My ds is going to be 6 next month. He wants a pet for his birthday. He really wants a dog, but that is out of the question right now. Ds and I have narrowed it down to fish or a guinnea pig. I have had fish before and know what it takes to take care of them. However, I have never had a guinnea pig. How easy are they to take care of??? How are they as pets??

Any help would be great.

By Pamt on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:34 pm:

Debbie, with some recent discussion about hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs on here (do a search to find it), I started thinking about a guinea pig for my DS's. They have wanted a hamster, but what I read about them was pretty negative and I'm not very fond of rodents anyway. Guinea pigs are bigger, fluffier, and seem less rodent-like IMO . Anyway, from my online research it seems that guinea pigs are very sociable and so it is strongly suggested that you buy them in pairs as one will be lonely and that could have some health/behavioral ramifications. A guinea pig also needs 2 sq ft of room per gp, so that's 4 sq ft for 2 gps---quite a bit of room. My reading also told me that they are very clean animals by nature. They tend to use one specified area of their cage for the potty and the cage needs cleaning once a week. We've been to visit gps once at PetsMart as my oldest DS' b'day is next month too and we were thinking about getting a gp or 2 for his b'day. The jury is still out. At any rate a general online search will yield lots of info. Let us know what you decide.

By Momaroze on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:37 pm:

We (my boys that is) had a guinnea pig....alot of work in my opinion for the boys. I certainly was not going to clean the cage for them (they were definately old enough to do that). I can't compare to fish because I just dare not get another pet. When I was younger 9 yrs I had a hamster and really enjoyed him. Very friendly critter less work than a Guinnea (I think) smaller you know. I think fish would be a little boring,at least with a hamster or Guinnea pig you can pet them and watch them do their thing etc...hope this helps.

By Ladypeacek on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:48 pm:

WE have two guinea pigs right now. We love them so much too. They do have so much personality. They don't seem too much for my dd who is 8. Even my ds that is only 18 months loves them, he pets them and laughs up a storm. We have 2 males, Chili and spice. They are a great idea for a 6 year old!! Also there is a website by peter gurney that tells you everything you ever need to know about them.

By Coopaveryben on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:50 pm:

I had a Guinnea Pig when I was around 6, I loved him sooo much. We let him out of his cage and he would just kind of hang out with us. But if you don't plan on playing with them everyday I don't think they would be that friendly and would probably start to bite.

I have also had gerbils and hamsters, I liked my hamsters but they are very messy and noisey at night.

Have you considered a Rabbit? I have a kid in my Sunday school class who has a pet rabbit who lives in the house, he is litter box trained and said it was very easy to do. Still a lot more work than a fish.

By Ladypeacek on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:55 pm:

here are some pics of our little ones!!

By Fraggle on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 04:13 pm:

I got my first guinea pig when I was 5. My mom really took care of him and all our other guinea pigs though until I was in high school. But we played with them a lot-they were out a lot-and we only had one bite once. Some of the guinea pigs we had would actually realize my Mom was getting out lettuce or carrots or something and start squeaking (we kept them in the kitchen). I would love to get one for my girls but DH hates them-says they are nothing but rodents-I actually had one when I met him-he was not too happy about it moving in LOL.

Anyways they don't really need alot- a daily feeding-we also gave them some extra greens or veggies each day, some fresh wood shavings-if you are going to use them and a cage cleaning once a week for one guinea pig. If you get a male, just get one or they will fight. Females prefer to be in pairs. You may want to stay away from the long haired ones-they take a little more care.

I have had rabbits and hamsters too and wouldn't get either of those animals again.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

By Debbie on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 05:00 pm:

Thanks for all your help. I am not really sure what we are going to do. Ds told me today he really wants a dog. He decided that waiting for one might be the best idea. We know we will be moving again in 1-2 years, so I am really not so sure about getting a pet now. We may just wait until we move again and are some where permanent. I didn't realize it, but ds said our neighbors have guinea pigs. She said that ds is welcome to come over and play with them and see what he thinks. I think we will just go to the pet store this weekend and look around and then go from there. Ds is so set on a dog that I don't want him to pick something he isn't really happy with and then regret it later. We see a pet as a life long commitment and don't want to rush into anything. We may end up waiting for awhile.

Thanks again for all your help. I did do some research online and have decided that out of hamsters, gerbels(sp?) and guinea pigs, I like guinea pigs the best.

By Trisa on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 05:11 pm:

I had a guinea pig when I was a kid.
His name was squeaks because of the way he would squeak when we would ruffle the lettuce bag!
The only bad thing is cleaning the cage. It does not smell to great! no worse than a litter box I guess. I heard that Rabbits can be litter trained.

By Vicki on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 06:09 pm:

I guess I have to differ with the others. We had 2 guinea pigs and I thought they were the dirtiest things in the world. Now, I don't like smells at all, so maybe a rodent wasn't the best thing for us to get. LOL I had to clean that cage out all the time and it was nasty!! They also like to kick the stuff out, so we had to come up with a system to stop that mess too!! A little box is nothing compared to that cage!! Yuck! They were dd's pets and after about a year, she grew tired of them. We did manage to find a very nice home for them and the people still have them!! To me, they are very dirty!

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 06:12 pm:

Debbie, I know you guys just moved recently, what is the reason you can't have a dog right now?

The right dog would make a wonderful pet for your kids, especially at this age. However, if you are renting, I understand how that might not be possible; even if it is, it would probably be up to you to housebreak the dog when the kids are in school.

By Debbie on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 06:35 pm:

Karen, no we aren't renting. It is just so cold here that a dog would have to be indoors all winter. Dh grew up in South Texas where dogs were kept outside. He is really more into bigger outdoor dogs, such as a golden retriever or lab. I think he feels that once we move back to Texas in a few years we would be in a better environment for a dog. I am trying to talk him into a smaller short haired dog that we can keep inside, but I am not having much luck. Dh really isn't a pet person and I am having a hard time talking him into anything. He really wanted to do fish to see how ds was at taking care of them. My ds really loves fish, so this might be a good way to go for now. I just see us moving in the next year or two and how stressful it already is and then throwing a pet in the middle of it. I don't know what to do we are just thinking about things now.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 11:40 am:

I sort of LOL about the *bigger, outdoor dogs*. The reason I'm saying this is because I have an indoor dog who weighs 70 lbs. My sister had 2 Great Pyranese who were indoor dogs and they were 135 and 170 lbs. Another person I know has a Mastiff who weighs 130 lbs. I guess it just depends on what you are used to and whether or not you want a dog in your house. You do NOT smell dog when you walk into my house, and I personally love having her indoors.

I do see your point about dealing with a dog when moving, but really, you'd have the same problem with any pet you get. And I'd think it would be easier to move a dog than it would be to move fish.

I hope you can come to a decision that works for all of you.

By Janet on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 11:52 am:

I love the rodents! Guinea pigs are excellent pets, IMO, but they are very active at night and tend to squeal and squeak a lot. Then there's the smell factor. Bunnies make wonderful pets, but if you are looking for a house rabbit, be careful. You have to "bun-proof" everything, because they chew like crazy and can really hurt themselves on electrical wires and fibers in carpeting. The litter box training is sort of true...they drop their round poops anywhere (not hard to clean up and not gooshy), but they always urinate in the same spot. So if you put a litter box in the place they like to urinate, they will do it in the box! We have a hamster for my 8 yr old dd, and we got lucky (he's very tame)--in my experience, the hamsters and gerbils tend to be jumpy and may bite. Plus they are very active at night and grumpy if bothered during the day (when your child will want to play with them). Good luck!

By Janet on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 11:54 am:

PS--Have you ever considered a rat? They are really very intelligent, clean and friendly pets (and hooded rats are very attractive). Just a thought!

By Dana on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 12:27 pm:

On a TV show about animals, the vet recommended a guinea pig for the child's first pet.

My daughter happened across a green quaker parot (we found it outside) and she has been great fun and pretty clean and so far not needs for dr visits. It's been over a year.

Of all the birds I have had, she is the cleanest. Reading up on them, they are stated to be relatively clean. She doesn't throw her food everywhere, which is nice. And it is fun to watch her play. She is trying to talk but not too good. It is said they are right up there w/ the Grey Africans in speech and intellegence. They are also against the law in several states, so check that out first. (They live in colonies and build w/out trouble in populated areas causing trouble for powerline people and the like)