First pet ?

la79al

DD1 claims she really wants a guinea pig for her birthday.  We got a few books from the library and she has picked out what kind.  I haven't actually read the books yet and I've never owned a guinea pig.  Anyone with experience think this would be a good first pet?  (We have 2 fish and we had a cat before but nothing small and furry for the girls to handle) I've had mice (too fast for a preschool) and rats (which would work) and was on the petfinder website and found some really cute gerbils (again, no experience). Any opinions? And yes, I realize that I will be doing most of the care and I am fine with that.

brettsmama

My first small pretty like that was a hamster. I liked watching it on the wheel in its cage. It also had an exercise ball that i could put it in and let it run all over the house. I think hamsters are along the same lines as guinea pigs, just smaller.

LoveEeyore

Make sure you get a male or are 100% sure it's not pregnant.  Those thisngs multiply like crazy.  As a kid I got 2 females.  Bothe were pregnant.  By the time we figured out how to sex them to separate them, they'd already multiplie

LSU628

I've had hampsters. Two of them were nice, but one used to bite the hell out of me or anyone who attempted to reach into the cage. You may not want to keep it in your LO's room b/c they tend to run on their wheel at night and make a lot of noise.

christinak22

I had gerbils and guinea pigs throughout childhood and I would highly recommend a guinea pig over a gerbil. Gerbils are fast like mice and like to escape and hide. They were ALWAYS getting out. Guinea pigs don't often run--mine always just kind of stay

ss+el

I have no experience with this type of pet but wanted to share something that someone told me recently. One of our parks here has a nature lodge and they have lots of small animals. The director told us that gerbils don't stink like hamsters do. Definitel

shannm

Guinea pigs are cool.  We have a class "rescue" guinea pig that we have taken home on the weekends.  We would not get a guinea pig full time because we don't have a great space for it and the bedding smell starts to bother me after a day or two.

mgrulke

I had "pigs" growing up and they are pretty easy. They don't seem to bite alot or scratch and they are fun to watch and are more cuddly than a small, mice -like hamster <img src="https://community.thebump.com/cs/emoticons/emotion-8.gif" alt="Indiff

smiling76

Guinea pigs make great first pets!   Another one is a lizard---but not everyone is in to reptiles LOL.  I love guinea pigs.  I can't wait for the boys to be ready to get one (I had one that I rescued years ago and it was awesome).&nbsp