Thankyou Ash for taking what I have said re: the guinea pig seriously.

I think if you wanted a guinea pig as a pet then that would be fine but you would have to get 2 which your Dad probably wouldn't approve of.

I was wondering, if this is true, then how can they be a good compnaion? They can't for the reasons mentioned.

If they can not be housed together or play together then how can they be good friends? Again realistically they can't, they may get some limited interaction through the cage bars but the guinea pig would probably be scared/more interested in it's pig companion/more interested in food (most likely the latter!!)

Thats more of the answer I was looking for and if a Piggie who was caged while Julian was out, would this give him the companionship he needed? I think Julian would get more companionship from you, playing with him, cuddling him etc.

Or does he need to have a friend who is out at all times with him? I think for any social animal they need a companion of their own kind - one they can be with all the time both in the cage and out. I think the times Julian may get lonely is when you are at school/work/sleeping and he is alone. If he shared his cage with another rabbit he would never be lonely because they would have each other. And you can play with the together at the same time. With another rabbit not just Julian benefits - the other rabbit gets his company and you get the live of 2 buns