POCKET PETS

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Learn how to care for your Pocket Pets. What you should know before choosing your pet. General health care and life expectancy.

Pocket Pets

HAMSTERS

Overall hamsters make great pets. They are readily available at most pet stores. Try to buy a very young hamster as the sooner in their lives and more frequent they are handled the better quality pet they will become. Hamsters can have quite a sharp bite and will tend to bite more if not handled much at a young age. Even then the hamster should be handled every day to keep it from becoming aggressive. They are nocturnal creatures and can be a bit hard to wake during the day. Some can be a bit grumpy at first so care should be taken when waking it for play until he is fully awake.
These little cuties come in a variety of colors and hair lengths. The dwarf being the smallest. Dwarf hamsters tend to be more social with one another than the larger breeds therefor the larger ones should be house singularly. Their cages should be a minimum size of 12 x 18 inches and 12 inches tall. Hamsters are very active animals so in this perspective bigger is better and an exercise wheel is a must.
The average life expectancy for a hamster is 2 to 3 years.
There is quite a list of other things you will need to know for rearing your "Pocket Pet" hamster. Click here for more.

Guinea Pigs

What wonderful Pocket Pets these cute handfuls can be. The guinea pig dose require more room than a hamster so the cost could be up a little on the housing. They are approximately 10 inches long, and 2-3 pounds. Guinea pigs come in all different breeds, colors and hair length. The tail is not visible.

One of the best experiences I remember was with a pregnant one. She was acquired by my boyfriends daughter Krystal and was pregnant but we did not know about it. After some time she seemed to be getting a little "fat". I assumed that she could be pregnant. We watched for days until one day I looked into the cage and seen a smaller version of the mother running around. I was in shock. After a moment of contemplating that a joke is being played on me I was left to see the facts. It seems baby guinea pigs come out running as this one was just born and was indeed running around. I had expected a nest full of babies mom would have to nurse and care for like most other rodent mammals. I just wanted to share that with you as it really was quite an experience.
So back to our Pocket Pets. Their expected life span is around 5-7 years, although up to 10 isn't unusual.
Guinea Pigs do make very interesting and fun pets to have. Get more amazing advice about this adorable pet by Clicking Here!

Rats

Rats are very smart. Think about it. They use rats in the lab for all sort of things. They can be trained and taught tricks. All it takes is the knowledge of training and a liking for them. Rats live for about 2-3 years and their body length can get to around 9-11 inches. Add the tail of about 7-9 inches and you have an idea of how big they can get. The females are normally smaller than the males. Rats are a very social animal and do best if kept males with males, females with females.

Rats are nocturnal but may adapt their schedules to yours if you play with them at about the same time each day. They do tend to urine mark while out playing but the amount is small so shouldn't cause to much of a smell. When choosing a cage for this pet keep in mind they love to climb and play so a multi level cage should be considered. There is a wide rang in the types of rats there are. Did you know there is even a tailless rat and a hairless rat? Interesting. Rats reach puberty at about 6-8 weeks but should not be bred this young. Females go into heat every 4-5 days. Wow, no wonder there are so many of them around. For more amazing information, health care and upkeep Click Here!