advise on getting a pet

mac666_2

Hi everybody,

My landlord has agreed to us having a pet :j.

He has said it needs to be a outdoor pet as he is worried about smell and mess in the house. We have a garage were a pet can be bought in in winter.

I was thinking of either a rabbit or guinea pig.

Just looking for some advise on each for their suitability with children ours are dd1 10, ds 7 and dd2 5. Of course i will be the main carer for the pet but i would like to get my children as involed as possible with the pets care and day to day needs.

I won't be getting the pet until spring. So am looking to research them in the comming months before getting one. If anyone can point me to any websites that may help i would be very gratefull.

thank you
Mrs Mac

Tulip

How exciting for you all,sorry I cant advise you on what to do I felt your excitement bouncing off your post.
Enjoy your new pet whatever it may be,rabbit or Guinnea pig when you get them in the Spring.

faded_flowers

Of those two I'd say go with Guinea Pigs - definitely a pair, they're sociable animals and hate to live alone. They're easier to handle than rabbits for the young ones.

Definitely give them the biggest space you can afford and remember to consider the 'running' costs of nuggets, hay, straw, fruit/veg, chews to keep teeth short

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

One of DD's friends gives hers what we call Guinea Spliffs :cool: - they're a big cone of stuff to munch on.

wilykit

hi OP

personally i prefer rabbits, but guinea pigs are great pets too!

glad to see you are researching it too - i hate it when people decide to get a pet, do no research and their outdoor pet ends up in a hutch no bigger than a shoebox!

i think the double tier hutches are great - my giant rabbit has one and it means he can get more exercise and doesn't need a separate run, plus he tends to go to toilet in the 'downstairs' which means his living space upstairs is a lot cleaner and nicer for him.

places like pets at home tend to be a lot more expensive than other places, it is worth looking in the yellow pages or online to see if there are any companies that make hutches themselves

Frankie231

Have a look through this site here:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/

These guys are the experts on Rabbits and there are always plenty available for re home that have been rescued. If you have a look through the 'rabbit care' section on the site there is loads of advise for owners and potential owners about food and diet, and RSPCA guidelines for hutch sizes etc.

In terms of getting the kids involved, I think it's a great idea! But its the same situation as any other animal, it depends on the bunny's personality as to whether they'll be good around kids. I have 2 rabbits and one of them loves curling up on my daughters lap and getting strokes, but the other one won't go near her, that's the main reason I suggest re homing one rather than buying from a breeder or a pet shop, a lot of these rabbits have been in the centres for a long time so the guys that you'll be speaking to will know which ones will have the right sort of personality to be around children.

babyshoes

I agree with re-homing a pet. We got our ferrets from a rescue centre, and had the opportunity to meet them and play with them a couple of times (once in our own home) before we committed to adopting them. They are gorgeous critters who play like kittens and sometimes cuddle on my lap, but are probably not ideal for little kids as they can accidentally scratch when they are playing or wanting to be put down.

UnluckyT

id say guine pigs, theyre lovely and ive found them much better than rabbits.

linda.b_4

I would say for children 2 guinea pigs are the best pets. I keep rabbits and guinea pigs and picking up and cuddling a guinea pig is far easier than a grumpy rabbit! Both my rabbits are spayed and if they dont want to be bothered they will lift their front paws and box you (actually only the girl does this as she is a mardy little madam) A guinea pig will rarely bite and will just sit on your lap looking petrified rather than biting or scratching. If its an animal to feed care and watch rather than cuddle, then rabbits are lovely when they are hopping round the garden, but stuck in a hutch on its own day after day is not a pretty sight. We have an inch of snow in the garden, but I opened their run and they were in the snow for a couple of hours today and loved it, even though they can go into their heated shed, they do like to be outside.

Froglet

Breaks my heart to see any animal caged up 24/7 birds as well.That is not the life nature intended them to have,and if that's all people want to do then they should have a fluffy toy one instead.

zaksmum

Guinea pigs are indeed lovely but be careful with checking their gender.

My daughter had one she called Snoopy when she was younger, pet shop told us it was a boy. She thought it was lonely so we got another boy, Barney, to keep it company.

Turned out Snoopy was in fact a girl, and she produced 4 babies. Barney was, within weeks, doing naughty things to his own daughters, and his sons getting up to mischief with their sisters........!

Within months, we'd found ourselves overrun with guinea pigs. Fortunately the local pet shop happily relieved us of the babies. We stopped counting at 34 of them so it was just as well.