Guinea pigs can make great pets! Here’s why:
1) Guinea pigs are social animals who love attention and play time. They can be skittish at first when a hand reaches into their cage, but once a guinea pig is familiar with its surrounding environment, he will probably stop running away from familiar hands. So if your guinea pig is a little scared at first, don’t let that discourage you from interacting with it. While guinea pigs don’t need as much attention from people as dogs do, most do require a moderate level of attention on a daily basis.
2) Did you know that guinea pigs like to have roommates? They are happiest living in a pair. Keep in mind when choosing a mate, though, that a male/female pair will reproduce, rather frequently at that. If you don’t want new baby guinea pigs being born about five times per year, get a female/female pair. Two female guinea pigs will cohabitate quite nicely, two males will not.
3) Rabbits are also good cage-mates for guinea pigs, but rodents such as hamsters and mice are not. Even if the guinea pig is bigger than its rodent cage-mate, it will be relatively defenseless against biting attacks. It is a bad idea to allow interaction between guinea pigs and dogs that are either bred to catch small rodents or to hunt, as they will view a guinea pig as its prey. Cats are also rodent predators and should not be introduced to a pet guinea pig. Believe it or not, birds can also harm a pet guinea pig. A bird might steal bits of food or bite or peck at the guinea. Parrots who love social interaction with people, might get jealous of the attention being given to a guinea pig and is likely to attack it. If you are going to let the guinea out of its cage, make sure it is out of harm’s way from all of these animals or, sadly, you might end up with a dead or critically injured pet.
4) Bagged guinea pig feed from a store is an okay part of a pet guinea pig’s meal, but it should not be all the animal eats, as these feeds do not contain enough nutrition for a healthy guinea. Guinea pigs enjoy eating fresh fruits and veggies, especially crunchy ones like carrots and broccoli. They will also eat green leaves from lettuce or spinach and the like. Fresh hay should make up a large portion of what you feed your guinea pig. Guinea pigs only need to be fed about one time per day, but they will eat occasional snacks. Of course fresh water should always be a daily part of their diet.
5) Guinea pigs have big teeth that continue to grow. To keep their teeth down to a manageable size, offer the guinea pig weekly bundles of twigs to chew on. You can also buy it chew toys from a pet store. If you let your guinea pig roam the house, make sure any valuable furniture is out of harms way, as it will chew on just about anything, including household items.
6) Guinea pigs make good pets for kids because they do not usually bite, unlike hamsters and other rodents, nor do they scratch.
7) If your guinea pig is on a healthy diet, its life span can exceed age 5 by several years in some cases.
