Daughter wants a rodent....advice? Opinions?

[Mom of three]

Again, thank you all so much for sharing your stories and experiences.

Im still on the fence about it but dd has been saving to pay for everything. She has even done all the research finding out what it needs and priced everything out herself.

I will keep you guys posted.

 

[Buckalew11]

It seems so funny to read the words, "get a rat". LOL

But, I'm in agreement. We had a sweet rat who was loving and wonderful. Stitch had a stroke at about 1 1/2 yo and we had to put her to sleep.

Once I got past her longer tail and the feet, I was A-OK and loved that little white dumbo rat. They are as sweet as a kittens. Well, probably sweeter.

Now we have some sort of small dwarf hamster that is male and very loving. Neither of these pets bite and the hamster (Hammie) has no long tail.

I think your DD would love the experience of owning a "rodent". My has and so have I but their lifespans are shirt and she must be very aware they do not live long. Mine was OK with that and said she'd make its short life here as nice as she could. And I think it was.

Good luck.

 

[robinb]

DD had rats and we kept having health (tumor's) issues - several of our rats developed large ugly tumors and I got tired of paying the Vet $50 to put them to sleep.

Yes, female unspayed rats are prone to mammary tumors. My DD's oldest rat who is just about 2-years old has a very big tumor and we will have to take her to the vet soon . It's a shame because she is a very sweet little girl but we could not afford the $150 for tumor removal. I think that if we stay with rats, I will transition to boy rats instead of girl rats. The boys are also more mellow and laid back than the girls.

 

[RNMOM]

We've had guinea pigs and I just love them. They are affectionate, gentle and just cute as can be.

If you get good basic equipment and use good quality litter and food you should be fine. They love scraps from the kitchen like peelings, the tops of carrots, beets and such. My DH calls them living compost piles.

I wish they made those large balls for them to exercise in when we had ours. Some people have even been able to house break them.

 

[mamacatnv]

We've had guinea pigs and I just love them. They are affectionate, gentle and just cute as can be.

If you get good basic equipment and use good quality litter and food you should be fine. They love scraps from the kitchen like peelings, the tops of carrots, beets and such. My DH calls them living compost piles.

I wish they made those large balls for them to exercise in when we had ours. Some people have even been able to house break them.

The balls are not recommended for piggys their spines do not bend like rats and hampsters and the large balls can actually cause injury.

 

[mousey]

We had 2 guinea pigs and they were great pets. The first one we acquired from our daughters teacher who had it as a class pet and the teacher became allergic. The second one I picked up at a flea market because I felt sorry for her. She was a long hair black female who they had sitting in a wire cage in 40 degree weather. I paid $10 for her and the cage. We brought her home and bathed her and gave her a new home. They both lived to almost 7 yrs old and they died within 2 wks of each other.

 

[Sandy321]

I've had hamsters, gerbils, bunnies and when growing up I did have a rat!

then dd around 5 - 6 years ago found a guniea pig rescue group and I got her a gp - WOW! what a difference! Gerbils and hamsters are nocturnal, and are often biters - they are small and cute to look at - but you have to be dedicated to socialize them - or they become mean...

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

this link tells a lot about cages, and also has lots of other links on the right and left side - and dd has "trained" her guinea pigs! Its amazing! and they absolutely love when they hear dh come down the stairs, they start "screaming" whheeek wheek - because he got in the habit of giving them a baby carrot in the morning, and he encourages them by wheeking and whistling back!

when I come home from a shopping trip - they run around and wheek, because they learned its usually the grocery store and I buy different "greens" for them! They love dandelion greens, Kale, and a curly lettuce I think its endive! (it runs about $1 these greens - once or twice a week - I bought the tupperware container that keeps greens fresher longer, chop them up and store them, that way dd could easily get greens for them all week!)

and dd teaches them to follow her, or come when she whistles, or they just sit in her lap when she's had a bad day, or a good day.... if I knew then what I know now, I'd have bought guinea pigs sooner!


so I vote for GUINEA PIGS!!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We started with Guinea Pigs. Their cages are probably one of the nastiest things I've ever smelled. They also aren't good for people with allergies. DD actually was fine playing with hers at first, but within a few months became highly allergic. She would break out in hives and her EYEBALLS would actually swell. I've never seen anything like it. We couldn't find anyone else to take it, so I tried to give the poor thing attention for the next 5 years, but we had to keep it in the basement and she couldn't go near it.

Now she has a chinchilla and they are AWESOME as far as rodents go. They are fun to watch, and do not smell at all. Their poop is just little pellets with no odor- and they do poop a lot, but it's not really a big deal. You can literally vacuum it right out of the cage. We made her do a lot of research when she started begging for one, and found out they are the best for people with allergies, as they don't give off dander.

I don't think I could stomach having a rat in the house! And DS has two hamsters, with are a PITA. Even he doesn't like them anymore and they've been around here a lot less time than the chinchilla!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Yes, female unspayed rats are prone to mammary tumors. My DD's oldest rat who is just about 2-years old has a very big tumor and we will have to take her to the vet soon . It's a shame because she is a very sweet little girl but we could not afford the $150 for tumor removal. I think that if we stay with rats, I will transition to boy rats instead of girl rats. The boys are also more mellow and laid back than the girls.

Friends of ours would only let their kids get female rats as pets because, um, well, they have a HUGE growth back there, themselves. I mean like disproportionately huge!!!

 

[luv2sew]

We loved the 2 "piggies" we had and they were very socialble they used to sit in a basket with us during our family game nights. They knew the way to go back to their room from all the rooms in the house including the basement and they always knew when the refrigerator door opened we'd get a chorus of squeels from them because they knew that their snacks came from there. We had them for 5 and 6 years and we got them when they were small and we were able to handle them without any problems. Definately had different personalties and different taste preferences.

Be careful if you do get Geunie Pigs that you make sure you don't give them too much hay and alfalfa.....it creates big medical problems for them, in fact I wouldn't give them that stuff at all on a regular basis.

Our cage had a shelf up top and they loved to sit up there and watch us walk around the house. They would greet us when we came into the room and come over for a pet at the cage.

 

[robinb]

Friends of ours would only let their kids get female rats as pets because, um, well, they have a HUGE growth back there, themselves. I mean like disproportionately huge!!!

Oh yes, male rats can be very ... manly. It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

I had 2 female rats and adopted 2 male rats under an emergency situation. My neighbor dumped her 11 year old DD's 2 pet rats outside in their front yard "to be free" because the DD was no longer taking care of her pets. She somehow convinced her DD that it was going to be OK. Why she didn't give them to the humane society, I'll never know. When I found out I told her that she should have given them to me as I would have found a home for them. About a week after she let them loose she told me that she saw one of them in the garage and I was able to capture them both in a couple hours. This happened in October and one died a couple months later ... at least he was loved at the end. I had the other neutered so I didn't have to keep on cleaning 2 cages and he's now living with the girls happy as a clam.

I do have to say that the piggies sound very nice. We have 2 cats, one of which is very predatory and I could not have an open cage.

 

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

Friends of ours would only let their kids get female rats as pets because, um, well, they have a HUGE growth back there, themselves. I mean like disproportionately huge!!!

Hahaha it's true! Male rats are VERY well-endowed.


I would like to suggest that regardless of which rodent you go with, PLEASE don't buy one at a commercial pet store. Most of the time they don't know what they're talking about, AND they're trying to scam you. When I was less educated I bought my first rat at a commercial pet store. They told me their fancy rats were meant only as pets....turns out they breed, treat, and sell the fancy rats just like they sell the feeder rats...and feeder rats don't have to be healthy in their eyes because they're just meant to be eaten, not loved. So I took home a fancy rat and it died 2 weeks later.

We also bought our first Guinea Pig at a commercial pet store and it leaved 2 years but constantly had health problems. Please, consider a breeder, a rescue group, or some other alternative.

 

[robinb]

Hahaha it's true! Male rats are VERY well-endowed.


I would like to suggest that regardless of which rodent you go with, PLEASE don't buy one at a commercial pet store. Most of the time they don't know what they're talking about, AND they're trying to scam you. When I was less educated I bought my first rat at a commercial pet store. They told me their fancy rats were meant only as pets....turns out they breed, treat, and sell the fancy rats just like they sell the feeder rats...and feeder rats don't have to be healthy in their eyes because they're just meant to be eaten, not loved. So I took home a fancy rat and it died 2 weeks later.

We also bought our first Guinea Pig at a commercial pet store and it leaved 2 years but constantly had health problems. Please, consider a breeder, a rescue group, or some other alternative.

ITA. I found a breeder at Goosemoose: http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/ . Our cream colored dumbo rex girl was about $15 and her parents were bred specifically for temperment & health as well as ear set and color.

 

[mamacatnv]

We loved the 2 "piggies" we had and they were very socialble they used to sit in a basket with us during our family game nights. They knew the way to go back to their room from all the rooms in the house including the basement and they always knew when the refrigerator door opened we'd get a chorus of squeels from them because they knew that their snacks came from there. We had them for 5 and 6 years and we got them when they were small and we were able to handle them without any problems. Definately had different personalties and different taste preferences.

Be careful if you do get Geunie Pigs that you make sure you don't give them too much hay and alfalfa.....it creates big medical problems for them, in fact I wouldn't give them that stuff at all on a regular basis.

Our cage had a shelf up top and they loved to sit up there and watch us walk around the house. They would greet us when we came into the room and come over for a pet at the cage.

Remember what I said about doing research......Alfalfa is only for the young or pregnant mothers but daily Timothy hay is a necessity. The hay keeps their teeth ground down and provides vitamin C which is a must. Without the daily hay and vitamin C they can develop scurvy and their teeth will grow into their jaws and they will starve to death.

 

[TinkInPink]

I'm an advocate of Guinea Pigs. I had one for 6 years (he died 2 weeks before school started this year) and He was one of the best pets I have EVER had. Guinea pigs are great. They're small and have the benefits of being a small pet, yet are fairly hardy and can take a bit of rough handling. (i.e. one squeeze a bit to hard won't do them in..) my pig didn't smell much at all, I gave him a bath about once a month and changed the cage once a week. Guinea pigs are EXTREMELY social, Many people don't know this because they isolate them in kids bedrooms. My pig Lived in our kitchen and was the nicest and had a huge personality. He came when you called and had a few tricks he could do. IMHO as long as they are not isolated in a bed room etc and are in a rather high traffic area, Guinea pigs are some of the best pets.