The Cavy, also known as the Guinea Pig, is a popular pet with children, and people who cannot have large animals. They are easy to care for, need little space and exercise.
The GP is a small animal, stretching to about 12inches (1ft) in lenght at the most. They have no visible tail, 4toes on their front feet, and 3toes on their hind feet. They look like rodents, but are not, they are in a category of their own.
The cavy is a good pet for small children, under the age of 6yrs old, because it is easy to take care of. With fresh fruit, vegetables, water and pellets everyday, these herbivore animals will be happy. They do like affection, although for awhile they may not show it. They still have natural instincts in them to run and hide when you go to pick them up. They are a predatory animal, and run from danger, this will mellow out after being handled quite frequently.
The way you should pick this animal up, is to have one hand around the body, just behind the front legs, and one on the rump, supporting it that way. They do not like to have their legs dangle free with no support, if they are dangling, they will squirm and try to get lose. When holding against your chest, remember to keep a hand on the rump aswell, and not too far from the back, just incase they start to move and lose balance, you don't want them to fall and get injured.
This animal first became domesticated centuries ago, and has been a popular pet ever since. They are originally from South America, Peru, Columbia, and Brazil.