![]() It isn’t healthy for them to be alone-they need a companion of their own species they can “talk,” play, and cuddle with. In the same way you can’t eat just one potato chip, you can’t adopt just one guinea pig. Guinea Pigs Should Always Be Adopted as a Pair Unless their guardians are extremely competent at giving nail trims, the animals will need to be taken to the vet about once a month for them, at a cost of about $15 per trim. But if they aren’t in the mood to be held, they may nip your fingers, and their tiny, sharp teeth can break the skin. Often, once they’re picked up and wrapped in a blanket so that they feel secure, they will relax and can be petted and given treats. When trying to pick them up, guardians have to be careful, because the animals frequently squirm and can fall and hurt themselves. It may be because predators such as owls would come at them from above if they were out in nature. When guinea pigs are chattering their teeth at you, it means exactly what you think it means: “Don’t even.” But even if they aren’t chattering, most don’t enjoy being picked up and will run, burrow, and hide when people try. Join the Movement Guinea Pigs’ Sharp Teeth Can Be Piercing PETA Business Friend GuineaDad has plenty of fleece bedding options for easy and frequent laundry rotations.īigotry begins when categories such as race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or species are used to justify discrimination. Elizabeth has found that a guinea pig laundry bag (or two) helps keep her machines cleaner. Plan on doing about two large loads of pig laundry every week and then cleaning fur and hay out of your machines afterward. ![]() You may also need to wash cloth toys, ramp covers, and snuggle blankets. I find it easiest to use a fleece cage liner and cover it with a towel, which I change every day, and then change all the bedding every few days.Īs you’re changing towels and bedding, guinea pig laundry starts to pile up. Ideally, someone should spot-clean the habitat several times a day, but if no one is home during the day, the enclosure has to be cleaned out at least every night. ![]() Since most can’t be trained to eliminate in a certain area, the waste ends up everywhere. And all the food pellets, hay, vegetables, and chewing blocks add up to a baffling amount of waste. Guinea pigs have to spend a great deal of time chewing in order to wear down their constantly growing teeth. Guinea Pigs Are MessyĪfter caring for a large dog, I thought that cleaning up after a 2-pound animal would be a cinch. ![]() Some of them never like to be picked up or held by humans and always prefer “hands-off” guardianship, although this largely depends on their personality. My colleague Elizabeth, who has also adopted two guinea pigs, put it this way: “One thing I found difficult is that you have to convince your pigs to like you.” Guinea pigs put you through an approval process, and young children likely won’t have the patience to earn their trust slowly. I love them, but I would never recommend guinea pigs as companion animals for a child-especially if the child would be expected to provide them with most of their care-for a number of reasons. My adopted pigs, Duke and Bogart, are adorable, sweet, and funny, but I’ve found that caring for them requires more time, energy, commitment, and money than caring for my 75-pound German shepherd mix did. It requires a massive amount of time, energy, and money to keep guinea pigs healthy, clean, and happy. And people who think that smaller animals are easier to take care of and less expensive than dogs or cats are in for a rude awakening. Animals can become sick, get injured, and even die when children aren’t able to give them appropriate care. ![]() Small animals shouldn’t suffer in order for a child to learn responsibility. Do guinea pigs make good “starter pets” for kids? From the abuse they’re subjected to by breeders and pet stores to the specialized care they require, there are many reasons why not.įirst, caring for an animal isn’t like taking a practice test. ![]()
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