You could of course buy a guinea pig from a pet shop, nothing wrong with that, but have a look in your local paper. Someone who breeds them may be selling spare stock.
Before purchasing one from a breeder ask if you can have a look at their cages and runs, make sure they are clean you do not want to take the chance of buying a sick animal.
Watch the animal as it runs around its cage do not select one that has a limp or obvious disfigurement, are the creatures eyes nice and bright if they are go for it.
I hope you had everything prepared for your guinea pig before you bought him, you need a hutch preferably inside, a shed would be fine. Build yourself a framework of timber and clad it with chicken wire, this is the animals run in the garden.
If it is hot try to provide a bit of shelter for the guinea pig, basically a small box filled with hay inside the run would be ample.
Guinea pigs drink constantly, there are plenty of different water bottles to choose from at your pet shop.
You should refill their food bowls twice a day, again ask at your pet shop there are plenty of dedicated guinea pig foods to choose from.
Give them fruit and vegetables every day, they also like dandelion leaves. They will eat the same kind of vegetables and fruit you enjoy, carrots apples broccoli, try the animal on all of them you will soon notice something it does not like.
Guinea pigs need constant handling to keep them tame, pick them up with both hands and keep the animal close to your body so he can’t jump out of your hands.
Give the animal something to play with, you could buy it some toys but something as simple as the cardboard inside of a toilet roll would do, some old toy building blocks even an old sock filled with hay. Use your imagination just don’t give the animal something it could get hurt on.
Here are a few facts about guinea pigs for you.
* Originally they came from South America.
* They have always been meals for bigger predators, they scare very easily.
* The Incas kept them for food.
* Sailors probably fetched them back to Europe, I don’t know if it is true but it has been said that they sold them for a guinea, and supposedly the animals make a grunting noise like a pig, so that is where the name came from.
What makes them an ideal pet for a kid is they don’t have to be walked, they do not sleep all day and wake up at night like hamsters, unlike cats they do not destroy the local wild bird population. Snakes and retiles need an added heat source, and birds never stop squawking.
So go on buy your child a guinea pig, they are extremely friendly little creatures, do not cost a fortune to keep, and if you are handy with a few tools you could build your own hutch and runs.