small furry advice?

afterglow

Hi all.

So, as the title suggests, I'm looking for a small furry, something that would be good for an apartment. I also have a guide dog, which shouldn't be a problem as they get on with most people and animals, but just in case there's anything we should absolutely avoid.
So, any advice would be great.
Looking for something that, for obvious reasons doesn't take up massive amounts of space, and that is easy to care for.
Open to all suggestions. I have read a lot about chinchilla's and would really like to touch one as i've heard their fur is meant to be gorgeous, does anyone here have one? If so, can you offer any wisdom on the dust bath situation? Is it hard to give them baths in sand? Messy etc?
Other than that look forward to reading anything anyone feels like posting, and thanks in advance.

teggers5

I had only read the first few lines of your post and I was thinking chinchilla.
My sister had one and she was just beautiful. Their fur is just divine. The only issue with them is that, like all small rodent pets, they need a lot of handling from the start to get them comfortable with being picked up, petted etc
As for the sand bath, just put a small litter tray with sand in the bottom of their cage and they do the rest themselves.

Drexel

I have gerbils are they are great. Lovely to touch. Their fur feels like silk. Also gerbils are very easy to take care of. They don't really smell as much as other rodents I think. You'd need two though as they like company and a glass tank for them. A cage isn't suitable. I found out the hard way on that one!

baby and crumble

Op, am I right in assuming you have a visual impairment as you have a guide dog? If so I would recommend not getting gerbils or any kind of hamster as they're small and fast and really REALLY easy to loose!

A chinchilla would be good but again I think they do better in pairs, and they live a really long time. They need lots of space as they're climbers (please correct me if I'm wrong, anyone else!). I was actually thinking guinea pigs would work well. They enjoy human company and are relatively easy to care for. They do like company of their own kind too, so you'd meed 2. Degus might be something else to look into.

fathead82

Guinea pigs are great little pets,not too messy or smelly & they get very excited to see you once they get to know you. They are also easy to keep track of when running loose around the room because they are very vocal.

SingItOut

I have a chinchilla and if you're looking for a pet that doesn't take up much space then don't get a chinchilla. My one has a 5ft by 4ft three story cage, anything smaller is cruel for a chinchilla they need space to run and jump, not to mention sand boxes/toys/food bowls take up at least two floors of the cage. Chinchillas are messy and will kick out poo and sand onto your floor. I'd get your chinchilla a proper designed sand box designed for chinchillas, it keeps them from kicking the sand onto your floor and the round shape helps them evenly clean their fur. You don't neccessarily need to keep chinchillas in pairs, my guy never got along with any chinchilla he was paired with. Chinchillas can live up to 20 years or more in some cases.

I think a hamster or Gerbils would suit your situation better OP, then again they are also messy and can be smelly if not cleaned out at least once a week. I found my hamsters were smellier than my chinchilla and they would have been cleaned out more.

Ah_Yeah

I'd second the recommendation for Guinea Pigs - they are super little pets and have a lot of love and entertainment to give! The only thing I would say is that fungal skin infections are a common occurence in Guinea Pigs, and you will need to regularly check their skin for that. Other than that they are straightforward to look after, lots of hay and dry food, veggies, water and somewhere to hide - you'll have some happy piggies then