I Really, Really Completely Need an Actual Guinea Pig

Do you ever feel like the universe is conspiring to tell you something?


First, Immy fell in love with this Charlie and Lola book which we borrowed from the library. Note the main theme of the story.

Then we visited a petting farm where Immy L♥VED feeding and patting the rabbits…
… and the guinea pigs…

Add Michael Grose’s words of wisdom about children in small families keeping pets and, well, now I am wondering?

So, does anyone know anything about keeping guinea pigs as pets? Are they easy pets to care for? What pets do you have and do your children help care for them?

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8 Comments

  1. I have to warn you…on Saturday we had a cat turn up at our house, as a knock on effect from that visit we now own TWO kittens. I know very little about guinea pigs but I wish you much luck!

  2. Guinea pigs are fairly easy pets… unless they escape like ours have done! They just need a secure, warm and dry place to live (inside or out) and food and water. Immy is probably a bit little to handle and look after them on her own as yet… I made my girls wait till they were 6 to et a pet because I wanted them to be capable of really doing most of the looking after.. which they are, with supervision.

    So I don't think there is any reason to rush getting a pet but if you were up for the patting and handling a GP is probably not a bad place to start.

  3. SquiggleMum says:

    One of Lil's little friends has guinea pigs and she adores them. I'm not a pet kind of mama, but only because we encourage wildlife into our yard! As far as I know they are pretty low stress pets to keep. I really absolutely think they might be a good choice for Immy 😉

  4. This is wierd. I am preparing a post about pets. We have guinea pigs. They are easy to look after. I've been VERY reluctant to get a pet as we move so much but I thought I'd give it a try. The kids love it! Watch out for my post soon.

  5. DQ Mountain Girl says:

    We have a guinea pig (Snoopy, but we call him PigPig) that we love. He is such an important part of our family. Here are some basic rules:
    1)Food: Guineas need fresh food every day, and hay every day. They also need a constant supply of vitamin C, we provide spinach and oranges for this. Guineas should really never have the pellets. There are great websites all about guinea care that address all food requirements. (we went to google and looked up Guinea Pig care)
    2)Guineas live in groups and get lonely. They need daily attention. We snuggle with our pigpig, and comb him and let him run around the bed room(everyone has to be sitting) We also give him baths every so often (so cute). He nibbles us, which actually is not biting us but grooming us, like we were his litter mates. It tickles. At first it scared us but now we like it.
    3. Bedding changed weekly: We buy buld sawdust from a farm and feed store and keep it in the shed. Much more economical to do it that way. We also bought a bale of hay that will probably last us more than a year…
    4. Guineas live to be around the ages 9 or so (I think). Ours is seven and still going strong. 🙂
    ummm. anything else? feel free to email me with questions. 🙂 good luck. What a fun thing to do!

  6. although i read evrery post I am one of those silent observers – but here is my area of expertese – guinea pigs 🙂 My family has been breeding and showing guinea pigs since i was young and i now teach animal care at TAFE 🙂 – Speaking of guineapig showing – If she loves guineapigs that is always a fun outing.
    My girls have 3 guineapigs – we bought two at a pet shop but one came with extras – which was fantastic for the girls seeing the pregnancy and birth of the piggies.
    Guineapigs are wonderful pets – ours live inside and get so many cuddles – they get their hair brushed, they get tours of the house – they are VERY kid friendly – BUT as with all pets they need supervison – I would say they are the least likely of all pets to injure your child but you have to be able to cut their nails and be brave enough to do it often or they can scratch. Also they will suffer quite alot from falls so it was not until my eldest was about 5 that i let her carry them anywhere – they dont cope well with being dropped – but they are quiet and placid if handled alot and will sit happily on couches and rugs and are also wonderfully vocal and can be fed easily by a child and will even eat out of their hands.
    If you have any specific questions let me know I will be happy to help

  7. We had dogs from before our kids were born, so we don't have any small pets they might mistake for a chew toy.

    Our girls have been helping feed the dogs since the pretty much started walking. The younger one (18mo) loves doing it, but occasional snacks on a kibble or two.

  8. Joyful Learner says:

    I was thinking of getting our only daughter a guinea pig also…even bought a book about them. But with so many allergies, we're now thinking guppies or hermit crabs. They are not as furry or easy to hug as guinea pigs or kittens but it'll have to do. My roommate in college had a guinea pig and they seem to make good pets. Best of luck!

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