Fish - a good pet for a 6 year old?

9 replies

FossilSister · 08/09/2008 20:31

My 6 year old wants a pet, and DH is allergic to anything furry. Is a fish a good idea - or 2? What do I need to buy? Am complete novice as I come from a cat family! It seems like goldfish just die so do I need to go tropical? Am happy to buy proper equipment but don't want to go mad. Also happy to read up on it if anyone can advise.

OP posts:

Mamazon · 08/09/2008 20:35

fish are ok but they are very low maintenance. thats a good thing in as much as they dont need to commit much time to their care but on the other hand i think a 6 year old is going to want a pet they can pic up and hold.

how about some stick insects? or Giant snails?

We have snakes which are excellent but a bit of an investment and you certainly need to do some reading as although they aren't difficult to care for there are a few basics that you need to get right.

Original poster

FossilSister · 10/09/2008 21:14

Bump

OP posts:

Original poster

FossilSister · 10/09/2008 21:15

Am intrigued by giant snails mamazon. Will investigate. Snakes area step too far for me. Thanks.

OP posts:

purpleduck · 10/09/2008 21:39

We have fish, AND Stick Insects (and dogs ). The fish are in my 6 year old dd's room, and she loves them. She and my DS take turns feeding them, but I accept that I will have to do the cleaning etc.

The stick Insects are good too. In fact if you are near me, you can HAVE some (they have been breeding!) They are low maintenence, but a bit boring. They have been making babies though, which has been interesting...

I am not sure that she would have been happy with either of these if they were an only pet.

What about one of those chinese crested dogs. They are hairless, and sooo ugly they are cute. I think so anyways...most people disagree

Lilyloo · 10/09/2008 21:44

We have a dog , rabbit and fish and tbh think ds 6 takes least interest in fish. They are low maintenance other than cleaning but do very little for a 6 yr old! My dd2 8 mths loves them!
I would go for something that moves tbh.
If you go the fish route we have had ds goldfish since his 4th birthday so no need to shell out for tropical!

bamzooki · 11/09/2008 22:13

We had some Giant African Land Snails from school to look after over winter and they were fab. Far less hassle than fish imo, (we have tropical and pondfish) and they are more interactive than you'd imagine. DD loved having them out crawling up her hands/arms. (Wouldn't do for me personally ....but she was having fun...), and I read that they liked having lukewarm showers - so tried it and they really did. Well - came right out of their shells and sort of lolled around as if saying Ooh that's good...

Anyway - I am under pressure to cast the tropical fish out of their tank and replace them with snails now...

(oh - you do have to watch out for them laying eggs and remove them unless you want about a hundred...)

Original poster

FossilSister · 14/09/2008 20:15

Thanks for your help everyone. Will look into snails, and stick insects. Love the shower thing!

OP posts:

Alambil · 14/09/2008 21:58

I'm getting my DS some fish for his 6th birthday; he's desperate for some and I can't wait to surprise him!

katiek123 · 16/09/2008 17:06

we vote for stick insects and snails too - we have stick insects, plus kittens, 3 guinea-pigs and a hamster and a goldfish - and i must say the goldfish attracted zero interest after about day 3!! the stick insects are great though. have you got those caterpillar cocoons ever from insectlore.co.uk? great fun to watch too, you get to release the butterflies into the garden (but not keep them, which can of course create a little problem for some kids eg my little girl!!)

Flip