And sitting here thinking about it, I realized that the reason I installed Charlie in the living room, and not in the basement, which is where all the other rodents eventually ended up (the exercise wheel in the middle of the night had something to do with this, too), is that he was awake when we were. The kids would come home from school and peer interestedly into, say, the hamster’s cage in the living room, only to see that he was, of course, asleep, just a rounded furry back being visible in the rear corner in his nest. (I know it’s anthropomorphism, but I was always struck by the silent eloquence of that turned back, as if to say, “Well, you lot can do what you like, but I’m going to sleep…”)
But the minute a kid face would peer over the edge of Charlie’s blanket box, he would look up out of his potato bin, “Wheek?” Which was gratifying, to say the least, after the cold shoulder over in the mouse or gerbil tank.
I’ve had mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils, and there’s no comparison, as far as being a nice pet goes. Mice – they’re kinda cute, and interesting to observe going about their mousy biz, but they’re not very bright IMHO, and while you can tame them in the sense that you’re able to handle them, and they aren’t scared of you, that’s about as close a bond as you’re likely to have with them. Hamsters are usually squirrelly and hyper and irritable, and apt to bite a chunk out of you for no particular reason. Gerbils are maybe a little easier to handle, but…well, neither hams nor gerbs do much, other than eat chew on things and and run around on their little squeaky treadmill wheels, at least that’s been my experience; basically ,they don’t have much in the way of a personality… And you’ll probably never get them to like you really. And they all stink pretty bad unless you are practically a fanatic about keeping their cage clean and their sawdust fresh .Plus, to keep mice or gerbils happy you really need more than one; they’re pretty social oriented critters, and a few mice or gerbils invariably turns into a whole lot of them within three months…
A tame rat, on the other paw, is a delightful little animal comrade. He or she (it doesn’t matter which really) is likely to want to make friends as soon as you get him or her home; they’re very smart and interesting to watch, and never outgrow being playful and snuggly and kissy-facy. Some of them are quiet, cozy companions who enjoy a warm lap and a snack shared with a pal, while others are boisterous and rollicky and full of fun. I had one who taught me how to play a couple of games she apparently invented on her own.
A rat is sort of like a lifelong puppy actually, in ways both adorable (playful, clowny and affectionate) and deplorable (they chew stuff up all the time, and pee pretty much wherever and whenever they feel the need to). Worst thing about them is they only live a couple or three years, four at the outside.
Not just death, but the full blown circle-of-life thing. Our senior piggie, Sherma (don’t ask me; Dweezil named her) passed on last summer after a few days of not eating, 2 vet trips, and anesthesia which she didn’t recover from. We brought her home and had a piggie funeral and interment in the back yard.
About a month later, we noticed a hole in the back yard, where she had been buried. Either we’ve got a zombie guinea pig running around (we doubt this, as neither we nor the surviving piggers have suffered a noticeable loss in brainpower. We think ) or some wild animal came along and dug up the remains!
Typo Knig and I filled in the hole and did not tell the kids about it.
I think the idea is to make sure that all animals are of the same sex, specifically so that this does not occur. I have read in a few places that guinea pig overpopulation (and, hence, abandonment) is a big problem and it is one I would prefer not to contribute to.
I am in the process of locating a local “exotic pets” veterinarian and hunting down sources for cage building materials. I think we are officially a go for guinea pigs!
Does anyone have experience with buying hay by the bale? Here in the heartland of America ™ I feel like this would probably be a more economical solution than buying it by the bag at the pet store, but am not sure.
Check to see if there’s a guinea pig rescue group near you - that’s how we got ours. The pigs were ones that had been rescued from animal shelters. They’d been through a health check and both had been neutered (so we had a cage with 2 girls and 1 boy, and the numbers did not increase). Even if you get your pig from a pet store, the rescue group will have recommendations for local exotics specialists.
We buy our piggie feed from a feed store. Timothy hay, vs. the sort of generic hay you feed horses, is recommended for adult pigs. You can buy bags of that from Petco etc. as well but we find that the feed store actually has the big bale-sized boxes - 35 dollars for a box, and that lasts us 3-4-5 months (longer if you have a single pig, obviously!).
Cavy Cuisine (or Cavy Performance, for younger pigs) pellets by Oxbow is considered one of the best brands out there; you can buy that at speciality pet stores, order it directly from Oxbow (their shipping is very pricey however) or in my case, I buy it from the feed store. It typically is not carried by Petco / Petsmart. A trip every couple of months and my pigs are set.
Get two girl rats- the tails take some getting used to, the giant testicles on the males you never get used to. Two because rats are social, unlike hamsters who’ll kill each other.
I had a couple of Russian dwarf hamsters which are cute and sociable. Unlike regular hamsters, which are loners, they can be socialized with other dwarf hamsters, if they’re introduced before they’re 8 wks old (that’s the number according to wiki anyway). I know you said you have the space for pigs, but I loved watching them run around the tube system we set up for them. Plus they only live a few years, so I guess it really depends what you’re looking for.
I just noticed that no one had mentioned them yet, and wanted to let you know that not all species of hamsters suck as pets.
I do extensive work in educating the public about the qualities of fancy rats, and do more rat rescue work than I care to think about. Therefore, I present the obligatory link to my rat care web site:
I’ve had just about everything but ferrets and chins, and the rats win out, hands down. I’m also one of the few people who will advise against buying from a hobby breeder, but my experiences may result from local factors that don’t apply nationwide.
Feel free to drop me an email through the web site if you have any questions, as I’m rarely on message boards these days. I’m winding down two interrelated operations that rescued almost 90 rats, 14 rabbits, 21 gerbils, 4 Syrian hamsters, 3 cavies, 3 dwarf hamsters, and 2 mice in just over a month without a shelter facility or any advance notice. Who me, exhausted?
Not much of a rodent fan in general… BUT, I did have a teddy bear hamster as a kid for EIGHT years. She was great, I never was bit by her, and she did like to sit with me and waddle around.
My experience with gerbils was less than fun. Bit repeatedly, if you have more than one they have a tendency to attack and even kill each other.
Rats I’ve never been able to overcome the tail and their lack of bladder control. But I agree that they are friendly, smart, and come to love their humans rather readily.
Cavies or Guinea pigs are GREAT for family pets, especially if you have kids. They are sturdy, pretty slow, the long haired whorly ones are really cute. They do eventually recognize what the fridge door sounds like so definately take note that they have a very HIGH pitched squeal that they let loose for attention and food–especially when anyone opens the fridge. It’s fairly ear shattering. LOL.
Also, be very careful about the “litter”/“bedding” you choose. We stopped using cedar shavings, due to allergy problems. (Ever heard a guinea pig sneeze?) We moved on to pine shavings, but I was never too thrilled with their absorbency. I hear some of the new recycled paper are great, but they came out after our piggies had passed away (at 6 and 7, I believe).
I would also recommend a pellet based food that has a mix of grains, hay, and seeds, like this one , which helped contribute to the aforementioned guinea pig obesity problem. Just try to follow the recommended serving size on the package, and not the serving size the guinea pig itself “recommends”, like we did.
I’m not sure you’ll need a whole bale of hay for just one guinea pig. That seems like way too much in my opinion. I remember a store size bag of hay lasting about a month.
While obesity can be an issue with piggers, it is definitely more important to make certain that they are getting proper nutrition. A fat piggy that gets a balanced diet and overeats is much healthier than an underweight or proper weight one that only gets pellets and hay. So long as they are healthy and get an hour of floor time every evening, it is usually better that they are fat and sassy. Free feeding your cavies, (an open hopper that self loads), can be a great option, but you must know your pet’s eating habits. Many piggers will eat until they are full, in the knowledge that there is always more food in their hopper. Others will stuff themselves like little sumo wrestlers, and you’ll need to keep an eye on them.
Yes - nowadays the recommendation is strongly against cedar shavings - the volatile oils are considered very bad for lungs (I don’t know that it’s an allergy thing, more of a chemical-fumes thing). Similarly pine though less so; some folks say a kiln-dried pine product is OK. I used aspen shavings at first, which worked well enough if a bit dusty, then I switched to Care Fresh (a recycled paper thing). That’s pricey - a large bag is 20ish dollars and it takes nearly the whole thing to fill our big cage - though I save a little by buying it from a feed store (their price is about a buck less than PetSmart).
Pelleted foods (where everything is all mixed up in a single pellet) seem to be recommended now over the mixed-tidbits types because they have all the ingredients in every bite. I’ve read that with the mixed-type foods, the pigs will pick and choose the bits they like best, leaving the rest, and this can lead to their getting a less-than-balanced diet.
Mrs. Gamer purchased the Hamster from Hell over Christmas for the kids. Normally our hamster experiences are - Buy hamster, wait two weeks, bury hamster. Not with this Devil Hamster though. She bulls her way out of the cage runs through the house, tearing things up, destroys carpets, then crawls back to the cage for food and water. She is the 6th hamster we’ve owned.
Of course, the missus thinks this displays personality, and is amused by the spawn of Satan. So, unless you don’t mind the 16.67% chance that you will have brought a Minion of Evil into your home, go gerbil.
) or some wild animal came along and dug up the remains!