African spiny mice. Friendly, calm, small and huge ears! Also, our experience with them is that they don't do that annoying chewing at night that many of the critters do. They also like company, they cover each other up in their little burrows to sleep and it is very very cute.

The thing that sold me is that they don't have that smell that mice and other rodents get.

Anonymous wrote:Guinea pigs do require a large cage and weekly bedding changes. Handle them gently and often when they are babies and they will grow to like cuddling. We had ours for 8 years and he hung out in the living room, was used to people coming and going, and TV noise. We all cried when we had to put him to sleep. He never bit anyone but would nibble on your clothes when he wanted to go back to his cage.

So 8 years huh? We have one (we bought two, but one died the first year). He is a nice little piggie. he has a fairly large cage and my kids can pick him up and cuddle. Like yours, he has never bitten anyone, nor has he peed in anyone's lap. So for a rodent, I consider that a win! Our is only 2 though. I did not realize we might have him for 6 more years! Oh well. He is cute.

Guinea pigs do require a large cage and weekly bedding changes. Handle them gently and often when they are babies and they will grow to like cuddling. We had ours for 8 years and he hung out in the living room, was used to people coming and going, and TV noise. We all cried when we had to put him to sleep. He never bit anyone but would nibble on your clothes when he wanted to go back to his cage.

Anonymous wrote:I've heard guinea pigs are delicious also

I'm told they taste like chicken. We had one for awhile but the kids just didn't play with it. They require large cages and guess who ended up changing the cage and taking care of it.

Nip from a bunny bullshit. They bite. And hard. However, they're delicious.

An attorney.

A cat to get rid of rodents.

We have two buns, and I would say the age of your children is too young for a rabbit. Not only are rabbits a lot of work, need a lot of space, and are very fragile, they're skittish, some are very smart, and they aren't afraid to bite if they are getting annoyed with you (more like a nip, but kids won't understand). Earliest age I would consider a rabbit for a child would be 12, and after they've done their research to prove they've read up on taking care of one.

Anonymous wrote:I've heard guinea pigs are delicious also

Our Lord thinks so

http://mysticalheartjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_0665.jpg

I've heard guinea pigs are delicious also

Please adopt if you can. Make sure you find a vet that treats exotics. And remember, guinea pigs get bored so you need to give them lots of attention and floor time. Kids cannot really handle cage duties and extras until they are about 8 years old, so an adult will need to take care of them. Please look at the guinea pig application for Small Angels Rescue near Mount Airy to get an idea about taking care of guinea pigs. It is somewhat instructional, but that's because they want people to understand what they are getting into. http://www.smallangelsrescue.org/

I just had to put one to sleep who was nearly 8 and haddeveloped tumors. He slowly lost weight from the cancer, but did keep eating, squeaking and enjoying life. I had to supplement him with a tablespoon of mashed pellets every day for 8 months and give him butt baths about once a week since his poops got a little soft. Pigs can live a long time. Kids get bored, you get bored and they end up in shelters at age 3 when people want baby piggies.

Then again, you may discover you are a pig family because they just are so cuddly and affectionate when tamed! GL!

A yeti ...

Bunnies are delicious.

Hamsters!

This an ongoing thread but some of these rodents are as large as a small dog. So why bother?