Guinea Pigs!

By Mira P

We've (my family and I) had two pairs of guinea pigs, the first, a pair of girls named Kiki and Whiskers and our current pair, two girls named Sugar and Charkie (like charcoal). Guinea pigs are a great pet. I, unfortunately, am allergic to them.

As much as I hate to admit it, my gut reaction when someone tells me they're getting a guinea pig is "no! Don't get a guinea pig!" Mostly because most people I know (not most people in general) don't really know how to take proper care of a guinea pig; they are oftentimes seen as an over-sized hamster.

This myth that a guinea pig is a big hamster can be deadly. Guinea pigs are actually rather complicated to take care of, and aren't the same as hamster at all. The first and most important thing - cage size. People commonly get the wrong sized cage for a guinea pig. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, because they like to run around and popcorn. (visit Cavy Cages for more info on cage size) I have never seen an appropriate sized cage for a guinea pig at a pet store - never.

I once read a book where the author most likely mixed up "hamster" and "guinea pig" or "rat" and "guinea pig". It included a scene where the "guinea pig" ran away and got lost (guinea pigs are not small and would likely be found moderately quickly, but of course, they could also get lost. My guinea pigs have never shown an interest), where they picked the guinea pig's cage up (a cage shouldn't be small enough that you can pick it up) and one of them said "close the top or she will climb out" (a guinea pig could jump out if their cage is low enough, but they can't climb out).

It was a minor mistake, but it just shows that guinea pigs and hamsters are too easily mixed up. What do you guys think?