Rat or Guinea Pig?
- Thread starter fish_freak
- Start date
I say rat because IME they can handle the noise, handling, of a child better than a guinea pig. Lil piggies are easily startled and tend to be much more skittish than rats. My rats lived 3 years BTW. My rat only bit me once and that was when I was wearing strawberry flavored lip gloss and I had her in my face. Pretty sure your son wont have strawberry lip gloss on lol. Rats can be leash trained as well. And they are cheaper. I would wait until your son is more experienced to put him with a guinea pig. I would avoid any mice/gerbils/hamsters for a child this young as well, because dropping them or squeezing them can be fatal.
Oh ya I dont care for gerbils at all! They all bite. Hamsters arn't much better. At this point I think I am going to go with a rat but fell free to keep posting about them.
I had rats for years, Multiple generations of them infact.
I would allow my nephew, 2 at the time, pet them. It's not a pet to play with without supervision, but nothing is. Don't pull tails or whiskers and make sure he washes his hands so they don't smell like food. They might nibble to see what it is, if not. That might scare a 3 year old because I know it startled the heck out of me.
The only time I had a rat full on bite me was when a female had just had a litter of pups. I came too close to the nest, while I was cleaning and she defended it. Excellent mothers. Very sweet and very smart if you keep them socialized. Very fun to train.
I want to move out the dorm so I can get a few actually.
I would allow my nephew, 2 at the time, pet them. It's not a pet to play with without supervision, but nothing is. Don't pull tails or whiskers and make sure he washes his hands so they don't smell like food. They might nibble to see what it is, if not. That might scare a 3 year old because I know it startled the heck out of me.
The only time I had a rat full on bite me was when a female had just had a litter of pups. I came too close to the nest, while I was cleaning and she defended it. Excellent mothers. Very sweet and very smart if you keep them socialized. Very fun to train.
I want to move out the dorm so I can get a few actually.
I'm already pushing it with my 30g fish tank. The limit is a 10g, but the 3 levels up( RA, Hall Director, Cooridinator) from student already know about it and have seen it. I don't get enough room for cages too. The room is made for 3 people and my 1 roommate takes 2/3 of it. I'm waiting her out. She'll crack before I do.
Sorry for the hi-jack.
RATS RULE!
Sorry for the hi-jack.
RATS RULE!
Depends on the hamster. Regular siberians in all of their color forms aren't too bad. I've learned to really like my daughters hamsters, sucks that any more than 2 yrs is borrowed time:/fish_freak said:
