Pets are loved by everyone, be it little or big ones. They can be your cute little partner and can cheer up your mood any time of the day. Guinea pigs and hamsters are popular among people to have as pets for their cute features. They can be small, but they have their significant features, which makes them different from each other.
Guinea Pig vs Hamster
The main difference between Guinea Pig and Hamster is that a guinea pig generally tends to have a much rounder shape and quite a large figure of about 20-30cm in size, whereas a hamster has a comparatively smaller structure of about 5-15cm in size than that of a guinea pig.
Guinea pigs are known to be herbivorous animals, and they are entirely vegan animals. Guinea pigs are little creatures famous for being pets, for they have such adorable characteristics as a pet. Guinea pigs have a life expectancy of about 7-8 years if they are kept well maintained and healthy by the owners.
Hamsters are another little animal known to be popular to be adopted as a pet by people around the world. Hamsters are not herbivores. Rather, they feed on meats and tend to take their basic nutrients from another insect. Hamsters are delicate animals to take care of, for they have such small figures. If they are well-maintained and taken care of properly, they can live up to 2-3 years of age.
Comparison Table Between Guinea Pig and Hamster
| Parameters of Comparison | Guinea Pig | Hamster |
| Size | It is comparatively larger and rounder in size. | It is much smaller in size than that of a guinea pig. |
| Offspring | They give birth to properly developed pups. | They give birth to babies without the power of sight and hair that are developed later. |
| Life Expectancy | If a guinea pig is kept healthy, it can live as much as 7-8 years. | It can live up to 2-3 years of age if they are healthy. |
| Type of Eater | They are known to be herbivorous animals feeding on vegetables. | They are known to be carnivorous animals that help them take up their nutrients from other insects. |
| Sociable | They are extremely much of a sociable animal. | They prefer not to be that much of a sociable animal. |
What is Guinea Pig?
Guinea Pigs are small creatures that are famous for being taken care of as pets by people worldwide. Guinea pigs tend to give birth to their offspring with proper development such as hair, eyesight, teeth and have the capability of running around just after they are born.
Guinea pigs are small creatures that are thought to be rapid and very sociable; Guinea pigs are no exception and are highly sociable creatures. They are extremely in favor of loved and interact with human beings and also other animals.
Guinea pigs tend to use their feet more than their paws. They are much of a creature who likes to jump and run around here and there rather than climbing around like other small animals. Little animals are even believed to be interested in exercises, but Guinea pigs are not really into exercises, for they are not meant to use exercise balls as other little animals.
Little animals are believed to be generally nocturnal animals as they stay alert as a defense mechanism against predators. Guinea pigs are not nocturnal animals and rather prefer to take a nap whenever they feel like it. Guinea pigs do prefer to nap over being threatened in the household.
What is Hamster?
Hamsters are little animals that are widely preferred to be taken care of as a pet by people for their cute features. Hamsters are small in size compared to that Guinea pigs, who have much rounder and bigger. A hamster tends to have about 5-15cm in size, which is quite small as a creature.
Hamsters are known to be omnivorous animals that are believed to feed on other insects for the need of their basic requirements of nutrients. The life expectancy of a hamster is even less than that of a guinea pig as they can live up to 2-3 years of age if they are taken care of properly and healthy.
Hamsters give birth to their offsprings without being properly developed features such as hair and eyesight, which are more likely to be developed at their later stage of life. Hamsters are also much of a climber and can easily run over all around and all day, even in their hamster wheel.
Hamsters are more of a nocturnal animal who loves and prefer to run around the household searching for food and prefer to live and run around even late at night.
Hamsters are easily capable of physically exercising a lot and uses exercise balls and hamster wheels to exercise better.
Main Differences Between Guinea Pig and Hamster
- Guinea pigs are much rounder and bigger in size of about 20-30cm in size, whereas hamsters are comparatively much smaller in between 5-15cm in size.
- Guinea pigs don’t prefer to stay up at night to be afraid of their predators. Rather they sleep at night while hamsters are nocturnal and keep flurrying around late at night.
- Guinea pigs give birth to pups who are developed with hair and eyesight. On the other hand, hamsters produce babies without eyesight and hair, which are developed much later.
- Guinea pigs have a much larger life expectancy of about 7-8 years if they remain healthy whereas, hamsters can live up to 2-3 years being healthy.
- Guinea pigs are highly sociable creatures and can even die in isolation, but hamsters are slightly aggressive when it comes to socializing with other ones.
Conclusion
These little creatures are highly flurried and extremely referred to as pets. Even though guinea pigs and hamsters may seem quite similar to each other as they belong to the species of rodents but are from different families, and are different in their features which are quite significant.
Both the little creatures are quite popular in their ways and characters and are liked by people worldwide. They can make such cute pets and are delicate, but if taken care of properly can live happily.
References
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cne.902120203
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227520379992