Emma Jones
Children up to the age of eight should have a parent with them when they come into contact with guinea pigs or rabbits.
“Up to the age of eight, children should have a parent with them when they come into contact with guinea pigs or rabbits. At this age, they can help take care of the animals, but they should not play with them alone or even be given complete responsibility for rabbits or guinea pigs.”, says small animal expert Christine Wilde, operator of the information site www.nager-info.de.
It is very important to teach smaller children about the peculiarities of their animals and to make it clear to them that they are personalities that need a lot of attention and care. The animals quickly become tame and are visibly happy when they play together or when they are lovingly fed. If children feel this animal’s sympathy, they develop a greater sense of responsibility.
“Parents can motivate their children to keep coming up with new play ideas for their animals and to implement them. Feeding games, for example, are good. For this, pieces of feed are threaded, hidden in rolls, or placed in boxes and distributed in the enclosure,” suggests Wilde. “The little rodents become trusting so quickly and the relationship between them and the children is strengthened.” This is how an intimate human-animal friendship can develop. The risk that rabbits or guinea pigs could become uninteresting is reduced to a minimum.
By the way: By the age of ten to twelve, children can look after their little friends for the most part themselves. Nevertheless, parents should pay attention to proper care.