Our Pet Haven

My name is Carol, I love animals, specifically small rodents such as Rats, Hamsters, and Guinea Pigs. I also love reptiles and own two tortoises which are in fact Herptiles, or Herps for short, from the reptile family.  I would love to own some others in the future, but I live with my fiancé and my Daughter, 3 female Guinea pigs and 5 male Hamsters (all kept separately) and 1 male Gerbil, and two male Horsfield tortoises.  I have learned a lot since purchasing the Guinea Pigs (Oreo & Tink) in October 2017 for my Daughter’s Birthday and decided to try and save other parents from making the same mistakes I did at the start of this little animal haven of ours. I have in the past cared for many animals such as cats, dogs, rats, and even an iguana but those were many years ago and information on how to care for animals is always being updated and researched so In this blog I will only be discussing the care of the animals we have now.

You can also find me and all our little family pets on You Tube and   Facebook as well as Instagram

Our little Pet Haven all began when our Daughters first hamster, Dingo, passed away. Dingo was inherited when we moved into my Dads house and he was already over a year old when we got him.  We thought that maybe a pet with a longer life span would be better for our daughter as she was heartbroken, and this had been her first pet.   We did some research and she agreed that Guinea Pigs might be a better pet for her.  We bought them in October 2017 for her Birthday.  The initial financial cost for them was over £200 for two females and all their accessories.  It was only later that I realised we could have saved £75 if only we had realised that UK standard size cages are only good for young Guinea Pigs, and guinea pigs grow really, fast!

No matter how much research we did, the real thing just does not compare, I decided to set up this website in order to help other parents understand the financial, physical and emotional commitment involved in Keeping guinea pigs and other rodents. In time I hope to have cleaning videos and pricing advise up to help people understand that Guinea pigs are a big commitment and children do need some help with this commitment.  We were quick to realise that cleaning out a Hamster was a far smaller and quicker job for our daughter than cleaning out the Guinea Pigs.

Hamsters are just as easily mistaken for cheap pets to give to children.  Yes, I admit once you have their set up and you’re only paying out for food and bedding it is cheap. Consideration must be given, however, to cage size for these cute little characters too.  In any given night a hamster will run approximately 7 miles on average, and yet no-one designs a cage that is suitable for this type of physical exercise.  Each hamster needs a wheel to help it run off excess energy, however each hamster needs a larger cage than is usually available for the average £30 – £40 in UK pet stores, even the largest hamster cages are small for some species of Hamsters. I decided that there was no cage in any store that I thought was great for our babies, so we now have two Detolfs, and three DIY enclosures for our hamsters.  We also have a Kerry Terrarium for our adopted Gerbil.

We adopted the tortoises recently. Due to work commitments and other lifestyle commitments we needed to evaluate living space for them.  We bought them bunk bed tortoise tables and lights with fittings as the housing they came with was for one tortoise, as the previous owner had let one wander the house while one basked and then would swap them around.  We were looking for something we could secure both tortoises in as if we were both working, both tortoises needed access to MVB lighting and shade throughout the day.  When we adopted these two boys, we knew absolutely nothing about tortoises however after months of research we finally have two very happy, healthy, active young tortoises.

Due to the many hours of research done and the many hours spent with each of our pets, as well as the shopping fails and habitat building wins, I am here to help make this easier and hopefully, more affordable. With DIY builds for habitats and enclosures and even some homemade toy ideas, dietary advise and even little introductions to all our little personalities, there is bound to be something that will help someone with their little fur or shell baby.

Anyway, I hope you will join me on this journey and if anyone has had their own experiences or has advise please feel free to share these in the comments.