Andrea Will

Shelley said:
 
"Ironically, mice, gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs are
perfectly acceptable.  A shame, since they all of them, (with the
exception of g.p.'s), bite far more often then rats and are not nearly as
smart or lovable toward their human owners."
 
Just a word of caution. . . . don't be too lured by guinea pigs either, if you are looking for a cuddly-type pet.  Our guinea pig bites and he bites *hard*.  I belong to a guinea pig mailing list as well and judging from the responses I've gotten, biting piggies are not the exception but the rule.  "Todd" is sweet (we're a BIG animal-loving family here) but he's a lot of work. . . . completely washing the cage weekly (or the smell is atrocious!!), scooping out the "soiling" from the litter-stuff at the bottom of his cage every day (or the smell is atrocious!!. . .plus piggies can get liver damage if they have to smell the ammonia in their own urine all the time), making sure we have fresh veggies in the house because they're so necessary for him, making sure we have the vitamins to put in his drinking water too (g.pigs don't have any other source of vitamin C other than what they get in their water and fresh veggies, so to prevent scurvy you've got to do the soluble vitamin stuff plus the veggies), making sure he has something to naw on all the time in order to keep his teeth worn down (they have teeth like rabbits, that become overgrown if not nawed down and then they are unable to eat), making sure his nails are trimmed. . . . .I mean, the list goes on and on.  There's a whole lot of work and not a whole lot of reward with owning a pet guinea pig!!  Of course, that's just my opinion!  :-)
 
As with *any* pet you are contemplating getting, get on a mailing list dedicated to that pet and hang-out for awhile.  Be sure you understand everything you're getting into *before* you get into it.  Lots better for everything and everybody concerned that way.
 
Peace~~
 
Andrea