Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

to not buy DD a pet I'm scared of?

121 replies

Fink · 17/02/2016 16:38

DD (6) wants some sort of lizard as a pet, a bearded dragon to be precise. Bless her, she is trying to be considerate as I am allergic to pet hair (as is she) so we can't have any of the more normal pets (her first choices were guinea pig or rabbit, both of which I would have been fine with were it not for the allergy). However, I am freaked out by the things.

You have to feed them live insects, which I wouldn't look forward to (to say the least). You have to handle them for a considerable amount of time each day. I am really not a reptile lover. Not exactly phobic, but really not a fan.

My current thinking is that I would get her one, if she still wants it, when she's old enough to look after it without me having to handle it (I have no clear idea of what sort of age this would be). I could cope with having it in the house so long as I didn't actually have to touch it. Due to space restrictions, we would probably have to keep the vivarium in my office/study, which I wouldn't be overjoyed about but I can imagine putting up with.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

BalloonSlayer · 17/02/2016 18:40

squeaking scrotum!

KellyElly · 17/02/2016 18:40

What about one of those cats with no hair? They look a bit alien like, but my friend had one and it was really cute.

nellyflora · 17/02/2016 18:41

Not a good idea! I have heard that Cornish and Devon Rex cats are ok for allergies. ( special type of fir) Cats are great pets and easy and affectionate. If that's not ok get fish.

Magicpaintbrush · 17/02/2016 18:43

You can get hairless rats too - rats are amazing pets, it's like having a very small dog.

Does your fur allergy extend to feathers? Cockatiels are fab :-) Ours lived to 25 years old and had sooo much personality. They get very attached to their humans.

Lurkedforever1 · 17/02/2016 18:44

Ditto the budgies idea. They're fun but not hard work, just need the windows and doors shutting so they can fly about daily.

And going against the grain here, but while you'll be helping/ supervising, no reason a kids pet can't be exactly that. Start as you mean to go on and explain you'll help but its her job to ask you, and even stuff she can't do at all she has to help with. And if she doesn't they either go or become your pets, which means no more right to talk about 'my' pet.

Nowthereistwo · 17/02/2016 18:45

You'll still have the problem with hay with that Guinea pigs. Ours are indoors for winter and I can feel the hay in the air.

hiddenhome2 · 17/02/2016 18:47

Ilive yes, their parents - one dad and three mums - did look after them when they were younger, but they've all set up shop at the other side of their tank now - like a teenage youth club - so are becoming independent now

Seryph · 17/02/2016 18:48

Get a Labradoodle! They are lovely dogs and hypo-allergenic.

sweetkitty · 17/02/2016 18:49

DD2 got a bearded dragon when she was 9, it died after 6 weeks probably from a disease from a dodgy breeder so we did loads of research spoke to experts etc and got another one, a whole new viv in case the other one had mites! While new UV light (£40 every 6 months) UV controller £40, heat lamp and dome and controller £40, decoration £30. As babies they eat huge amounts of live food about 30 locusts a day, at one point we were spending £80 a month on live food, he calmed down now though live food every second day veg every day. Annual poo test is over £40 anything wrong and you have to find a specialist herp vet, oh and supplements, live food dusted with calcium or vitamins. Oh and the temperature and humidity in the viv had to be exact.

DD2 is very good with him but I have to be her back up at 6 I would be prepared to take it all on. Yes it takes a lot to get the correct set up but he's a great little pet.

WhatALoadOfOldBollocks · 17/02/2016 18:49

"If you hav an animal, any animal, you look after it to the very best standards or you don't have it at all."

Totally agree Stratter5. It's so sad to hear of fish being kept in small tanks with the bare minimum of care required to keep them alive. No wonder they often don't live as long as they could

fortifiedwithtea · 17/02/2016 18:50

Guinea pig owner here. Normally I what say a skinny pig is an abomination but in your case it could be the perfect solution. They must be kept in pairs and live indoors and won't live as long as a normal guinea pig. Check whether you are allergic to hay first as all guinea pigs must have a constant supply of hay to keep their gut working.

If you can stand a little hair, werewolf guinea pigs are bald but with a little bit of fuzz on their noses.

paxillin · 17/02/2016 18:53

6 is too young for any pet unless you want one and she can cuddle it. She can have a pet when she is old and reliable enough to do absolutely all of the looking after herself.

I have seen my parents look after several budgies, cats and an aquarium full of fish we wanted, didn't properly look after until we were 10 or so and then left them at theirs when we flew the nest. They didn't want any of them. I do not allow pets, I know who'll be left caring for them.

hiddenhome2 · 17/02/2016 18:54

Here they are.

hiddenhome2 · 17/02/2016 18:55

Three adults here.

They like sitting together.

Original poster

Fink · 17/02/2016 18:56

Feeling rather relieved I moved away from the north east. Although each to their own, I'm sure they're lovely for you. I haven't got over finding a wild cockroach in my knickers (not while I was wearing them!) whilst abroad once.

OP posts:

Lancelottie · 17/02/2016 18:57

Do NOT get a labradoodle, cockapoo or whatever. At least half the buggers shed like anything, just curlier hair than usual.

Are you definitely allergic to the (mostly) non-shedding dogs such as actual poodles, Tibetan terriers, Bichons etc, though? There are also some less-allergenic cats (rex, Balinese, Sphynx), but again it depends what you react to.

I wouldn't risk the flying hay with a guinea pig myself. Get a tortoise!

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 17/02/2016 18:58

Oh they're such little cuties. I can just make out the paws of your cats there as well. Awwwww

CheersMedea · 17/02/2016 18:58

Imperialleather

You could get one of those little bald dogs that Rachel had in Friends!

It's a Sphinx Cat not a dog.

Portuguese Water Dogs are supposed to be anti-allergenic (not sure that's the right word but good for people with hair allergies)

Lancelottie · 17/02/2016 18:59

Ooh, or a Siamese Fighting Fish? They don't need as large a tank as a goldfish would. Or coldwater mountain minnows, or zebra danios (even I have managed to keep a tank of those alive for the past 5-6 years).

EnoughAlready999 · 17/02/2016 18:59

I've got a beardie and she's fine. People that come round are scared of her but I don't know why. She doesn't smell and you just pick out the poo as they are solid. She likes mealworms which aren't too expensive. You soon get used to giving them live food. My day likes to sit by the warm viv and watch her.

hiddenhome2 · 17/02/2016 19:00

Err, yes, the cats do 'take an interest'

CocktailQueen · 17/02/2016 19:02

No, I wouldn't! How about making a hedgehog home for the garden and feeding the birds to attract birds into your garden? Make an insect house or ladybird house? That way she can commune with nature but you don't have to look after a lizard...

hiddenhome2 · 17/02/2016 19:03

Please don't get fish. It's not fair on them unless you do it really well and they're not really pets

Mouseinahole · 17/02/2016 19:03

Tortoise?

sweetkitty · 17/02/2016 19:04

I was thinking of a hairless cat or a hypoallergenic dog, a friend has a Tibetian Terrier doesn't shed although needs brushed daily and groomed regularly, good size not really small but manageable, great with children very laid back little dog.

Do not get a pet unless you want one!

Have a friend who got her 4 year old a rabbit poor thing stuck in tiny hutch ignored until they got rid of it, next was a dog to get over their DDs dog phobia (!) it lasted 2 weeks as it behaved like a puppy.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5