Overview
1 Children's pets are always family pets
2 Learning responsibility
- Legal responsibilities
- Age appropriate responsibilities
- Internalising parents' example and attitudes
3 Practical aspects to consider beforehand
- Are guinea pigs the right pets?
- Care and lifespan
- Financial considerations
- Where to keep guinea pigs safely
- Why adopted guinea pigs can be more suitable
- How to best introduce guinea pigs and hold the interest of your children
4 Frequent problems
- Biting
- Fall-outs in boars; trios; mis-sexing and unplanned pregnancies
- Having guinea pigs born at home for your children - Why not
- Allergies, other pets and human pregnancy
- Falls and escapes
- Death and the end of the line
5 Conclusion
1 Children’s pets are always family pets!
I still remember with a warm glow in my heart the much loved guinea pigs of my childhood and the happy hours I have spent sitting with them on the lawn, cuddling them, building elaborate mazes for them and watching their antics during roaming time amongst lots of giggles and laughter.
But I also remember vividly the constant squabbles over piggy feeding and cleaning, and having to regularly fill in for my derelict brother during his rota week!
It was not the guinea pigs that have taught me responsibility; it was my mother’s insistence that piggy care had to be provided through all the tantrums and attempts of wiggling out. She taught us by her own example that whatever else happened, a pet needed to be taken care of right until the end of its life - in the case of one of our first family piggies that was nearly 10 years!
It can’t have always been easy with three children in a lively household, but I am forever grateful because without her guidance, my childhood would have been a lot poorer and I would never have had all the wonderful guinea pigs that have followed these first trailblazers of my childhood and teenage years.
2 Learning responsibility
Legal responsibilities
Legally the responsibility for any pets lies fully with the parents, whether pets are directly owned or indirectly by a minor of the household.
The law covers any pet’s basic rights of having its species specific needs addressed (in guinea pigs, this is especially the need for companionship of their own kind); appropriate nourishment; decent sized (minimum 2x4 ft/60x120cm), safe and clean housing; regular grooming and necessary medical care.
Animal Welfare Act - RSPCA
Age appropriate responsibilities
To which extent you are allowing your children to become involved in the care and playtime with guinea pigs depends on the age, but also the individual personality of your children. But it is your presence during interaction and handling time and your ultimate supervision re. feeding, watering, cleaning and health checks that is and remains crucial!
Please do not set up your children for failure by burdening them with responsibilities that are beyond their age and capabilities!
Please make sure that your children know that it is not a clever idea to let their guinea pigs have playtime with neighbours’ or their mates’ lone piggy, especially if the sow in question is over a year old and at an increasing risk of birthing complications. It is also better to padlock the cage when you are not around and have a child that you can’t trust.
Our forum guide to age appropriate interaction and responsibilities:
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.
Internalising parents’ example and attitudes
Please consider that it is the adults whose attitudes towards those in their care your children will internalise – especially when the pets in your care are elderly, frail or ill or your children have long lost their initial interest.
What kind of lessons for life do your children learn from you when guinea pigs are just there as living cuddly toys to be got rid of the same as normal toys once the attraction palls and you find yourself stretched with their care?
What lesson, when smaller pets that have been bought as a temporary cheap “responsibility tester” for a much desired puppy are then dumped or passed on once they have fulfilled their purpose or when your pets urgently “need to get rid of” when they are older, vet cost are mounting up and nobody in the family wants to look after them anymore?
Ultimately, life lessons like these are going to inform your children’s attitudes towards yourself when you are frail and in need of their support.
Sadly all the listed scenarios are anything but rare and can be found expressed daily on free-ads sites as well as be heard when guinea pigs come into rescue. The majority of guinea pigs in rescue are unwanted children’s pets; they are the lucky tip of a growing iceberg.
1 Children's pets are always family pets
2 Learning responsibility
- Legal responsibilities
- Age appropriate responsibilities
- Internalising parents' example and attitudes
3 Practical aspects to consider beforehand
- Are guinea pigs the right pets?
- Care and lifespan
- Financial considerations
- Where to keep guinea pigs safely
- Why adopted guinea pigs can be more suitable
- How to best introduce guinea pigs and hold the interest of your children
4 Frequent problems
- Biting
- Fall-outs in boars; trios; mis-sexing and unplanned pregnancies
- Having guinea pigs born at home for your children - Why not
- Allergies, other pets and human pregnancy
- Falls and escapes
- Death and the end of the line
5 Conclusion
1 Children’s pets are always family pets!
I still remember with a warm glow in my heart the much loved guinea pigs of my childhood and the happy hours I have spent sitting with them on the lawn, cuddling them, building elaborate mazes for them and watching their antics during roaming time amongst lots of giggles and laughter.
But I also remember vividly the constant squabbles over piggy feeding and cleaning, and having to regularly fill in for my derelict brother during his rota week!
It was not the guinea pigs that have taught me responsibility; it was my mother’s insistence that piggy care had to be provided through all the tantrums and attempts of wiggling out. She taught us by her own example that whatever else happened, a pet needed to be taken care of right until the end of its life - in the case of one of our first family piggies that was nearly 10 years!
It can’t have always been easy with three children in a lively household, but I am forever grateful because without her guidance, my childhood would have been a lot poorer and I would never have had all the wonderful guinea pigs that have followed these first trailblazers of my childhood and teenage years.
2 Learning responsibility
Legal responsibilities
Legally the responsibility for any pets lies fully with the parents, whether pets are directly owned or indirectly by a minor of the household.
The law covers any pet’s basic rights of having its species specific needs addressed (in guinea pigs, this is especially the need for companionship of their own kind); appropriate nourishment; decent sized (minimum 2x4 ft/60x120cm), safe and clean housing; regular grooming and necessary medical care.
Animal Welfare Act - RSPCA
Age appropriate responsibilities
To which extent you are allowing your children to become involved in the care and playtime with guinea pigs depends on the age, but also the individual personality of your children. But it is your presence during interaction and handling time and your ultimate supervision re. feeding, watering, cleaning and health checks that is and remains crucial!
Please do not set up your children for failure by burdening them with responsibilities that are beyond their age and capabilities!
Please make sure that your children know that it is not a clever idea to let their guinea pigs have playtime with neighbours’ or their mates’ lone piggy, especially if the sow in question is over a year old and at an increasing risk of birthing complications. It is also better to padlock the cage when you are not around and have a child that you can’t trust.
Our forum guide to age appropriate interaction and responsibilities:
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.
Internalising parents’ example and attitudes
Please consider that it is the adults whose attitudes towards those in their care your children will internalise – especially when the pets in your care are elderly, frail or ill or your children have long lost their initial interest.
What kind of lessons for life do your children learn from you when guinea pigs are just there as living cuddly toys to be got rid of the same as normal toys once the attraction palls and you find yourself stretched with their care?
What lesson, when smaller pets that have been bought as a temporary cheap “responsibility tester” for a much desired puppy are then dumped or passed on once they have fulfilled their purpose or when your pets urgently “need to get rid of” when they are older, vet cost are mounting up and nobody in the family wants to look after them anymore?
Ultimately, life lessons like these are going to inform your children’s attitudes towards yourself when you are frail and in need of their support.
Sadly all the listed scenarios are anything but rare and can be found expressed daily on free-ads sites as well as be heard when guinea pigs come into rescue. The majority of guinea pigs in rescue are unwanted children’s pets; they are the lucky tip of a growing iceberg.