Do you have a Guinea Pig?

[Riles_and_Gabe]

My four year old desperately wants a pet. I am thinking about starting with a Guinea Pig. Does anyone have one? Can you tell me your experience with them? Would you recommend getting one for a four year old?

 

[jennylyn_b]

Guinea pigs are great but they have some issues you should be aware of. First of all, they are social and should be with people around a lot or you should have more than one of them. They get lonely and it affects their health. Secondly, depending on how they were raised it may take some time and patience to get them used to bring handled. They bite! If your child can be patient and understand that they are scared at first then it's not going to be a problem.
Don't get me wrong they are great pets but they, like all types of pets, have some considerations to think about.
Their diet is easy but fresh foods are also needed on a regular basis. Also make sure you have a small animals vet in your area in case of illness.

 

[aprilchem]

I would not recommend a Guinea Pig for a four year old, but gerbils are nice, as are mice. My 6 year old has had 3 mice for about 2 years now; they are cute, friendly, and don't bite. He has them trained to take food out of his hand and they love to be petted. The pitfall is that their cage needs to be cleaned pretty often or it smells (at least once a week or more). We also had two gerbils who died of old age a few months ago - they were less friendly but much less smelly - apparently because gerbils are desert animals they urinate less than other rodents..

Guinea pigs need a LOT of space, so you'd need to have one of those big cages (as big as a dog crate). They make noise (a squeaky "whoop whoop" noise) so you might not want it in your child's room. And they need a lot of attention.

I'm not sure about guinea pigs, but I'd guess they are like gerbils and mice in that they are social animals and you have to keep them in groups. We have 10-gallon tanks with toppers for our rodents and I think a tank can house 6 mice or 3 gerbils.

And you probably should plan on cleaning the cages yourself, at least for a few years. Rodent droppings can carry disease and you have to be careful handling them; I don't let my 6-year old clean the cage at all.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

My guinea pig doset bite but did take a litte while to get used to being handled. Hes got a huge cage (but dosent get alot of run time). mines pretty quiet unless he hears a plastic bag (its the sound his food bag makes) or hears the wrapper from subway being unwraped (I get all the veggies just for him). Really hes a great pet. My freinds 5 year old spends alot of time cuddling him and has only gotten bit once (he squeezed). As far as the cage, mines huge (like 5 feet by 2 feet) so I line the bottom with cardboard and newspaper shaving. He loves this and its so easy to clean. Just roll up the cardboard and toss once a week. Hes pretty cute, mine comes running when I open the door and squeeks hello. at night he will toss his toy in the air till I pick him up and let him sit with me (mines trained and will sit on the couch with me and the cat)

 

[threecrazykids]

My daughter begged for a guinea pig for close to a year so on her 12th birthday we finally broke down and got her one.

He is AWESOME! His name is Charlie. I didn't think I'd care for one, but he really is fun and gives us lots of chuckles.

Now, she takes care of him 100% though...and he is definitely a little work. She keeps his cage clean (I make her do a full cleaning once a week) and she sweeps up his poo every morning or evening.

They do need lots of interaction though...or get two. And yes, they do bite so make sure your little one understands you have to be gentle. My daughter plays with her pig every day.

We have a fairly large cage for him and do the fleece bottom instead of constantly buying bedding for the cage.

My only rule of getting him was that DD was 100% responsible for caring for him. We would pay for any vet bills, food etc. but the clean up etc was all on her. She has not failed me yet - and is excellent at taking care of him...but then again she's 12. So, as long as you are willing to help her out in the care taking process I think they make great first pets.

 

[threecrazykids]

My guinea pig doset bite but did take a litte while to get used to being handled. Hes got a huge cage (but dosent get alot of run time). mines pretty quiet unless he hears a plastic bag (its the sound his food bag makes) or hears the wrapper from subway being unwraped (I get all the veggies just for him). Really hes a great pet. My freinds 5 year old spends alot of time cuddling him and has only gotten bit once (he squeezed). As far as the cage, mines huge (like 5 feet by 2 feet) so I line the bottom with cardboard and newspaper shaving. He loves this and its so easy to clean. Just roll up the cardboard and toss once a week. Hes pretty cute, mine comes running when I open the door and squeeks hello. at night he will toss his toy in the air till I pick him up and let him sit with me (mines trained and will sit on the couch with me and the cat)

Ours does this too! Whee Whee Whee at the sound of the fridge door opening and any crinkling of plastic.

 

[rwdavis2]

I think 4 may be a bit young for that type of pet. How much do YOU want to take care of it? Try some fish instead?

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

Thanks so much for everyones replies. I plan on doing the cleaning of the cage for him because my DS definitely wouldn't be able to handle that yet. I am going to do some research to see if they would be a good fit for our family.

 

[piperdown]

Ours does this too! Whee Whee Whee at the sound of the fridge door opening and any crinkling of plastic.

Ours goes nuts when he hears dinner prep going on in the kitchen. Primarily chopping sounds. We usually save him a few pieces when chopping fruits & veggies.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I think four years old is just too young to be handling such a small animal. Guinea pigs may look sturdy, but their tiny bones are fragile! They can accidently be injured quite easily.
My daughters had guinea pigs from around age 8 to 12, and even though they were as careful as they could be, two were injured at one time or another. Nothing life-threatening, but you still don't want the little critters getting hurt!

 

[mtemm]

we love our guinea pig, but wish I had gone with 2 females instead of 1 male. he is happy and we do keep him in the great room and socialize, but I think they are such social animals that having 2 would have been better. 2 males will fight (we've been told), a male and a female = more guinea pigs. 2 females would have been just right.

we got him 3 years ago so kids were 8/6/6 and its been a good pet for them, especially since due to dh's allergies we can't do a dog or cat

 

[Art 1]

No, but they do taste good. Seriously.

 

[mommystieg]

Thanks so much for everyones replies. I plan on doing the cleaning of the cage for him because my DS definitely wouldn't be able to handle that yet. I am going to do some research to see if they would be a good fit for our family.

We have two piggies. I bought our first from a pet store and then found out about a local rescue. I learned A LOT about caring for piggies from their site. http://theguineapigrescue.com/?page_id=47 I highly recommend using the type of cage they use. It is open at the top and provides for lots of interaction. The one thing they told me that kind of put things in perspective is piggies are prey animals so every time you approach them and pick them up they are naturally frightened. Now we get down on our knees and talk to them before we reach in and pick them up.

 

[KNJWDW]

we love our guinea pig, but wish I had gone with 2 females instead of 1 male. he is happy and we do keep him in the great room and socialize, but I think they are such social animals that having 2 would have been better. 2 males will fight (we've been told), a male and a female = more guinea pigs. 2 females would have been just right.

we got him 3 years ago so kids were 8/6/6 and its been a good pet for them, especially since due to dh's allergies we can't do a dog or cat

We have two piggies, both female. We were told that they should not share a cage because as the get older, they fight. The pet store said they get "catty!" So, they are in two cages and when we take them out, one will usually nip at the other. However, we just love them. They too squeak and jump around when we open their bag of hay, or sometimes just a bag from Target

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I would not recommend a Guinea Pig for a four year old, but gerbils are nice, as are mice. My 6 year old has had 3 mice for about 2 years now; they are cute, friendly, and don't bite. He has them trained to take food out of his hand and they love to be petted. The pitfall is that their cage needs to be cleaned pretty often or it smells (at least once a week or more). We also had two gerbils who died of old age a few months ago - they were less friendly but much less smelly - apparently because gerbils are desert animals they urinate less than other rodents..

Guinea pigs need a LOT of space, so you'd need to have one of those big cages (as big as a dog crate). They make noise (a squeaky "whoop whoop" noise) so you might not want it in your child's room. And they need a lot of attention.

I'm not sure about guinea pigs, but I'd guess they are like gerbils and mice in that they are social animals and you have to keep them in groups. We have 10-gallon tanks with toppers for our rodents and I think a tank can house 6 mice or 3 gerbils.

And you probably should plan on cleaning the cages yourself, at least for a few years. Rodent droppings can carry disease and you have to be careful handling them; I don't let my 6-year old clean the cage at all.

I agree with this poster. We had 2. They were messy and stinky. Their cage required cleaning at least every 4 days and they had a large cage with a lot of space.

Honestly, our cats and dogs are much easier to care for!

 

[Christine]

My DD (22) bought a guinea last year. He's seriously cute, occasionally bites, and requires way more care than our dog. Although, I have to say, he's easier than the fishtank we had.

I probably would not get this for a 4 year old unless YOU were aware that the guinea pig will be 100% your responsibility and that your young child will have to be supervised at all times with him/her.

They are mostly sweet pets but I did have a lady at Petsmart tell me that she had a few and one of them was just as mean as could be and bit her all the time.

 

[lauradis]

My four year old desperately wants a pet. I am thinking about starting with a Guinea Pig. Does anyone have one? Can you tell me your experience with them? Would you recommend getting one for a four year old?

Do you have dog?
I would never trust our current dog with guinea pig. Poor thing would be Ellie snack.
I loved our little piggy, got him for Easter for 7 year old dd. he was very sweet but loved to eat everything. Be careful to watch them, one sleepover and little piggy got sat on and almost died.

 

[MrsPete]

I've owned guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters. Hamsters win, hands -- or, paws -- down.

- They're smaller; thus, they don't make as much poo, which means the cage needs cleaning about every week and a half instead of twice a week. The smaller cages are quicker to clean, and you don't need as much bedding (buy CleanFresh -- nothing else, ever).
- If you go out of town, it's super-easy to take the smaller cage to someone else's house to be babysat.
- They don't pee on you as often. We always held the guinea pigs in a hand towel. If they do pee on you, the quantity is smaller.
- They're more active and enjoy climbing through tunnels, so you can always "upgrade" their cage. You can save up wrapping paper tubes and oatmeal cans and make homemade obstacle courses for them.
- They don't squeal every time the refrigerator door opens, though they are just as greedy as a guinea pig. Ours hangs on the side of the cage, if we eat nearby. They love fresh vegetables as well as store-bought hamster treats.
- Hamsters are territorial and much prefer to live alone; thus, you're free from guilt if you don't want to undertake two critters. If you buy two, even as small hams, you're going to have epic battles on your hands.
- Hamsters are considerably slower-moving than gerbils. Probably a good thing for a four-year old.

Negatives:
- Being smaller, if they escape from the cage, they're harder to catch. We've owned two wire cages, which have proven escape-proof. We had a plastic Obo (Obo?) cage once, and the little fellow could scoot right out. To minimize this problem, buy only the larger teddy-bear varieties (sold as Honey Bears, Panda Bears, Black Bears, etc.). The dwarfs can really scoot, which will especially be an issue with a four-year old who might drop them occasionally.

 

[Katie Dawn]

I've owned guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters. Hamsters win, hands -- or, paws -- down.

- They're smaller; thus, they don't make as much poo, which means the cage needs cleaning about every week and a half instead of twice a week. The smaller cages are quicker to clean, and you don't need as much bedding (buy CleanFresh -- nothing else, ever).
- If you go out of town, it's super-easy to take the smaller cage to someone else's house to be babysat.
- They don't pee on you as often. We always held the guinea pigs in a hand towel. If they do pee on you, the quantity is smaller.
- They're more active and enjoy climbing through tunnels, so you can always "upgrade" their cage. You can save up wrapping paper tubes and oatmeal cans and make homemade obstacle courses for them.
- They don't squeal every time the refrigerator door opens, though they are just as greedy as a guinea pig. Ours hangs on the side of the cage, if we eat nearby. They love fresh vegetables as well as store-bought hamster treats.
- Hamsters are territorial and much prefer to live alone; thus, you're free from guilt if you don't want to undertake two critters. If you buy two, even as small hams, you're going to have epic battles on your hands.
- Hamsters are considerably slower-moving than gerbils. Probably a good thing for a four-year old.

Negatives:
- Being smaller, if they escape from the cage, they're harder to catch. We've owned two wire cages, which have proven escape-proof. We had a plastic Obo (Obo?) cage once, and the little fellow could scoot right out. To minimize this problem, buy only the larger teddy-bear varieties (sold as Honey Bears, Panda Bears, Black Bears, etc.). The dwarfs can really scoot, which will especially be an issue with a four-year old who might drop them occasionally.

GREAT Info! Thanks!

 

[muffyn]

yea, 4 is kind of young for guinea pig.
our daughter started with hers at about age 9, when she could take care of them. she eventually had over 150!
(along with countless fancy rabbits & other creatures). we told her as long as she took care of her animals she could have what she wanted. (& every single one of them had names)

(ever hear of roller pigeons?)

as she went to college, the smaller animals were sold, for her big love, horses.

I really miss those little buggers..