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Paigeofpaper
Owner of my favourite Boston Terrier in the world, crazy life long horse lover. Animal enthusiast, has owned hamsters/fish/guinea pigs/rabbits. Lover of sloths, pot bellied pigs, and hellbenders (salamander).
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 with a beautiful, thick chinchilla coat so he was very hardy and easy to keep. He was definitely one of the more social and relaxed out of all the rabbits I've owned, and I could sit with him on the couch with him for a while until he got bored (which he signaled with a nudge or slight nip). As a younger rabbit, until he got too big and lazy, he had a lot of energy and it was hysterically funny letting him run around our animal proofed house; he would run back and forth and do running leaps and twists through the air. Like most rabbits, these rabbits require plenty of running space/exercise room. He also got on well with his own species (we owned another male rabbit, a dwarf rabbit, part of the time we owned this one although we did NOT keep them together) and guinea pigs, hamsters, and our Boston Terrier (was definitely not afraid of anything).<br><br>He was easy to keep and feed--since he had a thick coat he did well in a semi outdoor hutch (was in a building but with no heating) with an interior box with plenty of hay that he could burrow inside. Ate regular rabbit pellets along with hay and vegetables such as carrots and lettuce. I also made sure to give him salt licks as well as plenty of wooden blocks and toys to chew on, which are essential for rabbits since their teeth never stop growing.<br><br>Overall, he was a great rabbit and I think it's definitely true that the bigger animals are definitely more docile--very true in his case and he made a beautiful, soft, sweet companion.){kind=link}
 down, one of my favourite small animals I've ever owned. They are friendly, easy to care for animals that are so much fun as a companion animal.<br><br>Some guinea pigs can be quite shy, apparently; mine was the complete opposite and ran right up to me, squealing, and jumped in my lap the first time I met her. She was gentle (never any biting/scratching) and really enjoyed a good backrub, so they're great pets for sitting and watching telly and cuddling with. She was also very vocal and squealed loudly to get our attention, especially when we opened the fridge. They can be noisy when they want to be, so it may be good to keep them in a place other than your room or something if you're trying to sleep (although once it gets dark out, they are pretty calm and ready to settle down if you are).<br><br>Guinea pigs are easy to feed, there's all the pre-made mixes to feed them, and fresh vegetables are great as a substantial part of their diet (make sure you research carefully which ones are safe). Fruit is good too but only should be given sparingly as a treat, piggies have a tendency to grow fat very easily.<br><br>Exercise, just like for any other animal, is key. Guinea pigs aren't particularly active/athletic animals, but it's still essential. Mine loved free roaming and got along perfectly with my other animals (she LOVED my rabbits--who tolerated her, because she wanted to groom them ALL the time--and was gentle with the hamsters, and loved the dog as well although it was harder to keep up with him and the rabbits haha). <br><br>As long as they have a decent sized cage they can walk around in, plenty of fluffy bedding to sleep in and a pigloo to hide in, they are easy to provide a habitat for, which needs pretty frequently because like most small animals, they potty quite a lot. <br>Unfortunately they don't have super long life spans but I've had friends who have had guinea pigs that have lived till 6 or 7. Like most small animals, they are good at hiding any symptoms of sickness and are hard to treat so unfortunately if something goes wrong health wise, you may not know it until it's too late, no matter how diligent of a pet owner you are.<br><br>Overall, guinea pigs are easy to love and care for and make fantastic pets! They are full of personality and charm, especially with their adorable "wheee, whee, wheee!" squeal.){kind=link}
.<br><br>Hamsters are fairly easy to keep, the most difficult task being cage cleaning which really isn't bad at all. It's a smelly and frequent job though since they seem to run through giant bags of bedding at lightning speed, and they also bury their food in the bedding so if you're feeding them fruits and veg, things can start to rot if you're not diligent about cleaning. A wheel inside the cage is recommended because they'll often use this for entertainment/exercise (NOT a suitable replacement for interaction with you AND running outside of the cage/in a different area--the wheel gets boring very fast!). They also need a small house/object to hide in and lots of bedding because they enjoy burrowing and hiding food. Be very careful when setting up cages/areas for them to roam; they are EXCELLENT escape artists, pretty much the Houdini's of the rodent world and will really surprise you (they are very fast and excellent climbers/tunnelers!). Plus, hamsters will chew anything they can get their teeth on (keep wooden blocks in their cage to help) and this can be very dangerous because they are not very smart at discerning power cords (yes, this has had sad consequences) and your furniture from their vegetables and toys.<br><br>There are plenty of premade hamster foods on the market and a good base is one of the pellet types with seed and nuts and such mixed in, but fresh food is GREAT for any animal and highly recommended for hamsters. Books and websites can provide good lists of safe fruits and veg to give them; carrots, lettuce, with fruits being used as a treat. <br><br>One of the downsides to hamsters is that they unfortunately don't have very long life spans, poor things. They are darling pets and this shouldn't stop anyone from getting one if they think it's a good match, but you have to be aware that you may only get to spend a few years with them. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done when a hamster gets sick, since as a preyed upon animal they are used to hiding it so as not to attract attention; and even so, hamster illnesses are hard to diagnose and medicines are difficult to administer. Still, that being said, they are generally very hardy; I gave my hamsters a hamster-specific vitamin and they thrived on that plus a good diet and exercise.){kind=link}
![](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://rpcdn.rightpet.com/images/default/horse.png&media=https://rpcdn.rightpet.com/images/default/horse.png&description=Mustangs are a beautiful symbol of American history and I firmly believe they should always be protected and the wild herds kept as "wild" and free as possible. Personally, my experience with my mustang wasn't as romantic as the idea of owning a mustang sounds, but I learned so much with mine and still think they are great horses that should be judged on an individual basis. <br> <br>I bought my mustang when I was 16, and even being an experienced rider at that time, I still struggled a lot with owning a horse. My mustang was not wild and never had been, but she had at least 1 formerly wild parent--maybe both. Her owner had spoiled her quite a bit and had waited till she was older to start her, and even then the horse was allowed to be lazy and bossy/aggressive when she wanted to be. She was very docile when I went to visit her and try her out, but after settling in at the new barn and getting on a new low-fat diet to take off the weight, she began to perk up. <br> <br>Mustangs are very intelligent. This makes training awesome and also a nightmare at times. Thanks to a fabulous trainer, I was able to employ natural horsemanship techniques and work in a gentle, herd-related way that my mustang understood. Even so, we were just not well matched personality wise and both had tempers that set each other off and easily frustrated each other instead of calming one another down. As stated earlier, mustangs are very smart and will continue in "bad" behavior if they know it's pushing the limits, to see how far they can push you--like any smart animal, or even human for that matter. Even though she was very stubborn, I could tell my horse (usually) picked up most training techniques very quickly. Mustangs are great all-around horses and if she hadn't been so spooky I think she would have made a great trail horse--as a spanish style mustang (she looked very much like an Andalusian and I also got asked a lot if she was a warmblood) she stood out in a crowd and would have made an excellent show horse as well. She picked up dressage quickly despite having been trained western originally, and really seemed to enjoy jumping--they are a smart breed and jumping was one thing that occupied her really well. <br> <br>One great thing about mustangs is that they are the easiest of keepers--I went all-out on the natural horsemanship front with my horse and she grew a thick enough coat to be kept outdoors (with a run in shelter) year round, even in an Iowa (midwestern area, extremely cold and snowy) winter. She had wonderful hooves as well and only required a trim now and then so they didn't get too long, but no shoes or special anything. They are great and easy to feed as well, not picky (they forage really well) and process things excellently and don't usually have special dietary/supplement needs. Highly recommended in terms of a hardy, easy horse. <br> <br>Still, not a good first horse, in my opinion, but they are beautiful and intelligent creatures--I would be hesitant about owning a mustang again but I would still definitely consider it right along with any warmblood or quarter horse because they really are so individual and usually have so many strains of other breeds in them that you never really know what you're going to get, except a horse that can do anything and go anywhere.){kind=link}