Ideas for a pet that is easy to look after in a flat ?

[messyisthenewtidy]

Just that really. DS is desperate to have a pet but we cannot have dogs or cats as we live in a rented flat. Can anyone suggest anything that doesn't require too much upkeep or make too much noise at night?

Sorry! The upkeep bit made me sound like a lazy arse, it's just I'm trying to impress upon him that it will be his responsibility to look after said pet. Many thanks

A rat.

Surprisingly clean. Very easy to tame. They can be trained to do tricks. Not too small. Not too big.

Fish, gerbils/hamster. That's what we did.

Rats are fab, I have one.

I used to have two. We'd let them have the run of the house sometimes. The male would run up and down stairs retrieving biscuits from us and then hiding them somewhere in his den. The female would wait upstairs, watch where he was hiding them and eat them while he was collecting the next bit

Bearded dragons, sleep at night and are easy to handle and clean out. They eat live crickets but that is easier than you might think. They like to ride on your shoulder like a parrot :) .

A gerbil. We have our 2nd now (1st sadly died last week). They are very easy to look after - we clean the cage about every 10 days, IMO they are very cute too. But not very docile to sit nicely in your hand, our last one was very tame but very wriggly too when being held, and jumped out of our hands and legged it many times. But he was so cute and such a funny little personality and also a bit spoiled my fault entirely.

I had two too, but one died.
The one I have left is big and fat and torments the kitten

I want some now for the dds but MIL has said she will never visit us again if we bring vermin into the house.

I am yet to decide whether this is a reason for or against getting some

OMG! A rat!!! Wish I'd never bloody asked, cos DS is currently jumping up and down squealing "A rat! A rat!".

Maybe a gerbil! They're like rats, but not rats aren't they?

Personally I'd love a beardie but they're pretty expensive I think.

Ok, off to search. Thanks for replies. DS says thanks too. He says that he loves mumsnet now (as opposed to previously hating it cos I spend so much time on it and randomly laughing!)

Ps. Dlady, how do you manage to spoil a gerbil?! Does he not have a naughty step?

Gerbils aren't really pets in the same way rats can be - they're great to watch, but not much use for handling.

Rats are very cuddly.

How old is DS? Only my niece accidentally crushed a dwarf Russian hamster (they're tiny) when she was small and overly-enthusiastic with the cuddles. :(

You can walk rats on a little lead.
DD takes ours out.

Oh he's 10 s I don't think he'll crush it!

I really have to get my head round this rat thing don't I? It's just I've always been a bit about them because we used to have a problem with them in our collective dustbin. They managed to climb up into the loft.... ugh!!

No, they're not those kinds of rats at all. They're smaller and cuter and a different colour.

This is the kind I used to keep. They're called brown hooded rats

Or a dumbo rat, how can you not like that?

A gecko. we're looking after one at the moment and he's surprisingly easy to care for. They're docile which means you can handle them. It's making me want one!

Fancy mice are a lot easier than rats, rats take a lot of time & care (they need out of the cage daily). Fancy mice are cuter & don't live as long (less commitment). My only statement against mice is they tend to poo or wee on your hands, but then rats chew everything to bits given half a chance, and a bad tempered rat can inflict a bad bite.

Rats are very sociable & need fairly big cages, rats or mice like in 2s or 3s. Boys more likely to fight.

I don't think either smell, but some people think they do.

Messy we used to spoil him by giving him allsorts of treats, anything really apart from human chocolate. He loved biscuits, nuts, crackers, I once made him a tiny pancake when I was making them for my daughters. I would add that it wasn't a constant supply just an occasional treat. He lived to the ripe old age of 2y10mths.

We have a budgie who is wonderful! He is such a character and great company. When I am working from home he likes to sits on my shoulder for whole day!! He is out of his cage most of the time only returning of his own accord around 10pm when he likes to go to sleep.

Second the budgie idea - we had one which had a huge vocabulary and was a real character too... however he didn't like it if alone all day and like dogs really need a lot of company - though fewer walks of course!

Degu's? I am currently fostering three of these, and they are looking for a forever home, feel free to pm me if you'd like more info

Budgie all the way. Tame , trainable make such loyal companions. Do need company though - so either lots of love or get a pair.