Any animal a good idea for a pet for a 2 year old?

[PanicPants]

Dp and I are keen to have a pet of some sort for ds to become aware of how to treat animals and look after them etc etc.

Now we both work full time so it can't be a cat/dog etc.
I'm not that keen on the whole hamster/mice/rat route either and don't think ds would be able to handle one of those without hurting it or getting bitten.

We've had rabbits in the past and tbh, it's too much cleaning out in the rain for my liking. So there out as well!

We do have fish already though!

Any ideas?

Stick Insects?

well, if you did get a rat he would be able to handle it, since they are larger and they don't bite. I'd trust even my boisterous 2yo with a rat.

giant snails? They are easy to look after.

A rat? No couldn't bare it! I'm sure they're lovely but no.

I do like the idea of the Snails and stick insects though. Do they take much looking after and specialist diet?

I think stick insects are just replay the branch wehn all the leaves are gone but I don't know for sure!

they jsut eat fresh produce, I've read about them on here before. DD would absolutely love them, she is fascinated by snails, but we don't have the space. there is some infor here

We were also toying with the idea of a tortoise. I had one when I was growing up and I thought it would be nice for an animal to grow up with ds.
I know they are expensive now and you have to be careful about which sort you get etc.

Anyone got one? Are they worth the money?

tortoise live for years though don't they? And they can be very teritorial. I wouldn't get one with the kids.

I know friends who have tortoises and they make lovely pets in some respects.

HOwever they do live for a very very long time.

Lodger was given one very young (as a baby I think) and now in his 20s it is still going. His mum is getting fed up with them (his and his brother's) as neither of them are settled in suitable accomadation to take them on.

This means now her children are grown and she wants to get on she still ahs these tortoises to organise and care for.

PErsonally I'd wait until your lo was a bit older.

Chickens ?!? My 2.5 year old twins, love feeding them, and you can eat fresh eggs too.

We got dd a budgie when she was 2 (bright yellow so called Laalaa of course!). That was quite successful really as dd soon learnt that she had to be patient and quiet. She loved it when the budgie sat on her shoulder and thought it hilarious when he hung upside-down from the curtains, showing off. Budgies are cheap and easy to keep as long as you put in some effort in the beginning getting them tame so that you can let them out and catch them easily (I don't like birds being in cages the whole time). If you are lucky it might even talk like my mum's does!

Or ducks? Nicer than chickens imo and you still get eggs. They are very smelly though.

Like the idea of the budgie, but no room, sadly, for ducks or chickens.

If I'm honest though, I'd quite like a tortoise and I'm using ds as a bit of an excuse

Tortoises are a bit crap really IMO. They eat, they poop and they eat some more.
Also, they can carry some sort of bacteria (nothing scary but bacteria non the less) but it means you have to be v careful washing hands after contact with them

We have a lot in at work (work @ a vet's) and TBH us nurses find them a bit of a pain as they need constant feeding, a heat lamp on constantly and bathing 2x a day and you can't cuddle them and a fair few of them hide in their shells!

Really? Oh well. I quite liked the idea of them not running away, or biting me, when I cleaned the tank out.

They wouldn't do anything while you cleaned them out!

It might be an idea to see if you could borrow a tortoise for a couple of weeks to see how you got on with them? The above info is just my opinion and so they might be right for you. I just prefer my animals with a bit more oompfh!

Spent the day with friends yesterday - they had a worm world and as friend hates worms i helped her 2 year old and 6 year old set it up. Found the 2 year old with a piece of wire trying to 'peel' a worm to see what it was like on the inside.

So no. Wait. For the love of all things that live.

Exactly PotatoOfDoom!!!! I like my animals to not bite, run off, lose hair, make noise/smells etc

I've a ds and a dp for the rest of it!

lol bocobeak.

Oh dear (images of can openers and tortoises come to mind)

Is this pet for you or your child? Two year olds do not understand enough to have pets, though I think the idea of children learning about responsibility is a good one - perhaps when he is a little older. If however you are after a pet yourself now, then consider what it is you want and research about it thoroughly before you get one. Tortoises need more than just a few lettuce leaves and a cardboard box to hibernate in each year, they are not cheap and most species of them can only be sold with a licence. The tortoise trust is a great source of information about correct care. Budgies are good too but the seed husks do make a lot of mess. Rabbits in my opinion do not make great kids pets - they are often quite jumpy unless they are handled a lot - so that is down to owners really, but in my experience most that are bought for kids are a novelty then forgotten about and not handled enough. Those that adults own for themselves usually are much more handlable for obvious reasons. Don't forget that you will need to get rabbits vaccinated so that will add to the expense of them. Guinea pigs are a better size for children to handle and though they too need regular handling are usually a bit easier to manage.
Hope that helps you think things through

Um, yeah, a cuddly stuffed toy one.

lol expact, think you might all be right!

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hamster