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POCKET PETS

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Small, Friendly and Easy
Pocket pet is a term used to refer to any small mammal commonly kept as a household pet. The six general criteria which qualify an animal to be considered a pocket pet are: 1) its commonality as a domestic housepet, 2) no potential danger to humans or other animals, 3) non-exotic, 4) overall ease of care & feeding, 5)amicable disposition making it suitable as a "companion" pet, and 6) relatively small stature.

The most common pocket pets include rodents such as: hamsters, gerbils, fancy mice, fancy rats, and guinea pigs. It also includes common, non-exotic animals such as sugar gliders; which have been bred as domestic housepets in the U.S. for the last 15 years. According to a recent 2007 study conducted by the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA), it is estimated that American families own 6.2 million rabbits, 1.2 million hamsters, 1.1 million Sugar Gliders and just over one million Guinea Pigs.

POCKET PETS ARTICLES

Degus Diets

Degus are herbivores, feeding on grasses and browsing the leaves of shrubs, though they will also take seeds. Their feeding rate is constrained by the rate at which they can digest this relatively low quality food, and this varies between food types and environmental conditions, and like some other herbivores such as rabbits, they show coprophagy, chewing their own feces so as to extract more nutrition from them.

Degus Personalities

Degus are highly social. They live in burrows, and, by digging communally, they are able to construct larger and more elaborate burrows than they could on their own. Degus digging together coordinate their activities, forming digging chains.

Guinea Pig Behavior

Guinea pigs can learn complex paths to food, and can accurately remember a learned path for months. Their strongest problem solving strategy is motion. While guinea pigs can jump small obstacles, they cannot climb, and are not particularly agile. They startle extremely easily, and will either freeze in place for long periods or run for cover with rapid, darting motions when they sense danger.

Hamster Behavior

Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are generally solitary and may fight to the death if put together, whereas some of dwarf hamster species may get along with others of the same species.

History of the Guinea Pig

The common guinea pig was first domesticated as early as 5000 BC for food by tribes in the Andean region of South America (present-day Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). Statues dating from ca. 500 BC to 500 AD that depict guinea pigs have been unearthed in archaeological digs in Peru and Ecuador.

Housing Your Pocket Pet

Most pocket pets are housed in a cage of some sort which means that all their needs must be met by their people caretakers. They will have no escape from a hot or wet or urine or feces filled area.

Rats as Food?

Rats are edible by humans and are sometimes captured and eaten in emergency situations. For some cultures, rats are considered a staple. Bandicoot rats are an important food source among some peoples in Southeast Asia. Reasons why rat meat is not more widely eaten include the strong proscription against it in Halal and Kashrut tradition, and whether it's socially accepted within a given culture.