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Are guinea pigs a good first pet for my kids?


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Old 05-09-2016, 10:07
Hugh Jboobs
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Hey all, hoping some of you might have some experience of keeping guinea pigs and may be able to help me with a few queries.

My kids are 5, 4 and 2. The older two have been asking for a pet for a while and we were thinking of getting them some rabbits. We went to Pets at Home over the weekend to just have a bit of a look and get some advice. A very helpful young lady there advised us that guinea pigs may be a better pet for young kids, as rabbits can be a bit "kicky" when being held whereas guinea pigs are more placid and love just being held and stroked.

So she got some out of their pen and let each of them have a hold. The kids all loved them, as did the wife and I. (The kids have guinea pigs at their nursery, so they've experienced them before). The lady gave us loads of info about them (she has them herself). Based on her advice, we're thinking of getting three guinea pigs so the kids have one each and the guinea pigs themselves have some company. Also, we'd make sure we had three females to ensure they don't breed, plus apparently females are more placid.

One thing that surprised me was that she said you can keep them outside all year round. Apparently you need an insulatory cover during very cold spells, but otherwise they're fine. Does this fit in with what other people have found? We do have a utility room and garage we could put them in if it's very cold.

Also, she recommended a five foot hutch. Does this sound right for three of them or do we need to go bigger?

Another thing - we'd get them out their hutch regularly to hold them and stroke them. But do you need to let them run free at all? If so, do you do that inside the house, or do you also need some form of portable "run" type thing that you put out on the grass for them?

Finally, where to get them from? Pets at Home seemed a nice place, the animals all looked happy there. The lady said they offer plenty of aftercare advice etc. Could we get them from there, or are there proper breeders around, or what?

Any advice directly on what I've asked, or any and all general guinea pig related comments would be most welcome!
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:36
eggchen
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My brother got some for his daughters. They squeak and squeal a lot, but he keeps his outside in a large pen, inside which he has put a rabbit hutch full of straw for them to live in. They're really easy enough to look after by all accounts.
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Old 06-09-2016, 02:22
SheMoore19
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My daughter shares a house with two other women and they have quite a menagerie. Amongst all the animals they have 6 guinea pigs... they've had more, but sadly animals don't live forever.

I would agree with the assistant at the pet shop. Guinea pigs are probably a much easier pet for young children to manage than rabbits. They would be able to do much more for them than rabbits who can be extremely lively and 'kicky' is a great word to use.

My girls keep the guinea pigs indoors. They are in 5' hutches, two per hutch. They take all their animals out of the hutch each day to play and be handled. The guinea pigs themselves are sweet and once you've socialised them are great for petting and playing with. They are simple to feed.. eating a simple guinea pig food, raw veg (corn rings, baby corn, carrots, celery) and hay. Plenty of hay.

They have activities for them in the hutches, some of which they've made themselves and some of which they've bought and there is a little 'house' in each one where they can go and snuggle and be warm.

If kept outdoors, a run would be a good idea, I should think.

Friendly little things. Yeah... ideal for kids, I'd say. Hope you have many happy hours with them.
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Old 06-09-2016, 03:12
CollieWobbles
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Yes guinea pigs make good pets for children, they don't kick and scratch like rabbits do and rarely bite like hamsters can. You can look for some off a breeder, look on pets4homes under the rodent section, there'll be plenty of people selling them. Advantages of buying off someone like that is they should have handled the guinea pigs lots so their nice and tame, you'll get more choice of coat colours/patterns and they should be healthy. Of course if you can't find any close enough there is nothing wrong with buying from pets at home, just that they might not be quite so tame or take a while to get that way as pet shop animals aren't really held the way home bred ones are, but you might get lucky. Guinea pigs aren't normally bad tempered anyway so your unlikely to have a problem with either way. Oh and if you do get some from pets at home make double sure they've sexed them correctly!!
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Old 06-09-2016, 08:03
claire2281
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Guinea pigs are lovely pets, don't bite, long lived if looked after well and fairly robust for young hands. They do however have some complexity in their needs to look after them in the best way and ensure they live they 7 years they can.

To give you an idea of their day to day care - I would prepare fresh food morning and evening. Every day the hay and water needs changing and the cage needs spot cleaning (they poop and wee like crazy!). Please be aware that they also require their nails clipping every few weeks - if you don't feel confident with this then get a guinea pig with lighter colouring and therefore clear nails. You can see the blood vessel in the nails and it's much easier to avoid cutting it than with black nails!

For three guinea pigs you need a cage that is at least 13 square feet in order to give them a good home. Especially when they're young and very active. Don't use woodchip for the bedding - it is an irritant to their noses and can cause issues. The very best stuff is vetbed (which can be bought in large sheets at P@H) or carefresh. Then give them hay and houses to snuggle in.

Personally I also kept mine indoors as they become MUCH better pets if they're in the household and surrounded by people. My last two boars were incredibly tame - they would run around the upstairs of the house without a care in the world! They don't need a enclosed run indoors - we would just put a mat and a towel down and they would run back onto that to wee. Very well behaved boys!

They definitely need some kind of run in kept outside and should ideally be out of their cage for at least an hour everyday - young guinea pigs will run around like maniacs when given the chance!

I would get males - they're bolder in my experience and, importantly, have fewer health problems than females due to their simpler reproductive system.

Guinea pigs are prone to a couple of health issues, noticeably bladder stones, respiratory tract infections and bloat. Bladder stones can be avoided by the right diet - calcium rich foods should be avoided in too high a quantity (websites like guinea pig lynx and the guinea pig forum are full of advice on what they should and shouldn't eat). If a guinea pig ever stops eating or loses his appetite it is a medical emergency and they should be seen by a vet within 12 hours. They have a gut that constantly requires food to keep working - without it, it can go into stasis and be impossible to get going again which is fatal. As they can live up to 8 years, chances are they will need veterinary care. My last two boys lived to 7 and 8 years each and they both cost about £300 in vets bills over their lifetime. And find a good vet - guinea pigs are classed as 'exotics' and lots of vets don't know much about them and can frankly give them awful treatment. The guinea pig forum website has a list of guinea pig savvy vets.

They really are lovely pets but like most animals you need to know what you're letting yourself if for so hope this helps!
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Old 06-09-2016, 11:20
Hugh Jboobs
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Thanks all, some good advice here.

I would get males - they're bolder in my experience and, importantly, have fewer health problems than females due to their simpler reproductive system.
Interesting. My wife went again this morning to a different branch of Pets at Home which is actually closer to our house than the one we previously went to. The woman she spoke to this time said she didn't buy the theory about females being more placid than males and that three males would be perfectly fine together. She suggested that if we're going to get them from there, we come in and spend a good half hour or so looking at all the ones they have so we can see which ones are the boisterous/dominant ones and which are the more placid ones.

Whether she's just saying that about males/females because they don't have any females in stock, only a load of males, I don't know!

In your experience claire2281, do you think if we bought three males we need to get them neutered at all? I know reproducing isn't an issue if they're all males, but I'm wondering whether it's the same as bigger animals where the neutered ones are better behaved/more placid?
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Old 06-09-2016, 18:55
CaptainObvious_
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My daughter shares a house with two other women and they have quite a menagerie. Amongst all the animals they have 6 guinea pigs... they've had more, but sadly animals don't live forever.

I would agree with the assistant at the pet shop. Guinea pigs are probably a much easier pet for young children to manage than rabbits. They would be able to do much more for them than rabbits who can be extremely lively and 'kicky' is a great word to use.

My girls keep the guinea pigs indoors. They are in 5' hutches, two per hutch. They take all their animals out of the hutch each day to play and be handled. The guinea pigs themselves are sweet and once you've socialised them are great for petting and playing with. They are simple to feed.. eating a simple guinea pig food, raw veg (corn rings, baby corn, carrots, celery) and hay. Plenty of hay.

They have activities for them in the hutches, some of which they've made themselves and some of which they've bought and there is a little 'house' in each one where they can go and snuggle and be warm.


If kept outdoors, a run would be a good idea, I should think.

Friendly little things. Yeah... ideal for kids, I'd say. Hope you have many happy hours with them.
I want to be a guinea pig.
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Old 06-09-2016, 20:05
claire2281
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Interesting. My wife went again this morning to a different branch of Pets at Home which is actually closer to our house than the one we previously went to. The woman she spoke to this time said she didn't buy the theory about females being more placid than males and that three males would be perfectly fine together. She suggested that if we're going to get them from there, we come in and spend a good half hour or so looking at all the ones they have so we can see which ones are the boisterous/dominant ones and which are the more placid ones.
Excellent advice - definitely go back to her! I'd suggest the same thing. Watch them interact and try to choose a dominant and more submissive one. Guinea pigs will establish a hierarchy. You need to get one clearly dominant one alongside some more submissive - try not to go for the most submissive simply because the dominant one can bully them so much the other guy doesn't eat as well. With my boys I had one clearly dominant one and the other who was submissive but never a push over. They lived very happily together for seven years. It's potentially more difficult with 3 and personally I'd say a pair was easier to deal with (although I can see why you want 3 you're less likely to have problems with two).

There is always a chance as they mature they could have a big falling out but it doesn't happen often.

In your experience claire2281, do you think if we bought three males we need to get them neutered at all? I know reproducing isn't an issue if they're all males, but I'm wondering whether it's the same as bigger animals where the neutered ones are better behaved/more placid?
Weirdly enough, neutering makes no difference to the behaviour of male guinea pigs at all. It's only done by rescues when they can't get a boar to live with other males and they neuter him to live with females.
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Old 07-09-2016, 23:30
daisy_johns
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In my experience boars from the same litter were fine kept together, and were all friendly pets kept inside the house. We used to put them outside on good days in runs, and were all handled and petted, and even got on with our cats.

Our last boar lived for 4 years, when we noticed a problem with one of his eyes we took him to the vet. He had a problem with a tooth that had started to penetrate into his eye from behind. Sadly we decided to PTS as the operation offered would have left him blind in one eye.

Sometimes this can happen, it's one of those things. But, they were wonderful pets and I miss them still, even after 3 years.
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Old 09-09-2016, 15:56
burton07
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I've always kept my guinea pigs outdoors. I usually keep them in a hutch overnight with plenty of hay for bedding and transfer them to a run on the grass during the day. They love grass and they love to "popcorn" which is to leap in the air with happiness. They do make a mess of the garden - little poos and hay and sawdust everywhere but it doesn't smell. In the past, I've let my pigs have the run of the garden - just putting them in the hutch at night. Obviously the garden must be piggy proof (I've spent hours looking for them in next door's garden!) Mine use to scuttle back into their hutch at night when I called them.

In the colder months they will be fine with plenty of bedding and one another to snuggle up to. Just make sure their hutch is waterproof.

The more they are handled the tamer they become.
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Old 13-09-2016, 00:03
zoepaulpenny
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BTW pets at home will give you a gurantee that if your piggy is ill within 12 weeks after purchase PAH will foot the bill, i bought my two girls from there 4 and 3 years ago and are doing swell.. indoors..always for me ..and they should live longer when indoors
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Old 13-09-2016, 10:26
Mia_Fine
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Why not, my 1st pet was guinea pig Daffi
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Old 14-09-2016, 18:56
zoepaulpenny
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Why not, my 1st pet was guinea pig Daffi
?????
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