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At Guinea Pigs & Friends you can learn all about how to keep your furry friends happy and healthy. You will learn about various eating habits and ideal feed. Creating optimal habitats, Bedding and maintenance. Hygiene and general health. Pampering and love, along with plenty more useful information and tips for ensuring your pet lives a long and happy life. Look to the left side to find the correct animal and section for you.


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My name is Alexander Boyd, and i have created this site for fellow rodent lovers. I have created this site so that i can help all of you care for your pets the best you can, and have them live the longest lives. So i hope you get allot of use full information from this site.

Reasons for popularity

There are several reasons for the popularity of gerbils as household pets. The animals are typically non-aggressive, and they rarely bite unprovoked or without stress. They are small and easy to handle, since they are sociable creatures that enjoy the company of humans and other gerbils.[5][6] Gerbils also have adapted their kidneys to produce a minimum of waste to conserve body fluids which makes them very clean with little odor.

The pets are incredibly industrious and will explore new environments, and they will build, construct, and enjoy elaborate networks of tunnels if given an environment that allows for it. This is easily observable as gerbils are active during all hours of the day, as opposed to the more nocturnal rodent pets. They can "recycle" everyday paper-based items, such as cardboard products like toilet paper tubes and brown paper bags, into toys and nesting material, chewing the material into small bits. If the chewed material is allowed to accumulate to a depth of 4-6 inches deep, they will tunnel through it.

Breeding

Mating:

Gerbils will mate for several hours, in frequent short bursts followed by short chases where the female allows the male to catch her. Once he catches her, the female will squeak and make flick motions to get the male off of her. Males will not attack females except in rare circumstances which may also include them having been separated from their original mates, or widowed. A female may attack a male, but usually he is more than a match for her.

Raising Young:

Baby stages
When first born, gerbil babies are blind, deaf, hairless, and helpless. They drink their mother's milk. The young squeak softly when feeding and being picked up. Eventually they grow bigger, and within a week, they will begin to show skin pigment, indicating their possible fur color and markings. Soon after this, a thin downy fur will grow on them, and they will begin to make their fast yet unsteady way out of the nest when the bed is disturbed. This survival technique helps the babies get out of harm's way in case of a territory invasion.

The fur will grow thicker and longer, and by three weeks some of them may have one of their eyes open. Around this point, they begin to be weaned, eating food and not relying so much on milk. At this point, it would help to provide a soft food like an oat and milk mixture for them. The gerbils will become more active and their tails will lengthen and give them more balance so they can stand upright. When fully weaned and beginning to play fight with one another, they will soon be ready to move away, if required.

A mother will often be stern with how quickly the babies are weaned if she is expecting a new litter. A less fertile mother may let her litter suckle for longer. Older mothers often do not have as good a milk supply, and need plentiful water available to replenish it.

A litter will be of about 4-8 gerbils on average, although losses due to runts, defects and infanticide, or occasional, unexplainable persecution from other gerbils sometimes make the eventual litter one or two short.

Reproducing:

The most common ways of checking the sex of a young gerbil are: 1) Turning the gerbil over and checking the gap size between the genital organs of the gerbil. Female gerbils have a small gap between the two areas, while males have a much larger gap. 2) Although not always clear in childhood and adolescence, male gerbils have a fur covered bulge at the base of their tails, on their underside. This is their scrotal pouch. Females have smooth, round back ends.

Males are generally larger than females in adulthood, in length, height, and width. A gerbil can also be sexed by looking at its underside when it is a blind, deaf baby. There will be either a thick line in the middle of the stomach (the scent marker) if it is a male, or eight dots (four on the left side, four on the right) (soon to be teats) if it is a female.

General behaviour & habits

Behaviour:

Normal gerbil behavior includes jumping, climbing, chewing, and digging. The digging motions are very common: the gerbil moves its arms rapidly.

They are curious and not easily startled. They love to burrow and hide.

Gerbils are social animals, and prefer to live in groups. Often very large groups live well together, as long as the living environment is big enough; otherwise, the gerbils may become frustrated and attack one another. Groups of females are much more quarrelsome than groups of males, but if fighting occurs among males it is usually much more vicious. Males will very rarely attack females.


Habits:
Gerbils are not naturally agressive creatures; unlike hamsters, they would rather nibble a potential source of food and only fully bite when threatened. Gerbils do not make noises often, although some gerbils can squeal when scared. To communicate with other members of the species they 'thump' repeatedly using their back legs. This is often seen when a gerbil is frightened to warn other gerbils of the danger.

Gerbils as Pets

Gerbils were first introduced to the pet industry in 1964. These were the Mongolian gerbils. Their value as pets was soon appreciated and they are now found in pet shops all over the UK and USA. It is illegal to purchase, import, or keep a gerbil as a pet in the U.S. state of California.

Having gerbils as pets is quite common amongs america,canada and many many other countries.

The fact is a gerbil being your pet can have rewards.

So gerbils as a pet is not a bad idea.

-Behaviour

Behaviore:

While the European rabbit is the best-known species, it is probably also the least typical, as there is considerable variability in the natural history of rabbits. Many rabbits dig burrows, but cottontails and hispid hares do not. The European rabbit constructs the most extensive burrow systems, called warrens. Nonburrowing rabbits make surface nests called forms, generally under dense protective cover. The European rabbit occupies open landscapes such as fields, parks, and gardens, although it has colonized habitats from stony deserts to subalpine valleys. It is the most social rabbit, sometimes forming groups in warrens of up to 20 individuals. However, even in European rabbits' social behaviour can be quite flexible, depending on habitat and other local conditions, so that at times the primary social unit is a territorial breeding pair. Most rabbits are relatively solitary and sometimes territorial, coming together only to breed or occasionally to forage in small groups. During territorial disputes rabbits will sometimes “box,” using their front limbs. Rabbits are active throughout the year; no species is known to hibernate. Rabbits are generally nocturnal, and they also are relatively silent. Other than loud screams when frightened or caught by a predator, the only auditory signal known for most species is a loud foot thump made to indicate alarm or aggression. Notable exceptions are the Amami rabbit and the volcano rabbit of Mexico, which both utter a variety of calls. [1]

Instead of sound, scent seems to play a predominant role in the communication systems of most rabbits; they possess well-developed glands throughout their body and rub them on fixed objects to convey group identity, sex, age, social and reproductive status, and territory ownership. Urine is also used in chemical communication. When danger is perceived, the general tendency of rabbits is to freeze and hide under cover. If chased by a predator, they engage in quick, irregular movement, designed more to evade and confuse than to outdistance a pursuer. Skeletal adaptations such as long hind limbs and a strengthened pelvic girdle enable their agility and speed (up to 48 km [30 miles] per hour). [1]

- A Rabbit as a pet

Rabbit as a pet:

Pet rabbits kept indoors are referred to as house rabbits. House rabbits typically have an indoor pen or cage and a rabbit-safe place to run and exercise, such as an exercise pen, living room or family room. Rabbits can be trained to use a litter box and some can learn to come when called. Domestic rabbits that do not live indoors can also often serve as companions for their owners, typically living in an easily accessible hutch outside the home. Some pet rabbits live in outside hutches during the day for the benefit of fresh air and natural daylight and are brought inside at night.

Whether indoor or outdoor, pet rabbits' pens are often equipped with enrichment activities such as shelves, tunnels, balls, and other toys. Pet rabbits are often provided additional space in which to get exercise, simulating the open space a rabbit would traverse in the wild. Exercise pens or lawn pens are often used to provide a safe place for rabbits to run.

A pet rabbit's diet typically consists of unlimited Timothy hay, a small amount of pellets, and a small portion of fresh vegetables.

Rabbits are social animals. Rabbits as pets can find their companionship with a variety of creatures, including humans, other rabbits, guinea pigs, and sometimes even cats and dogs. Rabbits do not make good pets for small children because they do not know how to stay quiet, calm, and gentle around rabbits. As prey animals, rabbits are alert, timid creatures that startle easily. They have fragile bones, especially in their backs, that require support on the belly and bottom when picked up. Children 10 years old and older usually have the maturity required to care for a rabbit.

The service and therapy animals organization Delta Society has used pet rabbits as therapy for adults and children since the 1970s.

-Breeding

Breeding:

Most rabbits produce many offspring each year, although scarcity of resources may cause this potential to be suppressed. A combination of factors allows the high rates of reproduction commonly associated with rabbits. Rabbits generally are able to breed at a young age, and many regularly conceive litters of up to seven young, often doing so four or five times a year due to the fact that a rabbit's gestation period is only 28 to 31 days.[9]. In addition, females exhibit induced ovulation, their ovaries releasing eggs in response to copulation rather than according to a regular cycle. They can also undergo postpartum estrus, conceiving immediately after a litter has been born. [1]

Newborn rabbits are naked, blind, and helpless at birth (altricial). Mothers are remarkably inattentive to their young and are almost absentee parents, commonly nursing their young only once per day and for just a few minutes. To overcome this lack of attention, the milk of rabbits is highly nutritious and among the richest of that of all mammals. The young grow rapidly, and most are weaned in about a month. Males (bucks) do not assist in rearing the kittens. [1] The mother rabbit is able to become pregnant again 4 days after the birth of her kittens.[citation needed]

Excersise and Health

Exercise:
Rabbits require around 2 hours of exercise a day, as they are very active creatures in the wild. If you cannot give your rabbit at least 2 hours of exercise a day be sure to keep plenty of toys in there.



Health:
If there are any health concerns please visit the vet.

Food & Water

Food & Water:
Rabbits are herbivores so do not feed them meat, they still need some protein.

There diet should be:

-Constant Timothy hay, as much as they need.

-As much rabbit pellet food as your pet store says the rabbit needs for its size and age, should be about a quarter cup if older then 6 months.

-2 cups vegetables and legumes daily.

-Fruit but only as a treat so very little.

-Use Alfalfa hay if you rabbit is under 6 months or is a nursing or pregnant mother.



List of good vegetables:

-Celery (strings removed)

-Alfalfa sprouts

-Dandelion flowers and leaves

-Kale

-Radish tops and sprouts

-Carrots

-Broccoli (mostly stems and leaves)

-Fresh herbs such as;

-Basil

-Parsley

-Cilantro

-Mint



Almost any fruit is good such as pears, apples, grapes, bannanas, etc





Never feed Your Rabbit any of the Following:

-Green Beans

-Potatoes

-Beets

-Avocado

-Cabbage

-Sweet potato

-Corn

-Onion

-Rhubarb

-Crackers

-or anything with un natural sugar in it.



Do not make sudden changes in your rabbits diet as it can cause stomach aches disarray and other bad things, if you want to change the diet slowly add the new food to there old.



Water:

Plastic sipper bottles are best.

-Bedding

Bedding:
Should be wood shavings or hay. Yours should have your rabbit cage cleaned about once a week along with the litter box, the food and water bowls should be cleaned every day. Do not use strong smelling bedding or anything that your rabbit is allergic to.

Ferret as a pet

A ferret for a pet:


In the United States, ferrets were relatively rare pets until the 1980s. Dr. Wendy Winstead, a veterinarian and former folk singer who had her first ferret in 1969, sold ferrets to a number of celebrities including Dick Smothers and David Carradine while making television appearances on programs such as the David Letterman Show with ferrets in the 1980s,[17] writing books and promoting them until her death in the 1990s from cancer. A government study by the California State Bird and Mammal Conservation Program found that by 1996, approximately 800,000 or so domestic ferrets were likely being kept as pets in the United States.[18]

Exercise & Health care

Exercise:
Ferrets love exercise (playtime) they need lots of stuff like toys to keep them entertained, they also need supervised playtime out of there cage to keep them happy, but make sure they are never left alone outside of there cage because they can escape through just about anything. Some very good ferret toys are found around the house:

-Paper Bags

-Tennis Balls or Baseballs

-String

-Pop Bottles

-Tubes

There are so many things a ferret would love to play with but before you allow your ferret to play with something ask yourself is this safe? do i care if this gets destroyed? And can this hurt my ferret in anyway?



Healthcare:

Like on the Guinea pigs page if you think your ferret has a problem then go see a vet.

Brushing & nail care

Brushing & Nail care;
Ferrets do not need allot of brushing but every now and again they will enjoy one.

They need there nails to be trimmed this can be one of the most uncomfortable things because overgrown nails can cause discomfort and even pain, do not attempt cutting there nails without proper instruction on how to do so for it can hurt your ferret.

-Bathing

Bathing your Ferret:
Most ferrets on the market come descented but they may still have a musk on them and you may want to occasionally bathe them. To bathe a ferret the easiest way is to fill your sink up 5cm high with luke warm water then place your ferret gently in it. you should take a washcloth and dampen it in the water then run it through your ferrets fur and be sure to avoid the eyes if you want to use soap then use a tearless baby shampoo or a ferret shampoo and apply this to the dampened washcloth and fallow previous instructions. After this you need to rinse the soap out thoroughly and make sure to keep him warm until he his dry, you can dry your ferret with a dry towel but be gentle. You shouldn’t over bathe once every 2 weeks is plenty, over bathing can cause oily skin & fur.

Food & Water

Food & Water:
There are so many food to choose from so no matter what one you choose make sure that it is high in protein because of how active ferrets are they need plenty of protein, some ferrets will over eat so you may want to remove the food over night. You need to have a secure food dish because ferrets are heavy enough to spill and knock them around you need to have pretty much everything attached properly and securely. You should have a secure water bottle and refill it constantly because ferrets drink allot. You can give your ferrets treats occasionally because if you give them treats too often they will get addicted and that is all they will eat.