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Small Animal Advice

Tips on caring for your small furry






What About The Odour?










Small Pets


Chinchillas are squirrel-like rodents, available in 2 varieties. They are clean animals with no body odour, their thick coat means they do not get parasites like fleas and ticks.

They should be kept in a wire cage away from sunlight and noise, plastic should not be kept in the cage as they will gnaw at anything to exercise their constantly growing teeth. Only place hard materials such as wood and pumice stone in the cage for it to chew on. Also in the cage should be some bedding (white pine shavings), sleeping quarters, some branches for climbing, a hayrack, water bottle and a dust container. As chinchillas hate water, they take dry baths to remove excess oils from the fur. Dust should be available from your pet shop.

Chinchillas are vegetarians, surviving on special food pellets, hay and fresh water. They can be very frightened by noise or rough handling, and when frightened emit a pungent odour like skunks.


Gerbils are intelligent, sociable animals that are best kept in pairs. They should be handled daily and they will be affectionate to you, make sure you wash your hands before handling them to avoid passing germs to them, also keep an eye on any other pets you have.

They like to keep themselves occupied in a large wire cage. This should be lined with bedding and cleaned twice a week. To keep them busy and stimulated, their cage should be full of toys and challenges. They also love tubes to run through and chew on.

You will be able to find pre-mixed food for your gerbil in pet stores for a well balanced diet. This can also be supplemented with sunflower seeds, vegetables and nuts. Fresh water should be provided with daily. A sterilized bone or twig should be provided for them to chew on.

Guinea Pig

The Guinea pig is a sociable and companionable animal that relishes attention. It is a very vocal animal, capable of several different sounds.

They should be kept indoors in a secure cage. The cage should be kept clean; change its bedding often to prevent diseases. Food pellets are available for guinea pigs but their diet should be supplemented with fresh fruit, hay and water. Make sure that fresh food is changed daily and kept separate from the pellets. It will also appreciate chewing toys like all rodents do.

Signs of illness can include runny nose and eyes, excessive salivating, diarrhoea, skin disease and loss of appetite, they are also prone to shock and dehydration. They should also be bathed weekly, before their bath they should be groomed, long hair should be trimmed and its nails should be clipped.


Hamsters are busy animals that love exercise and play. A large metal cage should be used with an exercise wheel, tubes for tunnelling and clean shavings for bedding. The bedding should be changed every day to stop any smells forming. They also love to chew so wooden blocks are also a good idea to keep in the cage.

A drinking bottle should be provided, with the water changed every day, it is also best check that the ball in the water bottle works often to stop your hamster getting dehydrated.

Hamsters like a good diet with seed bells and blends of grains. They may also like fresh vegetables and fruits.

Rats and mice

Both rats and mice are relatively short-lived animals but provide good companionship during their lives.

They should be kept in a large cage with plenty of room. An area for them to retreat to and a place for exercise should be provided. Rats, in particular like to burrow so bedding should be plentiful. It should be changed 2 to 3 times a week. The cage should be kept in area that is well light, ventilated, away from excessive noise and stresses.

Specialist food can be bought from pet stores for your rats or mice though this can be supplemented with fresh fruit and vegetables, non-fat yoghurt and whole-wheat bread. Grass hay or hay block should always be available along with fresh water, which should be changed daily.

A general note is that small animals are expensive to treat so an early visitation to a vet is best to avoid any complications at the first sign of a problem.


Rabbits can make very good pets, but they have some important husbandry needs that must be addressed in order to provide adequately for their health and welfare. As well as social interaction with other rabbits, they enjoy being friendly with humans too. They need to be given attention every day and require regular gentle handling to establish and maintain that human-rabbit social bond, although this must be on their terms. The daily contact also allows an opportunity to check them for any health problems.


1. A suitable environment. A hutch on its own is not enough! They should have a secure, well insulated and ventilated hutch, providing plenty of room to move around and stretch out, ideally a minimum size of 6ft long by 2ft wide and 2ft high or with enough space to fully stand up in - whichever is smaller. This provides a sheltered space for rabbits to use as their base, and they should ideally have constant access to a grass run area which is a minimum size of 8 feet by 4 feet, alternatively a minimum access of 4 hours per day. Indoor rabbits need the same space allocation and may be enclosed within a pen or run, alternatively they may have free run of a room as space to run around helps to provide exercise.


3. To exhibit normal behaviour. To do this, they require adequate space, opportunities to run, jump, dig and forage. Try to make their environment interesting with tubes, hides, cardboard boxes, and objects to stand on and look around. Beware that rabbits burrow, so an outdoor run area should have buried wire sides or be checked or moved frequently. Neutered rabbits are less prone to digging deep burrows but, being part of their normal behaviour, digging should be accommodated, even indoors. Trays or earth, shavings, hay, cardboard chips etc provide good digging boxes.

4. Interaction with other rabbits, in compatible pairings or small groups. Rabbits are social animals and solitary confinement is unnatural to them. To avoid rabbits breeding like, well, rabbits, and to prevent potentially fatal uterine cancer in the females, both sexes should be neutered.

5. To be protected from pain, injury or disease. This means that they should be vaccinated, treated for any parasites as directed by your veterinary surgeon, and regularly (daily), checked for any signs of ill health by their owners. Regularly checking the teeth, ears, skin, claws, underside and back-end in particular are vital. There are several signs that your rabbit may be ill and require veterinary attention. Among these are:

  • Loss of appetite
  • Weight loss
  • Looking depressed
  • Skin trouble
  • Runny faeces and/or urine soaking into the back legs
  • Discharges from the nose, eyes or mouth
  • Difficulty breathing


Aquarium owners often talk of spending hours on end being mesmerised by their pet fish. Certainly, keeping fish as pets can be fascinating and aquariums can add an interesting centre-piece to your room.

Types of Aquarium Fish

There are three types of aquarium fish.


These fish are probably the easiest choice if you are looking to keep fish for the first time. One complication, that of keeping the water in the tank heated, is removed with these fish.


If you are looking for variety and colour for your aquarium, tropical fish may be the best choice. You will need to control the temperature of the water and understand which species can be housed together.


Marine fish require more care than the other types of fish and therefore should be considered very carefully before deciding that this is the type of fish for you to keep. Something for experienced fish owners only.

Caring For Your Fish - The Basics

The three major things to consider when caring for your fish are water, light and food.


Fish use the oxygen in water to breathe and, therefore, ensuring the quality of the water in the tank is of paramount importance. Use a filter or pump to ensure that the water contains enough oxygen for your fish. You may need to test the water for ammonia, nitrites and ph levels.

Change the water in your tank at monthly intervals or when the water looks cloudy.


Your fish require a controlled-light environment to thrive. You will need to use aquarium lights to ensure that your fish get the light they require.


There is a large variety of food available and this can be confusing. The simplest way of choosing an appropriate food is to find a feed which is specially made for them.

Generally speaking, you should feed your fish each morning and evening. It should take your fish only a few minutes to eat all of the food. If it takes longer, you are probably feeding them too much which will, in turn, adversely affect the quality of the water in the tank.