When I was in the first grade, I wanted a hamster. We had dogs, but they were big. (You can’t really hold a Labrador when you’re six.) And a lot of my friends had hamsters. So for my sixth birthday, I decided I wanted a hamster.

My aunt, at the time, was the nanny to two children who owned a menagerie, including guinea pigs. She told my parents, “Do NOT get a hamster. Hamsters bite and run away and can be a handful to hold especially for a six-year-old. Get a guinea pig. They’re calmer.”

I was not a particularly stubborn child and all I wanted was a small, furry, handheld creature. So, I was content that we got guinea pigs. They’re names were Max and Cocoa. Cocoa just looked like cocoa, but Max was harder to name. He was black and I decided that black hair meant he could be a Max. Now, guinea pigs do have one fatal flaw: they are relatively fragile creatures. Cocoa got sick and passed away within a week. So, after mourning, we got another companion for Max named Chocolate.

Max and Chocolate lived in the kitchen on a table installed just for them. It was the perfect place because they could hear the fridge open and knew when to squeak for yummy veggies. While I have fond, faded memories of my first guinea pigs, they, like most entertainment when you’re young, faded out of my daily life. They were played with relatively rarely. A guinea pig’s lifespan is three to seven years. Max passed when he was four and Chocolate when he was five.

Fast forward to the summer before sophomore year of high school. I wanted guinea pigs again. I was of the age where I had the motivation to take care of my own pet. My sister had a bunny so why couldn’t I have guinea pigs? For my December birthday, my best friend got me two female guinea pigs. I was elated! They were adorable! The perfect pet. I named them Layla and Alonsi. Their names just came to me. They would run around my room in circles, sometimes hilariously crashing into each other. They would wheek at me when hungry or just as a greeting. They became so visibly happy when you fed them spinach. The love for guinea pigs quickly became an addiction.

This is Layla:

This is Alonsi:

The following summer I cleaned the entire house incredibly thoroughly to acquire another pair of guinea pigs. I contacted two families who had posted online. However, I didn’t hear back from the family with the super cute Abyssinian guinea pigs so I took the standard American guinea pigs, named Corbo and Kai, instead. Then, one day later, Tater Tot and Nugget’s mom said yes. So we took them too. Suddenly, I was the proud owner of six guinea pigs.

Corbo:

Kai:

Nugget:

Tater tot:

And I loved it. Each of them had a different personality. Some were a little more skittish, which made earning their love more worth it. Alonsi, the most timid of them all loves to groom me. (She licks my hands and arms.)

Sadly, spanning my senior year, one of each pair passed away. And now, I’m four and a half hours away from them. (So I can’t justify getting more. Also, I think my parents might kill me if I tried to get more.) But, I still love my guinea pigs with a passion and am glad I get to spend the whole summer with them.

If you’re thinking about getting a guinea pig, adopt! There are so many piggies out there in need of a home. (Start at Petfinder, but look elsewhere too.) Plus, adopted guinea pigs are usually in much better health than pet shop piggies.