd rather wait until she's old enough to be trusted to be gentle.

Yes, a cat is much better and less work!

You've also got to consider life spans. I only have one guinea pig now (one sadly died a couple of months ago) and cannot get another older one anywhere. But as they live up to 8 years I can't face getting another young one with another 8 years of cleaning the sodding cage.

Budgies are nice :)

And goldfish!

I have a 1 year old dd and the cats are fine with her. She pokes them but if it gets too much they just take off.

I was brought up with cats: they are surprisingly tolerant and I've never seen one get aggressive with a baby.

Oh, no, not goldfish! Only if you want to spend one Saturday a month siphoning water out of the tank...

PS: I keep the litter tray in the bathroom and put the poos down the loo. It seems logical and I can keep dd away from the excitement and intrigue (and tasty snacks) that apparently lurk within its depths.

we've got fish already, but dd1 wants something furry.

going round in circles here. am looking at rats now... dwarf rats look quite sweet...

going to bed now. Thanks everybody!

earwicga can I ask why, never degus?

We've been considering for the spring as DDs will be older and figured a bit bigger than gerbil/hamsters but more lively than guinea pigs would be good.

1. The smell. It's like nothing I have ever smelt before, despite eventually scrubbing the wood in the cage every day.

2. The bite that I got that went through both sides of my finger and practically met in the middle. It hurt for months.

3. They are ok for teenagers and adults. Not children.

4. They destroy everything they come into contact with/that comes into contact with the cage.

5. My children weren't remotely interested as they were VERY lively and VERY quick.

6. They take up a large amount of space as if you keep them in a suitable large cage then they wee/shit as they run around and it covers a much wider area than the cage.

Oh, and the three I bought were all pregnant. Nice surprise, not! But obviously that isn't guaranteed with every purchase of degus.

They are really lovely though, when they are somebody else's :)

That last post was to Jbck about degus - sorry forgot to pop your name in there.

Aranea - it boils down to what pet do you want? Kids are bad at looking after pets in general so it will be yours for the vast majority of its lifetime.