Should You Get a Guinea Pig as a Pet for Your Toddler

There is a sort of a divide in opinions when it comes to this topic, as a lot of people believe that toddlers cannot be entrusted with a pet guinea pig. Then again when we think about it we would not entrust a toddler with a lot of things, it really mostly depends on the kid, their maturity level, and other aspects in general.

It is my personal opinion that guinea pigs are a good pet for a toddler, but not because you can simply buy it and let your kid figure out how to take care of it properly. Guinea pigs are an amazing opportunity for a parent-child adventure, where you both learn a lot about, patience, responsibility, and mostly about guinea pigs. It’s like living a story about friendship, empathy, acceptance, organization, crafting toys, and growing up. Here are the elaborate reasons why I feel like this, and let me know if you agree.      

Taking care of guinea pigs is complex

I have had a lot of different pets growing up, and I have to say that guinea pigs do require more time and effort when compared to a cat or even a dog. The reality is cats and dogs require way more care while they are growing up, whereas keeping a guinea pig is a consistent long term engagement, mainly because they are more fragile.

First, there are a lot of things you need to teach your kid about the food guinea pigs are allowed to consume, and what they should avoid feeding them. Also, the little creatures have a fast metabolism so, there will be a lot of poop for your kids clean. Second, guinea pigs cannot efficiently communicate to children that they are not feeling uncomfortable, so they might resort to biting them as a mean of self-defense when they feel threatened. These are the main reasons why people think that toddlers are not suited to keep guinea pigs as their pets.

I, on the other hand, believe that this is an amazing learning opportunity, and I do not say that with a thought that a guinea pig should suffer for the sake of a child’s learning experience. Kids, although energetic, jubilant, and sometimes reckless, can also be really gentle and eager to learn about things they care about; which brings me to the second reason for why I think guinea pigs are good pets for kids.        

It is great if you plan to monitor them closely

If you believe that you and your child are ready to take care of a pet together, then guinea pig might be just a perfect fit. As stated above, this is more of a challenge than you might believe which is why it will require discipline and patience from both you and your kid.

You will have responsibilities to teach your toddler, when and what he or she can feed to the guinea pig. Also, you should let them know how to handle the animal, how to tell if it is not in a good mood, and how to clean its cage. You can also use your phone for different reminders, but at the same time give a task your kid pay attention to the feeding time, play time, and other guinea pig related schedules. So, you can step in if your child forgets some of his or her responsibilities, and remind them what they need to do.  

As your child starts to get a hang of these initial tasks, you can expand the list of responsibilities and teach your child how to groom the pet, and how to make guinea pig safe and comfortable. It can also be a great project to create all sorts of toys and cage decoration and to spoil your guinea pig along the way, as you are giving it a royal treatment.       

Guinea pigs can live long

Lastly, guinea pigs can be your pet for up to 8 years, which means your toddler will have a friend for a very long time. That means a lot of life lessons can be picked up along the way. Your toddler will learn how to be patient and respect guinea pig’s wish to be left alone. Kids can also learn that playtime and spending time with friends is important and that by neglecting them can hurt them because that is how guinea pig will react if neglected.