5 Reasons Why Guinea Pigs Make Great Pets

Are Guinea Pigs Good Pets?

I have had a guinea pig (also known as a cavy) off and on for my entire life. I won my first guinea pig, "Petey," from a name-drawing in my 1st-grade class, and he became my first pet ever. After owning 4–5 different guinea pigs, I would easily recommend a guinea pig as a pet to anyone considering adding a new member to the household.

I currently own two boars (male guinea pigs). Apollo and Wilson are brothers, as well as cage mates. My boyfriend and I adopted them from a guinea pig rescue in Meadville, PA. Their personalities are extremely different, so it is fun to see how they interact and play off of one another. Being the sweethearts that they are, guinea pigs make great starter pets for potential pet owners, which is why I have devoted this article to promoting these chubby balls of fur.

1. They Are Very Friendly

Along with guinea pigs, I have owned a lot of other small pets and know that all pets are capable of being friendly. I also know that there is always the possibility of a mean guinea pig, but this I have never seen.

Rabbits are often bought from a pet store (never do this!!) as bunnies and then given away when they go through their "teens" because most owners don't know that as the bunny gets older and goes through puberty, it can become very mean and nasty. This time will pass, and getting it spayed or neutered will definitely help (though it is costly), but a lot of owners give the bunny away before it is able to mellow out.

I have heard that rats are extremely smart and can make great pets, but rats can also be very territorial. A fun fact about rats: Their bottom front teeth literally split apart into a v-shape to get a better grip on their prey, and they can bite through concrete, meaning they can easily bite someone to the bone. It is very important to tame a rat when it's still a baby and unable to hurt you as badly.

I have a friend who bought a rat from a pet store (again, a terrible idea!!). Sookie, named after a character from the popular television show True Blood (ironic, right?) was shy and gentle for her first day home. Once she became comfortable with her new cage, she began to change. After three days, she started biting, and it got to the point where my friend had to start dropping food from above her cage into her bowl because if you ever put your hand into her cage, she attacks it and draws blood.

I'm not saying this to offend any faithful rat owners, and I am aware that rats can be amazing pets; I'm just saying that it is important to the owner to tame them, or things can turn ugly.

I have owned many hamsters and love them to death, but when it comes to biting, I will admit I have been bitten by a couple of hamsters. There are certain types of hamsters that are less likely to bite (Russian dwarves, for example), but in referring to hamsters as a whole, I would say that they bite more than guinea pigs.

Ok, back to what I was originally talking about. I have never owned a guinea pig that bit. I have even taken my index finger and touched Wilson's bottom lip, and he has no interest in it whatsoever. I think that's just it; guinea pigs don't care. They are very timid creatures, so they are very unlikely to mistakingly bite your finger thinking it's food because they are afraid to try any kind of new food that's actually put in front of their faces. They are extremely gentle little animals, and it's hard to fear them.

2. They Are Easy to Care for

Guinea pigs require very little maintenance. They need fresh water, timothy hay, dry pellets, and veggies. Their cage needs to be cleaned about once every 1–2 weeks and is very easy to clean. An even easier option would be to have a c&c cage (a cage made from grids and coroplast) with fleece as bedding. Using fleece as bedding is a very easy option that is meant for guinea pigs specifically (kind of like linoleum for rabbits).

Typically guinea pigs do not need to be spayed or neutered unless you plan on having coed cage mates. This means that vet costs are at a minimum unless your piggy becomes ill. They don't need to be bathed often at all; in fact, they shouldn't be bathed more than once or twice a year. They do not need to be groomed unless they have long hair, but they will need their nails clipped about once every three weeks.

3. They Are Not Destructive

A very good thing about guinea pigs, they won't destroy your house! They are much less likely to chew furniture, and you never have to worry about them tearing up your carpet. It goes along with the reason why they don't bite. They just don't care and are too curious and afraid to do anything to begin with. It would be hard to not catch a guinea pig before it is about to do something destructive or crazy, they don't think very quickly, and their actions are even slower than their words.

The worst they will do to your house is pee or poop on your floor. Some people claim that their guinea pigs are litter trained, but for the most part, it's a hit or miss with litter training. They either get it or they don't, and most don't. When giving them floor time, it is a good idea to put something down such as fleece or towels so to avoid any accidents.

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4. They Are Inexpensive

Another great thing about guinea pigs is that they can be adopted for a very reasonable price. I adopted my two boars for $30.00 together. They can be bought from pet stores for many varying prices, but you will never spend big numbers on a guinea pig.

**It is a much better idea to choose to adopt a guinea pig rather than buying one at a pet store. There are many orphan piggies out there in shelters and rescues who have most likely been handled more and have definitely been more taken care of. If anyone knows how to take proper care of a guinea pig, it's a rescuer. They will be able to answer any question under the sun.

As I have mentioned before, there won't be too many vet visits with a guinea pig. I have only ever needed to take one pig to the vet. They don't require any shots and spaying/neutering is optional.

Cages

Cages can be inexpensive if you know what you're doing. A great cage option is to build a C&C yourself. A C&C cage is a cage built with a coroplast base and a grid boundary for fencing. I can guarantee that any cage in a pet store will be overpriced and too small for any adult guinea pig. For the price, you pay for a large cage in a store you can build a cage that is at least four times the size using cubes and coroplast.

Food

Food prices vary depending on how much you care about the quality of your food. Oxbow Cavy Cuisine pellets are a very popular pellet type bought by many loyal guinea pig owners. I have been buying it for my boars, and they love it. This food is very high quality and doesn't contain any extra ingredients that aren't good for a pig.

Regular pellet food can be found for a fraction of the cost, but I warn you it is not recommended for piggies diets. Timothy hay can be bought at a store or provided by a local farmer who ensures that it is not harmful in any way.

Bedding

Bedding can be the most expensive part of owning a guinea pig, but there are ways around it. Using fleece for guinea pig bedding cuts down costs immensely. Rather than purchase bag after bag of wood shavings, save money by throwing a few towels and a yard of fleece in the wash instead.

Overall, once you have your piggy settled in their new home, the cost to keep them alive and well should be in the range of about 20 to 30 dollars every two months. This varies depending on how many pigs you have and how fast they eat! My pigs go through a bag of pellets, probably once every two months.

5. They Live a Good, Average Life

For such small animals, guinea pigs can live a considerably long life. Averaging 4–7 years, these piggies aren't as likely to be found shockingly deceased after less than a year. It is pretty safe to assume they will give you a friend for at least 3–4 years, considering you take good care of them. I owned a guinea pig who lived for about six and a half years, so he stayed with me all through the torturous years of middle school and almost all of high school.

Hamsters can live about 2–3 years, which is pretty good, but there isn't as much stability in living a good solid three years. I bought a hamster for my best friend last year, and three weeks later, she died. It was interesting because the pet store only gave refunds after two days, so not only was it a huge disappointment, but it was a waste of money altogether.

Though rats can grow rather large and appear to live long, they actually only live 2–3 years as well. This is because they are very prone to disease and illness.

I think that the life span of a guinea pig is pretty good. It isn't too small that you have just gotten to know them before they leave, but it isn't too long that you lose appreciation for them and start to take them for granted.

Guinea Pigs Are Great Pets

In a nutshell, guinea pigs can be considered great pets for people of all ages. I wrote this article to share my thoughts on guinea pigs and to hopefully share some knowledge with potential piggy parents. I feel that they are great family pets and even better "first" pets. They don't bite, they're a cinch to take care of, they won't destroy your belongings, they're cheap, and they won't croak on you too soon.

Most of all, they are great little animals. They are fun to interact with, and they are fun to watch as they interact with cage mates. They make cute noises and have quirky behavior involving things such as "popcorning" and "rumble-strutting."

Bottom line—adopt a piggy!

© 2010 Jessie Miller

Comments

Twyla on April 20, 2020:

I have 2 guinea pigs Pumpkin&Cookie

geronimo on August 30, 2019:

i have a ginny to his name is geronimo

Brayden on August 26, 2019:

Hi I have a giny pig to

Guinea Pigs 1980 on February 11, 2019:

A Guinea Pigs' diet should be 80% Hay, 10% Veggies and 10% Pellets. Piggies need the hay to keep their teeth and tummy healthy.

bruh on April 11, 2018:

cool

Charles and Tazzy on March 29, 2018:

That's the name of my Guinea's. These two are great especially working from home they keep me company. Cleaning cage is my only peeve since they poop too much and can stink up quickly if not cleaned at least twice a week, other than that everything about biting is true, their bites are so accidental and curiosity but nothing ferocious.

Ella on September 20, 2017:

Would also like to point out that galaxy rat said guinea pigs can't live higher than 4. That is not correct. It is normally the case if you don't give guinea pigs good enough care but if you do, they often live about 7-8 years and the oldest guinea pig lived to 14 or 15 so they can definitely live longer than 4.

Ella on September 19, 2017:

At one point you said that cages need to be changed every 2-3 weeks however, this is not the case with me. my guinea pigs have a pretty large cage but because I use hay for bedding and my guinea pigs are quite messy so it has to be changed about three times a week.

Joey on May 04, 2017:

Nice

GalaxyRat on April 30, 2017:

Awww Azorean! My first little guy was the sweetest boy on the planet. He always slept but loved following me around places. I would take him outside and let him eat grass and have a picnic with him. I would take him in Hastings and hold him in a towel... oh, the good times. He only lived to be 4, as I stated below... but he was so sweet! Mr. G was one good guy.

Enjoy your boy-boys. ;)

(P.S. My boy looked EXACTLY alike the first and third pictures. Except he had a white back paw and a paw with white toes.)

GalaxyRat on April 29, 2017:

CORRECTION! My Guinea Pig (Mr. G) lived only 4 years. My vet said that was the oldest age for any Guinea Pig.

fkdcxkf on January 06, 2017:

i love your reasons

joan dietz on April 18, 2016:

VERY unfair to rats! :( As with any pet, if you want it to be tame (no matter where it comes from), you must put in the time. I have had pet store rats who gave kisses and were sweethearts (this one from a pet store) and I have had rats from breeders (notably one female who started out wild and despite my best efforts, has never become "domesticated".) They are all individuals, as with all species. Before you spread questionable statements about an animal, at least have one yourself - and preferably more than one. I love my two new guinea pig boys but one in particular is pretty bad tempered, whereas the other is totally sweet. And both came from the same place as babies.