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

Pets

Join our community on the Pet forum to discuss anything related to pets.

Flip

Original poster

Bugger. I promised the DC a pet last year and they've remembered. What can we get?

24 replies

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 10:41

They are 2 and 3 years old. They never remember anything, why have they chosen to remember this?

DS asked for a pet for his 3rd birthday (October last year) and I said he could have one when he started school (well nursery school anyway) in September 2012. Very little has been mentioned on the subject since. I mentioned that Daddy and I are going to look round his new school on Thursday and he asked when he can choose his pet. Bugger bugger bugger and more bugger.

We travel a lot with DH's work which will obviously be curtailed in September, but any pet will need to survive either the odd weekend in a hotel plus associated car journeys or being left home alone for up to 3 days at a time.

A lady in the village suggested chickens as you can buy 3-day feeders, but I thought they had to be let out during the day and put away at night? Can you get 3-day feeders for fish?

Help!

OP posts:

Indith · 30/05/2012 10:46

Gerbils!

Gerbils are great for little children. They are friendly and sociable, they are awake in the day and asleep at night. Plus you can put them in a big glass tank half filled with peat and wood shavings and they will compact it downa nd dig tunnels. Then you only have to clean it out 3/4 times a year not every week. They don't stuff themselves with food so as long as you pop a bit of extra food in and make sure water is filled they will be fine left for a few days.

Original poster

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 10:57

Gerbils sound good and I'm liking the not cleaning out too often. Do they smell? They'd be alone from Friday afternoon until Sunday night, possibly until Monday if it's a bank holiday. Would they be happy with that? I inherited 2 rats (pet ones!) whilst at Uni and they had to come out at least once a day or they would become depressed!

OP posts:

Ponders · 30/05/2012 11:01

Gerbils are a brilliant idea - they are very sweet, but extremely lively so a bit tricky for small children to hold unless sitting down.

DS2 used to have a pair, & I didn't know about the glass tank thing so they just lived in a hamster cage with sawdust & that did get a bit smelly after a while but a tank wouldn't.

They don't have rat intelligence, fortunately

shouldibuy · 30/05/2012 11:01

We have chickens and they are great pets. Our three year old is the best one at handling them. As long as their run is fox proof, you can leave them for three days. They put themselves to bed at night. With light mornings though, they let themselves out and can be a bit noisy (eg at 4am), so its better to either get a timer for the door, or ask a neighbour to close them in at night. But in the winter, its no problem not to close them in.

Ponders · 30/05/2012 11:03

oh, for fish you can get feeding blocks which you leave in the water; they're much healthier than fish food as they don't pollute the water. They last at least 2 weeks.

Ponders · 30/05/2012 11:06

\link{http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-fish-food/holiday-fish-food/all-products.html\various holiday feeding alternatives for fish}

fish are probably the least rewarding pets for small children though - pretty, but boring

Grumpla · 30/05/2012 11:08

Most fish will be absolutely fine left a couple of days without feeding.

In fact after several overfeeding incidents where well-meaning friends have given them too much and screwed up the water quality (to the point where several of my fish died ) I now leave them to go hungry for a couple of days instead.

However they are not very cuddly.

dlady · 30/05/2012 11:11

I second what Indith said, I'm another gerbil fan. We have a lovely boy and I would recommend gerbils to anyone wanting an easy pet. We leave him for a few days, any longer holiday he goes to the in-laws. They are very clean, don't go to the toilet in their beds, ours uses his wheel as his toilet, we just clean it out every day or so. He is so cute and a little bit spoiled, he understands the word 'treat' and gets all excited if you offer him some gerbil chocolate, veg, nuts etc. If handled properly they shouldn't bite, the only time ours bit me, I offered him some custard on my finger and he took a bite, oops.

They should live for 3-5 years, I hope it's nearer 5 with our Bert (!!).

We also have fish, but I don't feel you can interact with a fish like you can with a furry animal. You can buy holiday food tablets for fish, you just drop them in the tank and they last for about a week.

EauRouge · 30/05/2012 11:13

Agree, fish are pretty rubbish pets for children- they're expensive, high maintenance and they don't do anything. I wouldn't recommend those feeding blocks, a decent auto-feeder is much better.

If rodents are not your thing then maybe consider stick insects. We have some macleay's spectre stick insects and DD1 (3.7yo) loves them. We let her hold them, she is very gentle and as they are so big they are fairly sturdy anyway. They are also cheap as chips, you can build an enclosure out of mosquito net and they eat brambles so no food or upkeep costs once you have shelled out for the insects- they sell for around a fiver for 2 or 3 on ebay.

CharminglyOdd · 30/05/2012 11:16

I would say don't get fish - if I knew then what I know now about the proper (non cruel) keeping of even bog-standard goldfish then I'd not have got mine. Whilst they tick the three day holiday box you need to cycle the tank (nitrogen cycle), clean them regularly, do water changes, have a tank large enough for them to grow into (my two fish need 180 litres minimum) and they can live for fifteen or more years and grow huge. The reason so many pet goldfish look small and die quickly is that the tank isn't big enough. They will grow to fit the tank but then all their organs are too small (think if you bound a baby and never let it grow) so they die prematurely. Your DC are too small to realistically be able to take proper care of goldfish (includes lots of chemicals, e.g. to treat the water) so you'd end up doing it.

On the plus side we had bunnies as a child and they were fab :) Difficult to leave them without care - we usually bribed a neighbour with chocolate to take care of them whilst we were gone. They're also very sociable and cuddly and easy for a younger child to help clean.

CharminglyOdd · 30/05/2012 11:17

x-posts with EauRouge who knows way more about fish than me!

MrsGuyOfGisbourne · 30/05/2012 11:17

dwarf hamsters are lovely, live max 2 years, don't have tails ( gerbils have tails) - can go two week without cleaning, and would be fine left fri-sun. Although hamsters are supposed to be nocturnal, ours kept daylight hours. I loved them so much that when they died I was the one that wanted to get more, having not wanted a pet before.

Original poster

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 11:19

We have more options than I thought

I quite fancy chickens, but since we don't have neighbours we can ask to feed them & let them in/out longer trips away such as holidays will be more of a problem. Not an insurmountable one as I'm sure there will be some local teenager who'd do it for some easy money but it would require more planning. But then the children love chickens and I love fresh eggs. Hmmm.

Fish are perhaps a bit of a cop out but I'm not discounting them yet!

It is looking like we might be gerbil shopping in September though.

OP posts:

Original poster

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 11:24

I missed a load of posts. Sorry! Dwarf hamsters also sound good. A rabbit would be lovely, but we couldn't ask our neighbours to look after it. Fish are now officially off the list!

OP posts:

LST · 30/05/2012 11:27

Gerbils! 100% they are brill. I can't wait til DP gets fed up with his fish tank so I can have another one :)

Gincognito · 30/05/2012 11:33

Giant African Land Snail.

I had two as a child and lurrrved them. I used to stick them on my face as a party trick.

I was a fairly disgusting child.

putthehamsterbackinitscage · 30/05/2012 18:19

Syrian hamster would also work.... A bit bigger than dwarfs and again no tail....

We're now on our 4th.... And DCs love her but I accepted when we got pets for the DCs that ultimately they are my responsibility to feed, clean out etc and whilst it's nice to get DCs to help with feeding and cleaning, the buck stops with me....

Currently looking after DH, DCs, hamster, 2 kittens, indoor aquarium and garden pond with fish.....

No more till one expires - don't have time for anything else now ....

putthehamsterbackinitscage · 30/05/2012 18:22

Forgot to say its amazing what they remember when they're that age...

DS wanted an electric guitar - I said yes if he learnt recorder in y3 then learnt classical guitar from y4.... Now Y8 and I am his taxi cum roadie .... Electric guitars Tuesdays, classical Wednesdays....

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 30/05/2012 18:23

A pet rock?

Original poster

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 18:38

Giant snails Interesting I'll grant you. Not one I would have cconsidered.

Stick insects are pretty cool (missed that one earlier) and from memory fairly entertaining too. And cheap of course!

They already have pet rocks which we made last year (with proper wiggly eyes et al) after a well meaning relative bought DS a very tiny and inhumane mini fishtank. DS wasn't ever really convinced though!

It's looking increasingly like some sort of gerbil/hamster. Although the snails are growing on me.

OP posts:

Original poster

neverquitesure · 30/05/2012 18:42

...and now I'm thinking about chickens again...

OP posts:

Pelvicflooragogo · 31/05/2012 09:02

Right I have a controversial suggestion. If it would make your life much trickier at the moment and you're dreading it why not defer it for a specified time and just be honest with them? It's an important lesson to learn that we are fallible and sometimes change our minds! Good luck whatever you choose to do.

Wolfiefan · 31/05/2012 09:11

I would not leave any pet alone for three days. Perhaps "adopt" a rescue they can visit. Guide dogs want evening and weekend fosterers.
In terms of rodents. Lots are nocturnal and would drive you bonkers in a hotel room! (Would you even be allowed to take them?) we had rats. Guinea pigs? Is there a boarding place near you? Rabbits can bite and scratch. Gerbils a bit small and wriggly for toddlers. Don't forget they need to burrow. Not sure you could lift and easily transport a tank.
Don't mean to put a damper on your plans but first priority must be the welfare of the animals.

shouldibuy · 31/05/2012 13:12

Our chickens are perfectly fine to be left for three days. Saying that, we do tell our neighbours that we are going away, and one whose children love the chickens keep an eye on them over the fence, so that for example, if they knock over their water, they can go and re-fill it.

Flip