Among the extant mammals, rodents account for forty percent of the total, making them a particularly numerous and common group. Given the enthusiasm for pet development, there is no reason why there are so many rodents and species that have been domesticated into pets. Hamsters, squirrels, totoro, chipmunks, marmots, are currently very popular rodents in the pet industry, of course, there are guinea pigs.
The fact that rats can become favorite pets of modern humans naturally shows that they do have many advantages. First, rats are basically smaller animals, the largest as pets is the groundhog, the medium is guinea pigs and totoro, most of them are hamsters, squirrels such as no more than a palm size. There are fewer snacks in size and will not take up a lot of space, which is a rather convenient advantage for the city apartment crowd.
The second advantage is that they are cute. On the outside, they have a plush chubby figure, small black bean-like eyes, and soft and smooth hair. In terms of behavior, rodents like to stand and nibble on food with their hands when eating, and they are always busy and silly, among which hamsters also like to hide food in their cheeks, and it is really interesting to observe their behavior. Although rodents have limited INTELLIGENCE, they also have their own little cleverness and small ideas, which is also their advantage.
Since you chose guinea pigs as the protagonist, let's talk a little more about guinea pigs. Guinea pigs have many names in the pet world, and guinea pigs are just one of them. Other names include guinea pig (more commonly used), Dutch pig (also more commonly used), Dutch rat, etc., and the English name is Guinea pig (literally translated Guinea pig). This is interesting because most guinea pigs have different names than they actually are, because its origin is neither in Tianzhu, nor in the Netherlands, nor in Guinea, nor is it a pig.
In fact, guinea pigs originate in the Andes Mountains of South America, and their history is very tortuous and their origins are very complicated. Guinea pigs were first domesticated from the wild around the fifth millennium BC, and it's been 7,000 years, which is really long. In the Tribes of South America at that time, guinea pigs were mainly used for captivity and food, sacrifices and exchanged as social gifts. In the sixteenth century guinea pigs were brought to Europe and became the pets of the upper class, and many strains were developed by breeders, including various colors and coat types, and even the presence of hairless guinea pigs.
Today's guinea pigs are not only active in the pet industry, but also have people at home and abroad who breed guinea pigs to eat, or make furs into clothing accessories. In addition, guinea pigs are also well-known model organisms, which are used in the medical community and have made outstanding contributions to the treatment of human scurvy, tuberculosis, type 1 diabetes and other diseases, and humans really deserve to thank this small animal.
Guinea pigs, as pets, also have excellent interaction with their owners. Most guinea pigs are quite timid and may be nervous in the face of unfamiliar environments and people, but as long as they are familiar with the environment at home and familiar with the shoveler, they can become a special healing little cute, which can be kneaded and kneaded at will.
Guinea pigs are social animals, there are also a lot of social behaviors and etiquette between each other, raising two or more will play a very good role in their physical and mental health, even if the shoveler is busy, they can also accompany each other, if only one may produce depression, serious will also produce stereotyped behavior or self-harm. In Switzerland, it is forbidden by law to keep only one guinea pig.
However, this situation must not be applied to all pets (especially hamsters), because the actual situation is different, guinea pigs are social animals in the wild, and it is not appropriate to keep only one. Hamsters are outright solitary animals, and the individual territory is extensive, the sense of territory is very strong, if you raise several of them, it is not a companion for them, but an enemy to grab the territory and grab food, so the most correct way to raise hamsters is to raise only one, and more than one must be divided into cages.
A group of guinea pigs eat together, although the size is not the same, but each one is a soft ball of hair, this round little back is so cute!