Should I get a rat or guinea pig as a pet?

Question

I've been wanting a guinea pig for some time now. My dad finally agreed to let me have one. I also want a rat. What would make a more enjoyable pet? I can spare 2-3 hours a day to maintain it. I just want a friendly companion. I already have a large cage that would work for either one.

Which one is the better choice??

Answer 1

personally id get a couple of rats,as a rat owner myself ( i have 9 girls) i can say that they make absolutely amazing pets,so loving,friendly,inquisitive,intellegent,funny to watch the list goes on,and also they are extreamly CLEAN so many people have a minconception about rats that they smell,bite etc but they are not like that at all, its extreamly rare for a pet rat to bite and if it does there is usually an underlying problem i.e its scared/feels threatened or if it is ill.

they spend quite a lot of their time grooming theirselves and eachother, never get just 1 rat as they are very sociable animals and should NOT be kept on their own,also lots of people think that their rat wont bond with them if they have more than 1...this is also not true ive had 15 rats altogether and every single one of them has bonded with me.they learn their own name,you can teach them tricks,they come running when you walk into the room or hear any rustling...hmmmm treats!! they really are like a mini dog the things they are capable of.

boys or girls?

ive only ever had girls,the girls are faster and into EVERYTHING including the buttons on my laptop!!, & the boys are more laid back.

Rats need a very large cage as they love to climb so it must be tall,basically as big as you can afford, just watch how big the bar spacing is as rats can squeeze out of tiny spaces,ferret cages are good for rats once they are bigger (not very young rats because of the bar spacing) they make ideal cages because they are quite large i have a furet tower (which is a ferret cage) and Ferplast jenny cages you can google them and you will get some idea of what you need,a furet tower can hold 18 rats (although i only have 6 in mine) a jenny can hold 2-3 males or max 5 females.

The only downside is they dont live long enough,i'd love them to have the lifespan of say a chinchilla (20 years) but they are such loving little things that they give you more love in their few years than 20 years anyway. in the past ive just about had a bit of everything, chinchillas,gerbils,hamsters,etc but i would not get anything other than rats now, i hope this helps :-)