redgal

I am thinking about getting another pet to add to our growing collection (2 dogs and 2 fish) as my daughter loves animals as much as I do (yipee!).

I am debating between a hamster, a guinea pig or a gerbil and I am curious which people prefer and why? What are the pros and cons of each?

Lucy

Guinea pig!!! No question. They're cute, cuddle, they'll recognize you and you can let them run around without losing them.
Or if they should escape, you can find them.
And they squeal really really cute

redgal

Thanks Lucy,
I have to admit I think GP's are the cutest too and I adore their noises. But I've heard they prefer to be in pairs and I don't have space for a huge cage. I can give one piggie some floor space if shut out my dogs though I would be concerned that they would kill him or her if it did escape. Is keeping one okay I wonder?

Lucy

Both times I've had them, I only had 1. As long as he gets attention, he should be cool.
I've heard males will fight and we all know what a male and a female would do.
I love the long haired. Your daughter would be able to brush him/her.
It's hard for me to resist them in the store.

Amanda

Hamster. The other 2 are too spazzy for my taste.

midnightwolf

it really depends on you so i will put some info on all of them

Guinea Pig- large and not to easily hurt, cute with different hairstyles, need to clip their nails, do not get along with dogs although better than hampsters and gerbles, as lucy said easy to find if lost.

Hamster- soo cute and fluffy, hard to find if lost, more delicate, not as fast so cant out run you, sleep durring the day, i had one of these guys and he was the cutest and most sweetest thing and he never bit me, get a male they are nicer.

Gerbil- active and fun to watch, hard to catch as they are very fast furry long tails.

i know you didnt mention getting one of these but you should get some Rats my sister has two females from the same litter and they are great, they love atention are actually very clean animals will groom each other and dont bite us. my mom used to be terrified of rats and hated them but now she agrees they are great pets and even recomends them to other people, just thought i would give you somthing to think about.
good luck.

redgal

Lucy, okay great, I'm sure he/she will get lots of attention! How much care and cleaning do you do and are they expensive to feed? I'm just trying to get a general idea before i leap in. I can't resist them in the pet stores either they are so adorable!

I do like hamsters too though but the nocturnal aspects would put me off...I like to play with one when my dogs are outside and we are day people in this house. I have heard they are less friendly/fun than gps out of cage but more fun to watch in one...this is hard!

I think I might rule out gerbils...


Rats - I like them and think they are very smart but we used to live in an old apartment with rats and hubby now hates them so it would prob lead to divorce, lol!

midnightwolf

i still think you should get some rats

Amanda

They will eat the mix food that you find at pet stores. Make sure it has a mix of everything. They also need fresh fruit & yougurt drops as vitiman supplements. The bedding must be changed everyweek or else they will get ammonia burns on their feet from the urine. I keep my hamster in a 10 gal tank. The wire cages they can get out of. They catch cold easily, so they must be kept warm at all times.

Lucy

Mine got along with my dogs and one of my cats. The cat in my avatar....no way I'd trust him near a Guinea pig. lol

I guess it depends on the dog or cat.

Amanda

My cats got into the hamster enclosure one night & had him downstairs "playing" aka killing him. Want to hear a scream? Listen to a hamster get attacked. He had puncture wounds down to teh spine & couldn't use his back legs. Luckily my om worked for a vet, and she & I nursed her back to health. She lived another year after that. She was 3 yearas old.

haedra

O, Guinea pig all the way! I've had a gerbil before, and rats. The rats were cool for their intelligence, but the guinea pigs were my fav. because of how lovable they were. I had one that used to squeal from a different room every time he heard a cellophane sound... in the hopes of aquiring a lettuce treat.

redgal

That awful...I worry about that with one of my dogs. I would feel sooooooooooooooo bad if she hurt whatever I got.

Can a GP escape from a wire cage with a lid? How about a room with a door closed or a baby gate on? I could section off a room like that to play with him/her if it were a guinea pig. A hamster I would have to put in one of those ball things for it to be safe from the dogs.

Lucy

We kept ours in a 30g long aquarium with a screened lid. It gave him exercise room.
I've since read that there may not be enough air circulation for them and the wire cages might be better suited, so do some research on that.
I used cedar chips as bedding, although, again, I've read that there is healthier bedding for them.
I lined the bottom with newspaper....it made it easy to lift it out and replace.

They'll knock over their food dish so make sure it's a heavy one. They sell specialized Guinea Pig food. Lots of alfalfa and fresh veggies.
We eat a lot of salad and ours would watch us and squeal waiting for his carrots.

Edit: A baby gate would work, if you don't have a cat. Make sure there are no exposed wires during exercise time, they love to chew.

xxnascarxx

I would say a gerbil. They don't need TOO much space but for it to be happy they do nee quite a bit. They are always running around so they are fun to watch. They are not nocturnal so they won't be up all night when your trying to sleep. Since they don't drink a whole lot they do not go potty as much so the cage stays cleaner than other rodent cages. One thing you have to know about them is that you CANNOT grab them by the tail. It may come off. They love to dig. They need a lot of bedding too. if you get a wire cage then you risk getting bedding everywhere thought. DO NOT USE PINE AS BEDDING! Or any other wood type bedding. You can use aspen shavings though. They are happier in pairs. But if you get another one down the line thay might gang up on it and wind up killing it. They like to keep their area clean so you do not have to do as much work to clean it. They LOVE to chew on things. So I would provide many things to chew on. For a cage I reccomend getting a 10 gallon tank and then get a wire cage top to go on top of it. I know a TON about gerbils so if you have any other questions about them feel free to ask(:

haedra

There actually seems to be a bit of a debate over whether gerbils are technically nocturnal, or diurnal.

But the one I had did spend most of his activity in the evenings. He looooooved empty toilet paper rolls and would spend a good portion of of the evening hours chewing it and scratching in it.

redgal

Thanks so much...I am adding gerbils back in as an option. Oh dear..too much choice!!

Okay, what is an average weekly cost to keep a hamster, couple of gerbils or a GP?

I wish I had a hobby farm or petting farm and get all three!

Lucy

Can't advise about costs, it's been a few years. Although the more this thread goes on, the more I'm eyeing that 30g. lol
My husband and I were just talking about how much we missed having a pigley.

Since there's pros and cons to both why not go to the store and let your daughter decide?

redgal

That's a great idea - thanks!

Aquaman123456

Get a hedgehog, their the best.

agabr123

lol, i've had very interesting things happen with hedgehogs. my friends sister has two and one is the most content to just sleep, all night, all day, all the time. she's happy just laying there. the other is ALL over the place and NEVER stops running

catfishlover123

I would get a hamster because mine was so entertaining. He hung from the roof of his cage once! But of course its your choice.

catzeye21138

I adore guinea pigs. I own three myself. The only thing is, you need to know what you are getting into. One guinea pig needs 7.5 sq ft of flat running room, and they need to live in pairs if not a community(of females is easiest) as they are very social animals. They aren't the cheapest little buggers to care for either, they need a cup of fresh veggies daily and timothy hay or orchard grass 100% of the time. Plus it is very good for them to get an hour of floor daily to keep their minds stimulated ontop of handling, which can be done during floor time. However, they are the most loving, full of character small animals you could have! If handled properly, they don't bite. They love snuggles. Not rabbits. Guinea pig + rabbit = dead guinea pig. Any rabbit, it doesn't matter. They live up to about 6 or 7 years too, so they won't die as quickly as a hamster or gerbil, which, also, are more prone to biting and antisocialism.

Guinea pigs you can have outside in the summer, and watch them eat grass so thats fun. You should look into this site if your interested! They are so much fun, I'm telling you. www.guineapigcages.com

I should add, their cage needs to be cleaned weekly, but they can live on fleece bedding with an absorbant undersiding which saves tons of money. Its all on that website I listed!

I should ALSO add: Please, do not get a guinea pig from the pet store. They are so overpopulated, it is very easy to find one on craigslist or in the newspaper or in a local shelter. Save a life this way!

redgal

I LOVE hedgehogs but would prefer something I could cuddle...I think. They are so cute though! What are their requirements?

I LOVE GP's. I like their social nature, their size and everything but I am thinking that they might be out of my budget right now - I mean I have just gone well over-budget on my two betta boys lol... na di would want to get them a huge cage and everything they need to live a good life.

That webiste is great - thank you I will keep reading and thinking. I do agree I would much prefer to adopt one rather than support the pet stores. I live in such a small town in the middle of nowhere though without an animal shelter or such so I will have to keep checking the local classifieds to and put the word out.

I went in to the pet store today just to look - they had a ton of hamsters and two GP's....I hate the pet store though. Poor animals look unhappy.

My daughter was fascinated by the tarantula......not about to do that though!

For those who have hamsters - are they really antisocial? Do they only sleep during the day or will they play during the day? Do they bite as much as people make out? Can their body clock be changed around? A couple of the hamsters looked more active than others...they are so cute too!

pinkfloydpuffer

Ooh, I just love little rodents I always wanted a mouse when I was younger, parents always said no
Guinea pigs are great, my cousins have some and they're tons of fun.
I think gerbils are really cute.
But my favorite are the dwarf hamsters. They're just little furballs. So adorable!!! ^_^

redgal

Thanks for all the great replies - it's really interesting to hear what people think

So many people are reccomending (gulp) rats to me.

They do seem like they are great middle ground in terms of cost to keep, size, personality.

I have been looking at some pictures and they are actually very cute!

The ones in the pet store look tiny though 0 I was under the impression they were pretty big, maybe they are babies.

Can the rat keepers amongst us give me some more info? What do you like so much about them etc?

Thank you!

midnightwolf

my sister has the medium sized rats although the larger rats are more common as pets the medium ones are just soo cute and also make wonderful pets. i would sugest getting two females from the same litter then you can watch them interact with eachother and they wont be lonly when no one is home. let me know if you have any more questions.

redgal

Thanks so much.

Okay I have fallen head over heels in love with the dumbo rats....they are SO CUTE! I had no idea how cute they are! WOW, I am so surprised!

I have to get a couple of these -I think they are a perfect fit for us. I don;t want to buy from our pet store but we have no shelters nearby so I don;t know what to do.

In the meantime, can you help me compile a list of everything I would need for two rats?

PS I know they are nocturnal - so they make a ton of noise at night? If so, I'll have to figure out a night place for them that's warm.

midnightwolf

here is a list of supplies:

1. metal wire cage with bars close together and proper size.
2. bedding and rodent hay.
3. litter box.
4. large igloo for them to sleep in.
5. rat or rodent food.
6. large water bottle and food bowl.
7. toys and treats. dumbo rats love balls to play with.

I would check www.petfinder.com they have animals you can adopt that are perfect for your family and some come together.

good luck!

haedra

OMG I've never seen a dumbo rat before today, they are adorable!