My son wants a guinea pig - Have questions!

[MelanieC]

Years ago my DD17 had two hamsters. I hated those things. They were mean and the litter always smelled no matter how often you changed it.

How bad are guinea pigs? DS went to my neighbors on Wendesday and now wants one for his birthday. I told him definately no way but DH isn't siding with me and says he can (why does it always seem he tries say ok to things if I say no). I told him definately no till after Disney.

Are they as bad as hamsters with the smell? Anything else I should know?

 

[Pennykay]

We had a guinea pig that passed away not too long ago. We ended up getting a hamster after she died. The guinea pig smelled way worse than the hamster and was more work IMO. I would say if you hated the hamsters, you probably should not get a guinea pig.

 

[mickeylove2]

My DDs have a guinea pig and as cute as she is and as much as I love animals...I kind of wish we hadn't gotten her. They have to have a good size cage, their bedding needs to be changed pretty frequently, we do ours 2 times a week, there's the constant food; guinea pig food, timothy hay, apples, carrots, lettuce, treats- wooden carrots ww change her water every day. Guinea pigs need a lot of attention and socialization, but it's hard with small kids so she gets handled daily but for shorter periods of time then what is recommended. We have a plastic igloo for her cage, it's her hideaway when she wants some peace and the other guinea pig that we no longer have had tried climbing on top of it and fell onto his back, he broke his spine and had to be put to sleep. It was heartbreaking!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

If he wants a pet get a leopard gecko instead. They are so easy to care for, they don't stink, and boys love lizards! My boys each have there own lizard, and their friends think they are so cool!

No way would I get a guinea pig!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Guinea pigs are social animals. You would probably have to get a couple.

They are great, but a lot of work. They have much more personality than other pet rodents. They chirp and jump up and down (popcorning) when happy. They are pretty affectionate.

 

[jrmasm]

Guinea pigs are social animals. You would probably have to get a couple.

They are great, but a lot of work. They have much more personality than other pet rodents. They chirp and jump up and down (popcorning) when happy. They are pretty affectionate.

I agree with all of this.

They are work but I've had hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and a chinchilla and pigs are by far my favorite.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My brother's family had a couple of them years ago. He liked that they could stay in their cage--as opposed to having free roam of the house the way cats and dogs typically do.

The white one (Sugar) was crazy in love with my sister-in-law. It got up on its hind legs and started chirping whenever my SIL was near.

They went to DisneyWorld one time for two weeks and boarded them at the pet store. Sugar refused to eat or drink a thing and died. The poor thing was so cuckoo for my SIL, it was too depressed to feed when she wasn't around. The people at the pet store told them that they'd heard of dogs and cats that do that, but never a guinea pig before.

ETA that guinea pigs can grow to be a decent size. Sugar was bigger than one of the cats we had growing up. It surprised me because somehow or other, I thought they weren't much bigger than hamsters.

 

[padams]

If you didn't like the hamsters, you won't like the guinea pigs. Bigger, smellier cage.

 

[smschex]

I completely agree about hamsters! I was not unhappy when my oldest daughter's went to that great wheel in the sky.

Fast forward 12 years and my youngest decides she wants gerbils. At first I resisted because they look too darn much like mice, but finally I relented. We now have 2 and I admit I love them. They are much more gentle than the hamsters ever were. She carries them around with her. They don't bite. And best of all the cage only has to be cleaned once every couple of weeks. It never smells as bad as the hamsters did.

If you don't have room for the guinea pig, think about gerbils.

 

[dcentity2000]

Guinea Pigs effing rule! The way they talk to you is adorable



Rich::

 

[dcentity2000]

If he wants a pet get a leopard gecko instead. They are so easy to care for, they don't stink, and boys love lizards! My boys each have there own lizard, and their friends think they are so cool!

I had leopard geckos - Leicester and Skat - and they were wonderful!

A word of warning though - you have to feed them live crickets and meal worms and dead, thawed out pinkies (baby rodents). Nasty.



Rich::

 

[Micca]

I had leopard geckos - Leicester and Skat - and they were wonderful!

A word of warning though - you have to feed them live crickets and meal worms and dead, thawed out pinkies (baby rodents). Nasty.



Rich::

...and with that, a kitten sounds like an ideal choice

 

[Freyja]

We got our DD´s two guinea pigs for Christmas and they´re adorable. They´re very friendly, love to be held and have the cutes way of "speaking" to us. They have a fairly large cage and we change their bedding once a week and they don´t stink at all.

We´ve had rabbits and mice before and no doubt the guinea pigs are the cutest and most fun rodents I´ve ever experienced (lots of friends have had hamsters).

I highly recommend them as pets

 

[N&B'smom]

I had hamsters when I was a kid and my DS10 has one now. He is the sweetest most laid back little guy. He has never bitten anyone and when we walk into the room and say his name, he comes out of his little igloo. He loves to be cuddled too! Just wanted to point out that not all hamsters are mean.

My friend has two guinea pigs and they bite. She has to clean their cage constantly because of the smell. She regrets ever getting them and she is a HUGE animal lover.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I had leopard geckos - Leicester and Skat - and they were wonderful!

A word of warning though - you have to feed them live crickets and meal worms and dead, thawed out pinkies (baby rodents). Nasty.



Rich::

We don't feed ours pinkies. Nasty yuck. We do crickets and meal worms which I hated at first, but got used to it fast.

 

[Barbossa]

We raised quite a few GP's when I was growing up. Notes:

1. In general they're very social and friendly pets. They'll sit in your lap and love being petted.

2. They do better with companion GP's. However, males will kill each other when kept together, and will mate with the first female they can get to. Thus it's OK to keep females together, but males should live by themselves. It's easy to confuse a male and female GP unless you know what to look for. (We had quite a few babies because of this.)

3. They're poop machines, very messy. Count on cleaning their cages twice a day.

4. If you're allergic to cats, you'll be allergic to GP's.

That said, I recommend pet rats to guinea pigs. They're cleaner and very, very friendly. The only drawback of pet rats is that they don't sit still. I've had rats and guinea pigs, and prefer the former by a longshot.

 

[pajamommy]

I've had a guinea pig at work for about 5 years, and I love her! I'm the director of a daycare center....the kids love her as well. My daughter has had hamsters in the past, and in my opinion, the hamsters smelled WAY worse than my pig! I clean her cage 1-2 times a week, fill her water bottle and give her food a couple of times a day and she is good! We also love to hold her and pet her.....one of my staff likes to take her out and brush her, which she loves. She also talks to us, and one of teachers said it looked like she was actually "dancing" to the Beatles today when they were playing music in the classroom....which the kids thought was so funny! I think she is a very low-maintenance pet. Good luck!

 

[Art 1]

Guinea Pigs are good eating. Seriously.

 

[Keira1387]

I had two guinea pigs growing up and loved them! They loved to be held, and you can feed them carrots by hand. They can stink, but I washed mine with ferret shampoo every other work.