A Guinea pig or a rabbit? **The decision is made!!! Update post #44

[bt03]

My daughter's 10th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and me and my husband keep going back and forth on which would be best to get her. Now before I start getting into trouble for getting her a pet for her birthday let me tell you about her. She is an only child that has been super responsible since she was about 4 when it comes to pets. She wants to be a vet eventually so she has always helped a lot where pets are concerned. She helped to take care of my mother's dog from the age of 4 until she was about 8 when we moved away for a while. She has a cat that is her responsibility and has been for the last year but she also helps with my cat and my husband's dog, she is in charge of afternoon feed and water for 7 ducks and 1 chicken and she is in charge of the duck pool every other week. She is a very responsible kid and I am super lucky that she is and I see this as another teaching tool for down the road when we get her a horse for her 15th birthday. Did I also mention that we had a hamster that lived for 6 years? I didn't know those could do that!!

She has been asking for either a guinea pig or a rabbit since about November when she saw all the cotton tails at my dad's farm. She has done a lot of research about the 2 but me and my husband keep going back and forth on them. He wants a rabbit (breed is not an issue) but he thinks something smaller like a guinea pig may be easier for her to clean up after. Depending on the breed of rabbit they may both have the same amount of care needed. i know the space requirements are greater for a rabbit but on the flip side research says it is best to have 2 female guinea pigs which makes for about the same amount of space that a single rabbit need which can live alone.

So the question is which would be best for a 10 year old girl? A guinea pig or a rabbit?

 

[Gmsg01]

I think either makes a fine pet. Rabbits can be very friendly, stay away from angoras as coat care can be challenging. You will probably want to have a male neutered to prevent spraying, and a female spayed to prevent uterine cancer. We had a female bunny that turned into a Monte Python rabbit ( growling and lunging LOL) until we had her spayed. But rabbits can be trained to walk on a leash, and can be house rabbits, or safely housed outside.

Guinea pigs rarely bite, and are often very affectionate if handled frequently. Other then teeth and nails, don't usually require much vet care. If you do get two females, they will be good company for each other.

If my space was limited, I would go for the pig. With more space, if it was going to be a house rabbit, I would go for a nice mini Rex or Dutch rabbit.

 

[~Wind~]

I would vote Guinea Pig. We have both and I find that for the kids a guinea pig will sit longer for lovin than a rabbit. Also guinea pigs dont tend to scratch or nip the same way a rabbit can if it is not "fixed". Not all rabbits do but hardly any guinea pigs do. Also I find that in the house a guinea pigs urine has way less of a smell compared to a rabbit. Just my experience. I have both and love both, but deffinatly would recomend a guinea pig or two for your situation.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I think either one would be fine and a great B-day gift for a responsible girl like yours. Does she have a preference? We've had pigs and buns and both make great pets. Each has it's own redeeming qualities. I might have to say that piggies may be easier to handle. Sometimes bunnies get nervous being picked up or put down and start to kick and they can deliver a pretty good scratch.

As far as ease of care, I'd say about the same. Our buns are litter box trained which makes cage cleaning a breeze. With our pigs we pretty much had to just dump the whole tray every time.

My son hit me up for rabbits when he was 9 and when he was 10 I got him a mini rex doe and a dutch doe, both 8 weeks old. They are a year old now and both are the sweetest, friendliest things, he has a great time with them. We haven't had them spayed yet but are looking into it. They do live in separate hutches. A pair of female pigs could live together.

Good luck with your decision making, if it were me we'd probably end up with one of each!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Could you give her the choice? For my 6 or 7th birthday (Geeze, can't remember which!) my parents were going to get me an iguana. It was a good thing they told me ahead of time though because I decided on a ferret instead. I was still plenty excited about it and was happy because I was able to choose the one I wanted myself.

Both of the animals you suggested would make great pets. The only real difference is you can keep a rabbit outside. Also I find rabbits to be a bit more cuddly, but guinea pigs can be a lot of fun and very sociable.

 

[bt03]

Quote:
Awww man! You just said exactly what I really want to do!

After reading the responses I am leaning a bit more towards a pair of guinea pigs. That way she can learn how to pick them up and later down the road if she still wants a rabbit or two she will already know how to pick them up without their nails scratching her. Thanks for the responses and the help

 

[redhen]

If you cant get a baby or tame flemish rabbit, then i'd get a guinea pig.
Flemish are the BEST rabbits. The gentle giants for the bunny world. And guinea pigs are just all around cool critters with a LOT of personality.

 

[wolftracks]

Lionheads! Small, cute and fuzzy faced.

 

[debilorrah]

Netherland dwarfs and mini holland lops are small, easy to care for and very docile breeds of rabbits.

 

[bt03]

chicker, I would like to giver her a choice but she is like me and we will study to death what to get and will end up being 30 before we make a decision on what would be best, lol

red, I really want a Flemish! We saw one at Critter Fest this weekend and I just wanted to cuddle with him the whole time we were there

wolf, You can't show me cute pictures! I have been avoiding pictures so that I don't decide based on cuteness

debi, You just really want me to sway towards rabbits don't you? You are just like wolf because now I have to go check out the cute pictures to see what they look like