My 2 year old Penny is just mad over the budgies but I think she is too little to have one as a pet as she is too young, would a guinea pig be okay? She is pretty gentle and loves animals. My husband doesn't like cats- and I want something small enough that she can pat and sit and play with.. Any guinea pig owners out there please give me your advice...

I have two female 2 year old Guinea pigs there great with little kids, Mine let little kids pats them and stuff and dont bite. But they need to be handled alot to become tame, and she would have to be suppervised of course.

My kids had guinea pigs once and i found like Jodie has said that if they were not handle alot they were not tame.When i was younger i had guinea pigs and my sister had a rabbit and her rabbit was tamer than my guinea pigs.

Personally I would recommend a rat for a small kids pet. Very gentle, very clean and unlike rabbits or guinea pigs rats will WANT to play wih their little owner. Males are a better choice (and unlike male mice they don't smell). I used to breed so you can check out my old rat site if you like: Rat site

yes Guinea pigs need to be handled alot to be tame, my first pet was a hamster there easy to cleanout and care for, but its up to you ,not me

I have a 2 year old daughter and won't be geting her a pet any time soon - I consider my daughter to be a bit to rough and dosen't understand about the feelings of others yet.

 

I had 2 Guinea pigs as a kid and every time i held them they would wee and poo on me

 

Personally i would go for a baby dwarf rabbit

It's interesting that most people consider rabbits to be kids pets although if you talk to the serious rabbit people (breeders and such) most will tell you that they are better adults pets, as rabbits don't actually like to be picked up and cuddled. We have a smoochy pet rabbit called Frank and he will come and get a pat and a scratch on his own terms but he would not be happy at all if a kid tried to pick him up.

I can second MB, people don't think of rats as pets as they go for the cute cuddly types but rabbits can be nasty and GPs can be really messy and run away. I would go for a rat, i have had mice and rats and both are great. Rats bond better with owners and don't smell. Look up rat breeders and do get through them and not through a pet store as you will get a much better rat or have a chat to MB as she might know some rat breeders.

I agree with the pet rat idea

l agree with getting a dwarf rabbit. l have one and she is the most sweetest bunny that l know. she enjoys sitting in my lap while l pet her for hours l have a 4 year old niece and she helps to look after snowflake(bunny), snowflake is very calm and seems to like my niece, also she has never bitten anyone and when you pick her up she never struggles or kicks. l just adore my bunny.

Edited August 3, 200816 yr by birdluv

Were not allowed to have rabbits in QLD- there banned and you can't even get a permit for them!!! I'll have a look into rats- but I've always wanted a guinea pig...

Hampster, Guinea Pigs, Mice, Rats, Worse comes to worse, get her an interactive dog, LOL, No poo, No mess and they will play ...

 

Rats are a very Clean animal Go for it and she will have a ball, watch it paly and run around the house in those clear Balls

Guinea pigs are very robust little dudes and never bite. They tend to be quite timid, but do talk to you and will let you know if they are hungry. "Wheep wheep!!" But they do need to be handled alot to be tame and are almost impossible to toilet train, they will go wherever they are and their bedding tends to get wet quite quickly.

 

Rats are lovely pets to have and love their owners to bits (that's why they have the nickname of "palm-sized dog"). They are very interactive, quiet, love to climb and are hugely intelligent. They are very clean and do not smell (a bonus if you have pet rats: you don't get wild mice in your house). Girl ratties remain smaller and are very active. Boy ratties can grow quite large and are more lazy, prefferring to sit on your lap and snuggle while you watch TV.

Rats are predators however, so the rattie cannot be allowed to mix with your budgies an other small pets (they are able to take on indian ringnecks (sad story about my friend whose rat leapt out of her hands ran into her flatmate's room (had the door left ajar and her indian ringneck out (which she shouldn't have out while she isn't home)) and killed the parrot - one bite to the neck ) but cats and dogs are the same so it would be the same level of caution that you would have with cats and dogs around your birds). So basically rats are like miniature dogs lol

If you get a boy I would neuter him and then he will probably be even more snuggly and less likely to mark. I also just don't like their huge balls lol.

I had 2 girl ratties and they were lovely. Just make sure you get baby rats that are well socialised, therefore getting them from a breeder is a good idea.

So we are the happy parents of Princess BeiBei and Tuck.. Not 100% sure of the sexes as they are quite young still. But the girls are over the moon. I built an outdoor hutch for them for day time and Summer- and have an indoor cage also for night and winter as it's still pretty cold here... The girls each chose their own and decided on their own names. Penny(nearly 2) calles everything baby but changed the sound a bit to beibei which I thought was cute- and I have supplied her with some little baskets so she doesn't try to pich her up too much and 2 small hairbrushes to keep her destracted and entertained. But I am happy to say she has been great and quite caring as I was a little worried because of her age, I constantly supervise them though...

 

The girls enjoying their new friends!!

Tuck(brown) Beibei (White)

 

Penny is in the Red Jumper with Princess BeiBei

 

And Allysa who is Tucks mamma but has beibei in this photo too...

Congratulation Rah. They are sweet and those photos with your girls are sooooo cute. My nephew (3) has a thing with naming pets also. When my last clutch of budgies hatched, he wanted to call them baby love and baby care... then as they grew up he called them lovie and carie... needless to say I didn't go with his names

Congratulation Rah. They are sweet and those photos with your girls are sooooo cute. My nephew (3) has a thing with naming pets also. When my last clutch of budgies hatched, he wanted to call them baby love and baby care... then as they grew up he called them lovie and carie... needless to say I didn't go with his names

 

 

It's so cute the way they think at that age!!!

They are really cute and the kids seem to be enthralled with them too. :hap:

To sex them look closely at their 'bits, the males will have a little Y shape and the females will be a straight line. A little bit of gentle pressue will make the males bits pop out

MB why does it not suprise me that you know that!

Because I used to breed best in show winning guinea pigs

To sex them look closely at their 'bits, the males will have a little Y shape and the females will be a straight line. A little bit of gentle pressue will make the males bits pop out

 

 

Thanks- I just checked and I think they are both boys now... They weren't sure about beibei- but she definately has a Y and so I think now she is a he.. Might have to rethink the name... I'm a little dissapointed as I was looking forward to some babys in the future... But they are just so gorgeous and I am so happy my girls are enjoying them so much!!

They are so cute

To sex them look closely at their 'bits, the males will have a little Y shape and the females will be a straight line. A little bit of gentle pressue will make the males bits pop out

 

the females have a Y shape not males male have a little circle and a Y

To sex them look closely at their 'bits, the males will have a little Y shape and the females will be a straight line. A little bit of gentle pressue will make the males bits pop out

 

the females have a Y shape not males male have a little circle and a Y

 

 

Beibei has a big Y and Tuck a little y and a circle.. So then she might be a she!!! YAY...

To sex them look closely at their 'bits, the males will have a little Y shape and the females will be a straight line. A little bit of gentle pressue will make the males bits pop out

 

the females have a Y shape not males male have a little circle and a Y

 

 

Beibei has a big Y and Tuck a little y and a circle.. So then she might be a she!!! YAY...

 

both mine have a Y and there females

http://www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/Sexing-Guinea-Pig.htm