Guinea pigs for 4 year olds?

[mammywelsh1]

I'm thinking of getting a couple of guinea pigs for 4 year old for Christmas..obviously I know I'll be the one taking care of them...good idea or bad?also I'd like to keep them in the house..which room do other mn keep them in?

Check they are not allergic first! Our eldest is - so I get to care for them AND give them all their cuddles.... woo....

My 2 year old sister has 2 guinea pigs and she adores them. They aren't too bad to clean up and my sister does have them out daily. My mum has them in a glass tank in her bedroom. They do make a squeaking noise though so be careful where you put them. It's a great idea, she gained love, care and responsibility for them. She knows to be gentle with them and they are not toys.

Sorry to disagree. Gps are not toys and small children quickly get bored with them. The local rescue have loads given up because of this. They will not re-home them for children.
Christmas is also too noisy and busy for them. They are prey animals so quite scittish until they are well handled.
They shouldn't be a a glass tank either, they need space and air but are very sensitive to high and low temperatures.
Unless they are really for you, please think twice about buying them.

I had GPs at the age of 9 and my DD got her boars when she was 9.

They are lovely, much nicer (IMO) than rabbits but I'm sure rabbit owners wouldn't agree.

So once you've eliminated allergies (fur and hay related) you need to work out where they'll go.
They do need a fair bit of space.
My adult boars had a 4'x2' night winter cage but this winter I got a 'run' for them (panel that clip together and we made an area about 5'x3' with an extra bit into the bay window) They are much happier, partly more space but I think it's more open that the cage which had a solid plastic base.

They are quite hefty animals to lift and be aware - they are very gentle but being animals , prey animals at that, they can bite.
It's not something that happens often and I'd say 99% of the time there's a good reason. Either your hands smell of food or they're protesting at how they're handles.
My GP1 is getting a bit middled aged and needs respectful handling .
The piglet (now 6 months and massive) is a clothes puller or if there's the smell of hay he will pinch my skin.
But he doesn't like being lifted if your hand slips under his armpit. He'll do a 'snap' or he kicks (weird).

As an adult, or for DD , no problem. But for a 4yo it might be.

And YY friday. Look at Gumtree (not to buy) but see how many GPs are up for rehoming because the "child lost interest".
My boars are Rescue and they have a lifetime commitment that they will take them back if ever it occurs I can't keep them.
Funnily enough I can't find that bit of paper with the guarentee......last time I saw it, GP3 was reading it.

We asked pets at home if a glass tank was okay for them and they said it was absolutely fine.

A glass tank???!

you sure you are not confusing them with gerbils? Gerbils live in glass tanks.. guinea pigs would need a hell of a big one to have enough space.....

Sorry to be negative but in general advice about gps at pets at home is rubbish. They will even sell lone gps....nooooo

Sorry to be a killjoy but I would say No, I think your little one is too young, I'd get one of the soft toy interactive one's for the time being. My reservations stem from the fact that GP take a while to get used to being handled. They also like to hide and I'm not sure a 4 year old could cope with this behaviour. Their teeth are very sharp and sometimes they nip especially if food is in the equation and a little finger can be mistaken for a carrot stick. We had our GP's before my son arrived, he is 4 and has no interest in them whatsoever

I've never seen GP in a glass tank, but ours live outside so I'm not sure what appropriate living arrangements are.

I know the difference between a gerbil and guinea pig thank you. Well 6 months on they are happy and alive. Some people have them inside, outside, in cages, boxes etc, as long as they are happy and healthy.
Talk to your child, look through books, make sure they really want one

and in my opinion pets at home are bloody fussy! Couldn't get a fish without water being tested, making sure we had appropriate tank and equipment etc. I doubt they'd feel so much towards fish and not guinea pig

This isn't a P@H bashing thread but I've witnessed first hand some things there
(I've written before about so I won't bother again)
One involved two guinea-pigs eyes (and when I waited till they were lifted out was told "Oh maybe they are sleepy" )

One lady I saw buying a pig (single pig) but the seller did ask if she had a pig/pigs already.

But I look at the cages they sell -woefully inadequate in terms of size, strength and security.
We have vicious foxes round our way that would be in those cages within minutes.

I just put a sentence "Can you keep guinea pigs in a glass tank" into Google and got loads of answers from various different sites, USA and UK
.

The overall answer is no, no and , erm, no.

In P@H they keep the guineas in large perspex sides pens. They are all standard sized in the ones I've seen and are designed (in their shop) to hold up to 8 guinea-pigs.
The GPs they have there are mainly piglets so tiny and no territory issues.

The cages for the rehoming guineas are tiny

Well they seem happy so we're happy

And the question was should a 4 year old have guinea pig not lets gang up on pets at home and the person whose mother has 2 happy GPs in a giant glass tank (which is tons more room than the 'average cage')

This isn't a P@H bashing thread

I wrote as my first sentence,

And no-one is ganging up on anyone but if you do choose to Google you will find countless guinea-pig forums that do not recommend guinea pigs are kept in glass.

It's an advice thread - people ask .
People answer.
Things go off track.
But you can't expect everyone who has has bad experiences with one or other retailers to not voice it.

We all keep our guinea-pigs differently.
As long as their health and happiness is foremost, that is the No. 1 Priority.

I agree with 70 you have had really good advice on this thread but so defensive in your answers

Ooooh i am more than happy to bash p@h on any thread!!

Most of you know that i have seen appalling treatment of guineas there and personal experience of guineas dying unnecessarily due to their 'methods'. It is an industrial scale animal farming empire making money out of animals. Not sure that animal welfare rates highly on their profile.

Guineas need fresh air and a safe place to live. I would be worried about glass shattering or chipping and causing injury to humans and animals alike. Fish live in tanks.

Ps i was 6 when i got my first guinea boy. They need constant adult input regarding handling and welfare, cleaning out etc. They are not toys they are sentient beings. In my view they are not suitable pets for young very young children as they, like all pets ,need someone responsible to take care of them.

babiesmakemecrazy would you care to enlighten us as to the dimensions of your giant glass tank that the guineas live in?

I bought my DS gps for his 2nd birthday. We got them because DH and I love gps and think animals are good for children. At no point did we expect him to do much with them. He is now 3. As it happens he is very respectful of them - even to the point where he thinks they came out of my tummy like him :) We do all the care and cuddling, when DS is in the mood he will sit and cuddle them gently or they will run around in his lego or go in his dolls house while he plays on the floor. Our gps are uppity and bold so they like to explore (they do pee on things tho). They climb on him and sniff him like they have no fear of him - much more confident with him than Dh and I for some reason. We have always hammered it home about their care and safety though and never leave them alone with him. Their safety is priority.

Ours live in a 160cm x 80cm run in our living room (lucky we have very big room). If you have a big cage they run around like mad and do all sorts of funny things. They love interacting with noises, like the fridge door! And if you keep them clean they dont smell at all - i use fleeces and newspaper.

I would say - do your research, get a custom built or c&c cage, expect to do all the care of them and put the fear of god into your DCs about respecting them and it could be a great thing for your family :)

Hi 70 - both my boars are kickers. Better than biters IMO!

I've never had a kicker before but GP3 (he's a sturdy, chunky pig) will just lash out with a back leg . He doesn't like being touched on his left front shoulder for some reason (we've had a good look to see if there's anything amiss).

Very odd behaviour. A guinea-pig kick isn't the most effective defence. I'm thinking he kicks out at GP1 ?