Want a pet, no idea what though, any ideas?

[eefs]

DS1 has been asking for a pet for a while now and I'd love to get him one, I'd love something for myself too. Here's the situation:

The house is empty for most of the day every weekday so not an animal that needs supervision. I can get two pets for company if necessary.

Have a small enclosed back garden so nothing that needs a lot of space.

Have two DS's - 5 and almost 2 so it would have to be a tough little animal - DS1 is gentle but ds2 is a little terror("it's just a phase, it's just a phase").
I don't have a lot of spare time for exercising, maybe half an hour a day.

House still not finished decor wise so there are a lot of exposed wires and hiding places for something very small.

So is there any pet that would be suitable for us or should I give up on the idea?

I think sea monkey are OK as long as you don't let your children see the packet. I remember as a kid being hugely annoyed at the little things not looking as mermaid chimpances as they were pictured in the box!

Good point Chandra, dd was gutted that they didn't have real crowns when they hatched

eefs, does the cat have a name?

Not sea monkeys - they are hardly visible so boring but the children won't let you get rid of them then you spend ages trying to find their food. I hated them.

MY main concern was how do you clean the water, my mum said they have died but I sincerely wonder if they went with the dirty water.... Probably she will agree to tell me the real story now that I am an adult....

I wasn't told the cat's name, I can try to find out though. is it important to keep her original name? We won't get them for another fortnight - i'll be home for a week so perfect time to introduce them.

DS1 suggested Tom and Jerry.

sorry majorstress but at the cat eating the other pets. I will try to avoid that.

Tarantula - we had two HUGE house spiders in the bathroom a few weeks ago. DS2 screeched in delight at them everytime he saw them and ds1 named them and created stories around them. They both ended up trapped in the bath at which point they were evicted but DS2 still looks for them. How would I pet-ize a house spider?

we changed our cat's name Tired out variuos names and she showed very little interest in most of them (including her rescue name). So we gave her the only one that produced a response. Love the idea of Tom and Jerry, though.

My children kept snails in a fish tank in the garage, maybe that would work with spiders? Of course the littlest one did escape.....But what would you feed them? Cat food, perhaps.

I dont think its that important that you keep the name, although it would be nice (if its not crap or youre going to look stupid shouting it). I suppose I was just wondering if we needed to come up with anything.

eefs - you do know that mice are incontinent don't you? They pee over everything and everybody!! Gerbils hardly ever pee or poo because they're desert animals. Male mice can smell dreadful! Are you sure you don't want to change your mind??

Are they? and there was me thinking that the little mouse I had as a child had something against me!

I'm glad you brought up gerbils, majorstress & Lara2. I'm getting a couple for my son & I think they'll be the ideal first pet. I'd heard the same thing about mice weeing everywhere & hamsters sleeping all day, so gerbils seemed like the best option. My son just turned 8 & begged for them for his birthday. He's been taking good care of our goldfish so I think he deserves a more interactive pet. I bought him a plastic tank so that hopefully he'll be able to clean it out. I had fish, dogs & cats when I was young, so I'm not used to pets that remind me of rats - I've got some adjusting to do. I'm trying to find a decent place to buy them though. I wasn't happy with the local pet shop picking them up by their tails & then telling my son that was the best way to do it, so I won't be buying from them.