We've had 3 guinea pigs, 1 mouse and 2 rats. These animals are defecation machines. If you don't want to spend every fourth day cleaning up poop or pee, don't get one. Guinea pigs are stupid as wood. We bought one female only to learn she was prgenant and she had two males. Then we needed separate cages to prevent incestuous breeding. It is amusing to get guests from Ecuador or Peru who tell you they eat them. The mouse died quickly, but my youngest replaced it with 2 rats. Why did I say yes? The rats are cute and intelligent but leave a trail of pee everywhere. Their cage stinks and we don't play with them out of the cage because then everything is covered with pee. I'm waiting for them to die. God, all these rodents stink. Don't make my mistake.
It's great to have a Jack Russell Terrier. They think if it's small and it moves, it's prey. Pretty soon, you won't have any more rodents underfoot.
We had hamsters when I was a kid, but they would inevitably escape (i.e. get let out of their cage by me or one of my brothers) and go find a crack in the wall and hide, until they died. And then it would smell for a while. I thought I read somewhere that rats have no bladder control -- they basically pee all the time and leave trails of it everywhere they go. But I can't find a reference for that now.
If you're lucky they won't have babies there first. Or if they do, sometimes they'll eat them. Hamsters are a little traumatic for kids. And they occasionally bite. I know. I checked.
When I was kiddie my first official pet (I'm discounting the 'pet' slugs and worms I used to cram into my toy cars in an attempt to create some kind of mollusc/annelid rush hour scenario) was a Jack Russell. Always cute with its boundless energy, but I was small and I moved - so I was a pretty easy target. And I will totally support the motion to avoid having rodents as pets. Totally pointless. Thankfully they don't live very long. I've had hamsters (esacaped and crushed under a sofa); gerbils (did absolutely nothing endearing - then escaped and got lost under the floor boards and I presume died); and a couple of rats, which do indeed stink. Rats are the best of the rodent bunch unless you're going hardcore and opt for ferrets which stink even more - however they do seem to have a couple of brain cells floating around somewhere. I'd even bunch rabbits in with this motely crew - pointless. Lesson is - you want a pet? Get one you can interact with. It's basic but cats or dogs can't be beat. Or if you're lazy, fish. Not great at interaction but they don't make the place smell of piss.
Fish are cool. But, fish are for bachelors and child molesters. I can't imagine I'd want to clean a fish tank after cleaning up after two kids all week.
i did a psychology lab in college with a rat. That little guy was awesome. Taught him to push a lever to get some water. I'd let him crawl around on me after the experiment was done for the day and I was doing my lab report. surprisinly he never pissed on me once.
As a kid I had two dogs who used to incestuously jump aboard and hump each each. Stranger still, they were mother and daughter.
It is actually animal abuse and illegal to keep a guinea pigs solitary in a cage. guinea pigs have complex social structures, they even have their own language they use to talk to each other. Perhaps you should just gather a little bit more information before you get an animal
i agree with the previous poster. it sounds more like you need to do research before you get a pet. my guinea pig is awesome (and she's my 4th) -- she's totally socialized (here's a clue about g-pigs.. the more you play with them, the more social they get and the more they love people.. same with a lot of animals). and she's also brilliant. she's potty trained. we let her run around the living room and when she has to pee or poop she goes in a litter box. i know many a dog who's a lot dumber than my guinea pig.
When we were kids my sister had two hamsters. Once she forgot to feed them, and one ate the other one.
We have 2 cats. Only problem we have with rodents is when one of them kills one outside and tries to sneak it into the house.
I'm probably directly (by setting-up various types of mouse-traps) or indirectly (through my cats) responsible for over 1000 rodent deaths in my life. Why would anyone want them as pets again??
The only problem there is that to get rid of the Terrier when you get tired of it's yapping, you need to buy a wolf. When the wolf gets too big and is leaving rabbit and carcases where the rat poo used to be, then you need to get a bear. Then to get rid of the bear, you'll have to concoct an arctic winter in the neighbourhood. Not only will that see your energy bill fly through the roof, but you won't be very popular with the neighbours, either.