Keeping Guinea Pigs, or ‘Cavies’ as they are also called, can be as simple as having two in a garden hutch or an indoor pen, but can also expand into keeping and breeding. Many people start with pet guinea pigs, or you may decide to go on to keep one of the many ‘purebred’ breeds which are available.

Apart from making good show animals, rats make super pets and are becoming a lot more popular.

Most rats in captivity are colour mutations of Rattus norvegicus, the Norway or common brown rat. More rarely you may come across the African Giant Pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus and C. emini) which is about twice the size of a common rat, or the black or ship rat(Rattus rattus). Both of these however are best treated as wild or exotic species as neither are trully domesticated

The keeping of ferrets has long been associatated with country field sports, in particular rabbiting. However, more and more people have started to keep ferrets as pets. There are numerous societies throughout the UK which keepers can join, either for showing or just advice and information.

SNAKES - There are many reasons why snakes make good pets and I will try to outline a few.