Pets for my daughters - mice, hamsters, rats, gerbils?????

[Crunchie]

Think of getting my dd's a pet each - althought o be kept in one cage together. Shall we get mice, gerbils, hamsters, rats??

The girls are 7 and 9 and are quite good with animals.

We have a dog, but she will be OK with whatever

Any suggestions, which are easiest??

A pair of girlie rats would be perfect, Crunchie - they need to live in groups, are v affectionate and intelligent, and thrive on attention. Also, although they do tend to sleep during the day they are not nocturnal as such and are usually up and about in the early evening and morning.

They live longer than mice and are not likely to nip like gerbils. (Hamsters have to be kept singly so no good for your needs - also nocturnal and bad-tempered!)

They need a large cage though, and do tend to thump about during the night

(We have some young ones which need rehoming, but I think you are too far from us for that to work, sadly)

What about the Russian hamsters.. the ones that live communally? You could have 2 of them.
That said, we have rats and they have been great family pets, would choose rats over hammies, any day.

My children have hamsters--one each, in separate cages. They've really enjoyed them. The hamsters are incredibly inquisitive and amusing. One of them is obviously a camp interior designer because he gets upset if we arrange his feed bowl or toys and very busily puts them back into place, almost sighing with annoyance. He's a Chinese hamster.

The other is a fluffy big white and gold Syrian and reminds me of George Michael in being a bit OTT but quite lovable. Except he's eaten his way through my in-tray--including some page proofs I was looking at for a client. I often see his little head poking up to see what I'm up to while I'm working.

Both of them are very tame. I've had occasional nips but only when I've been handling food and I think my fingers have smelled of apple or carrot.

We have two erbuls in a glass gerbilarium. They are very very easy to look after and care for. Unlike hamsters, they are ot nocturnal so they are away a lot during the day. They don't smell particularly - which was a big issue for me. They only need cleaning out about once a fortnight, and food.water topping up every couple of days. You can easily leave them for a weekend away too.

Ours do not likle being handled much, but our friend's gerbils do. I guess we didn't but in enough effort with it at the start.

Gerbils do bite if scared so be careful with little fingers.

And they chew everything in sight - so you need a good cage for them - we went through 3 plastic ones before realising this! They have only managed to escapoe once - just one of them. Found him a few hours later, tempted out of hiding with sunflower seeds

This pet review is very helpful

We have a couple of dumbo rats, like this - different colour though - they look much cuter than ordinary rats and one of ours makes little whiffling noises all the time you hold her.

We had pairs of mice as children who were lovely, very tame and friendly, 3 pairs thoughout my childhood, all lovely. And also pairs and a trio of gerbils, who were also lovely pets. Would second that getting a gerbilarium, glass cage, is great, ours were old fishtanks with a wire mesh top. We had this for the last pair of mice too. It means they can burrow more like they would in the wild, means they can't make a noise nibbling or scratching at bars and can't kick sawdust out everywhere! They can also be quite fun as you can be a bit creative in them for the animals, with toilet roll tubes and tissue boxes, bits of wood (make sure its not a poisonous variety) which we enjoyed as children. I also always wanted rats but my mum wouldn't let me - maybe when dd is older (she's only 2) I'll get her a couple!

gerbils - not erbuls!

How about guinea pigs?

they can live outside so the smell won't be so bad as it's not in the house.

Hamsters can be very tame if handled regularly, but being nocturnal means they're mostly awake when the kids are asleep.

Mice can be cute but they smell dreadfully. And no matter how often you clean the cage you will never get rid of it, mouse urine is extremely potent and you will smell it on your hand when handling them/in the room they're living in etc, and they can be harde to sex as they're so small so if you accidentally end up with a pair you will be overrun with them within a matter of weeks.

I personally think rats are vermin, but some advocate them as good pets. the only thing is that they need a large cage - at least two ft across, so you will have to have plenty of space.

and i've never kept gerbles but friends that have them do say that they smell also, and can be quite skittish so not always easy to handle.

I've had gerbils, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and a rabbit.

I would recommend hamster or guinea pigs as the easiest to look after and handle for young children. IME gerbils are harder to tame than the others. I liked my rats but they were on the smelly side.

Rabbits are needy and high maintenance, IME, I am regretting getting one though he is lovely he needs a lot of space and company. and he burrows and he jumps out of pens. And they live a long time.

Hamsters rock! - according to my 10yr old DS.
He has a lovely cream coloured syrian hamster. Hamsters name is Cena (named after DSs favourite WWE wrestler John Cena)

Cena is great fun. DS started taming him by just putting his hand in the cage with a bit of food on it - within about a week he could handle him with no problem.

DS would just like him even more if he made a sound of any kind! Told him you cant have everything you want in life!!

For instance I lurve Robbie Williams.........

rATS - THEY Are much easier for chldren to handle and won't leg it when put down on the floor. Mice stink.