Guinea Pig questions

[willr1]

My kids (8 and 2) have been wanting a Guinea Pig for about a week now and they wont let up. I have never owned one and from what I have read, they seem to do better in pairs and with kids, if you raise the "pups" they are more domesticated. The kids think they can play with them and hold them, inside a pet pen, but my wife is alergic to dander and that is why we do not have inside animals (except for our Maltese as he has hair and not fur).

Any suggestions on what to do with them, do they stink, bite etc

[Barton72]

Any suggestions on what to do with them

http://www.dianeszoo.com/guineapigs/cooked-gp.jpg

Mmmmm, mini BBQ'd pig!!

[TLR67]

Fed Ex them to Richard Gere..

[willr1]

damn, that is wrong. Wonder if Gere had any "fart balls" come out

I cannot believe noone on here has ever had a Guinea Pig ?

[Dennis]

I have owned a butt load of guinea pigs in my life. My kids have had them an even I owned them when I was a kid. It is better to have two instead of one, they do get lonely and introverted if they are by themselves. I have never had one bite, however they will accidentually scratch you if you are holding them and the get the sence that they are falling, they will squirm, and they have rather long and sharp claws. They do not do well in the heat so they would need to be kept inside. They are cute ,adorable animals. Most do not mind being held. It is rare when you find one that does. Out of maybe 12 that we have owned only one did not like to be held and pet. It is just there individual personalities. They are easy to feed. Handful of pellets in a bowl. And the occasional stick of celery or grapes. You just hang a bottle of water on the side of their cage and they are good. They do tend to play with their water bottles when they get bored. The only issue I had with them was the amount of cage cleaning you will need to to do. For every pellet they eat I think they poop two. Cleaning at least once a week if you have a good size cage and twice a week if you have them in a small habitat. My kids have owned rabbits, gerbils and hamsters, but I must say I like the guinea pigs the most. Typically very sweet animals its just the cage cleaning I do not care for.

[SlowMotion]

http://www.dianeszoo.com/guineapigs/cooked-gp.jpg

Mmmmm, mini BBQ'd pig!!

That's some good stuff. The one I had wasn't bbq it was just roasted. Taste like chicken!

[061k]

thats really sick

[A&A Motorsports]

Look up Sugargliders. I have two and they're much better and kids friendlier than pigs.

[speed-kills]

I had some I recommend a large cage with a deep tray and found its much cheaper to buy a cheap bail of hay at the feed store than the wood shavings at the pet store also don't put the cage in a room where anybody sleeps they tend to get loud in the morning

[speed-kills]

also if you get two get the same sex they breed at any time and frequently

[meghan]

They smell. Badly. Worse than ferrets.

[dzone]

They smell. Badly. Worse than ferrets.

Not if you keep their cage clean. and if you use cedar chips, they will smell like cedar. Great pets for kids.

[willr1]

kewl, I appreciate it. The kids took momma their last night and did their little tag-team routine on her to the point we almost had German Shephard puppy with a guinea pig !. Im gonna check into the cages and when we get back in two weeks, take the girls out and let them pick up the little rodents. Thanks guys for the input

[KTM Rider]

The view from the top of the food chain is great:up:

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/cuy_roasting(1).jpg