If you are in the search of a new pet, then get a pet that is worth your time. Get yourself an animal that you can play with, or pet, or jog with, or simply get a pet to keep yourself entertained. Dogs and cats are always the obvious choices, for obvious reasons. They are very energetic and personable. However, you may be somebody that wants to be different than the norm. If so, there is one pet I DO NOT recommend. The pet I am talking about is a guinea pig. Sure, these little furry rodents can be really cute, but they are not very enjoyable pets to own.
I’ve gone through a handful of guinea pigs (not by my choice) and not one of them showed themselves worthy as being a fun pet! They all do the same thing. They sit in one corner of their cage/play pen and never move. They will literally sit in their own feces/urine for nearly 24 hours straight. If you give them a little “guinea house,” they will hide in that little house so much that you’ll often have to peek inside it to make sure that they are still alive.
It seemed that no matter how much we fed them, pet them, held them, and let them roam free around the living room, they never warmed up to us. After three months, they still act paranoid when they see me walk toward them. Upon seeing me, they immediately run to the nearest corner or hole that they can find. I’m not a mean pet owner. I’m as gentle as they come when it comes to pet owners, yet these little guys are still paranoid by the sight of me. I occasionally let them free to roam in the living room so they can entertain me by running around and exploring, but no, they don’t do that. They usually just run straight to the corner of the living room and hide behind the couch or squeeze their little bodies under the TV stand. I hate it when they do that! I have to literally lift the TV stand (which is very heavy) from the floor in order to retrieve these rodents!
The only thing that I like about guinea pigs is that if they go to the bathroom on the carpet, it’s very easy to clean. Their “droppings” come in the form of hard, dry pellets, so it’s never too messy or time consuming to clean up. But other than that, I think I’d rather have a cat or dog!
Who knows, maybe it’s just me. Maybe other guinea pig owners have different stories. If they do, then more power to them. I am simply writing this blog for any prospective guinea pig owners. If you expect to have a warm, affectionate and playful guinea pig, then there is a good chance that you may be disappointed.
With all of that being said, guinea pigs are still cute and I understand the temptation to bring one or two home with you. But if you do by chance get yourself some guinea pigs, and it doesn’t work out the way you planned, then don’t say I didn’t warn you!
