The boys have been going on about getting a pet. They really miss our cat Yoshi who died in November last year. They still talk about him and look up and talk to him in the sky. Both boys adore animals and Tyler is obsessed with pigs and penguins, we don’t live on a farm, a zoo or a in an igloo so there isn’t much chance we can get either of those. Lucas would love a hedgehog, now I’m told people can keep these as pets but I’m not so sure or that they’d make a good pet for a young child. He saw some guinea pigs when we were at a petting zoo a few weeks ago and fell in love with them.
He came home showing his dad how to hold them, he already had a teddy one which already went everywhere with him but more so now. I’ve always had loads of animals, my mother being a crazy cat lady, so I’m happy to have animals. I draw the line at a dog as we aren’t in during the day and it’s just now fair on it. Hubby on the other hand hasn’t really had any pets and is always a bit wary about getting them, he loves them when they are there but actually saying yes he’s not that keen.
I’d done a lot of research into what pets are good for small children and guinea pigs seemed to come up trumps every time. I spoke to the man in the petting zoo, who rescued them and he said they were great. That had me sold.
When he came back in last week, Easter Sunday and said let’s get the boys guinea pigs I was shocked. The boys got money from grandparents, aunts and a little from the Easter bunny rather than a load of chocolate. They put it together and on the Monday we went out guinea pig shopping after an Easter egg hunt. It was Easter after all.
Meet Shy Guy (character in Mario), the black and white guinea pig and the grey and white one is called Mr Skinny Legs (thank you Peppa Pig). The grey one is Tyler’s and he’s not quite settled on a name yet, she’s been Knuckles, Monkey George and numerous others, so this could still change. Ironically with the names chosen, the guinea pigs are female. Ahh well.
We got them a huge indoor cage, we decided we wanted to keep them indoors. We know they need to be out for exercise each day and for this we bought a large non inflatable paddling pool, which can be folded away and we can take outdoors too on nice days. It means the boys can sit in there with them and we don’t need to worry about them escaping and disappearing under the bed for hours on end.
The guinea pigs are still very young and still lots of growing to go but for now it looks great. The boys love them and I have to say so far the guinea pig love them. They sit on their knees and let them be stroked and run around. They even eat out of the boys hands.
It’s only been a week but we are already in love with these little critters. They certainly make great pets and I for one would highly recommend them for young children. They love to get handled and cuddled. They make the cutest little squeak noises, the only down side is these things can run. They love to hide and they love fresh fruit and vegetables. I’d say they are very easy to look after. So far so good. I will keep you posted on any name changes. I’m sure there will be one.
Have you had guinea pigs before?
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