Pet for an eight yr old which?

[Chrysanthamum]

Our son is hoping for a pet for his eighth birthday. My dh is allergic to cats so no mogs! I work parttime and we travel when we can so no dogs. We've got a 2yr old and a baby of 8 mths so i don't want a pet that's high maintenance as i know we'll end up with the responsibility of caring for it.
My ds is talking about a lizard but i was thinking more about guinea pigs.
Suggestions anyone?

Guinea pigs are good pets for small children, imo. Best to get two!

Hamster, you only need one. Ours is called Darth

Rats!!!

fish

I read this as 'pet for an 8 year old witch'- a BLACK CAT, obviously!

Fish would be OK if your DS is really into science, they are pretty complicated animals to keep and not very interactive really. It's much more like a science project than keeping a pet but if you do decide on fish then I am a fish geek so I'll be able to give you advice if you want it. They are v high maintenance though so probably not what you are after.

Ferret- they are good company, require a fair bit of handling but are very clean.

Thanks for all ideas.

If I get Guinea pigs can they live happily in a hutch and run/pen outside?
We get foxes around here at night can you get fox proof hutches?

Ferrets sound interesting although don't they have sharp teeth?

I thought fish might be a good idea too but he won't settle for fish.

My brother had a great pet rat as a kid but ds is not getting one until he's old enough to clean out the cage himself.

If your DS can't clean out a rat cage then fish wouldn't be ideal, you need to test the water and add chemicals and things.

Guinea pigs do make good pets for children and are very entertaining, but they are more work and require more space than people often realise. They also live longer than people think - 6 years is about the norm, but it easily could be longer. You would need to get two as they need company (two girls from the same litter is best) and they would need a one-level hutch at least 6 feet long (they don't do well with ramps), plus an exercise run. It would all need to be fox-proofed and it's best to get a rain cover for the hutch. All this means that the initial set-up can be costly (a decent hutch and run could easily be £200 plus on their own). Ongoing costs are also factor, as they need a constant supply of good quality hay, and fresh veggies daily. There are no annual injections to worry about but they should be worm/flea treated regularly if they are out on grass (you can get a spot-on from Pets At Home). Once they are used to being handled they are very friendly, but being prey animals they never really enjoy being caught and picked up (are fine once you've got hold of them though). And they can't jump, so dropping them even from a small height can lead to broken bones, so your DS would need to be careful around them. Another thing to consider (with any of the larger caged animals) is that they can become a tie at holiday times, as you need to find someone to come and see to them daily. And they need to be cleaned out very regularly, so something else to consider, depending on who would be doing it.

Don't get me wrong, they make lovely pets. But they're much more commitment than, say, a hamster, especially as they will probably be around when your DS is 14 and possibly more interested in girls than guinea pigs!

Think bunnies are hard to beat, they make such lovely pets. Or chickens? Ferret?

Tarantulas don't need to be cleaned out very often but even friendly ones prefer not to be handled.

If your son is interested in lizards, would you consider a snake?

Snakes are much easier to keep than lizards, in terms of set ups and feeding. 'Beginner' species such as corn snakes are placid and easy to feed and handle, and an eight year old child would be able to do everything themselves with adult supervision. Feeding is once every 5 days or so for babies, once weekly or fortnightly for adults, and cleaning is as and when needed, usually a few days after feeding.

Set up for a baby consists of a heat mat, thermostat (very important!) thermometer and a large flat 'faunarium' or converted (air holes) plastic shoebox or similar. You can use kitchen roll as substrate and empty toilet roll tubes as 'hides' to keep costs lower and cleaning easier.

You could easily leave a snake for a week, or even two whilst you went away, although it is maybe best to get someone to check that temperatures were remaining stable and water wasn't empty if it was longer than a week. Even my non snake loving friends are happy to check in if they don't have to open or touch anything.

You do need to do some proper research first, but snakes are one of the lowest maintenance pets you can get IMO.

RE: ferrets biting- some do but if you get them from a decent breeder, they will have nip-trained them before they are rehomed.

He'd love a snake actually but what do they eat? Please don't tell me its dead mice!

I'm not sure if our garden would be big enough for rabbits and guinea pigs now that I think about it as its full of toddler toys.

Do ferrets need big hutches and runs as well?
Anyone know anything about bantam hens as pets?

Rats are lovely, clean, clever, trainable and rarely bite (unlike hamsters!) but, as with all pets belonging to 8yos, boredom will set in and you will end up caring for the animal so make sure it's something you want, like and can commit to. I don't quite get why you've discounted rats until your DS is old enough to clean the cage himself but are happy to consider other caged pets... they'll need cleaning too!

Ferrets are super too but need more input and are more high-maintenance than rats. Both are sociable creatures and should normally be kept in (neutered where appropriate) pairs.

Remember too that you'll need a carer when you go away. If your chosen helpers are rodent-phobic then certain species may be out of the question!

Rats.
I got my 8yr old rats fir Christmas after advice on here.
They are fabulous, I love them too.
Intelligent, cute, loving, and above all, not hard to care for and easy to care for, not difficult or expensive either.
My 8yr old can do all the care, and does.
Of course she needs prompting at times, but then I expected that but she's quite capable of cleaning the cage, which she does fully twice weekly, and changes the litter daily,
We also play with them and handle them lots, but that's not a chore. We have them out all the time, one loves sitting on my shoulder and gets very upset when I don't let her, the other likes to eat my hair unless she's given her favourite snack of sweetcorn.

I can't recommend them enough and can see us always having them, and me still when DD has left home, which is a long way off but I love the rats so much!

Brilliant, brilliant pets and very little hassle for a huge reward.

I wouldn't do fishWe went down the fish route and spent a small fortune in tanks, filters and other equip and fish, obviously. Lots of them died due to nitrate levels being wrong and to be honest, once te initial novelty has worn off, they're not that much fun. Keeping fish is much more complicated than people think. sweetnitanitro is right

Yes, most snakes do eat dead rodents of some sort. Some species eat fish though, (Garter snakes, I think, off hand, which are very small) although I have no experience of these types of snakes and am not how suitable they would be for a beginner. A good (and there are a lot of bad ones!) specialist reptile shop would be able to advise on this, or join a reptile forum and ask.

The eating dead rodents thing isn't so bad once you get used to it. (Really) Maybe your husband can supervise that part? I think if you don't mind the feeding, they'd be the ideal pet.

Rats are brilliant pets, (I have these too) but to keep them properly they are quite high maintenance and dorequire a lot of time each day, and I wonder if this would be too much?

What about a beetle? I'm looking into keeping beetles at the moment, there are a few species of flower beetle that are smallish and colourful and they seem to be fairly easy to keep from what I've read. They don't live very long either so not much potential for boredom to set in.

I wouldn't write off a dog, if you only work part time? They can be left alone for around 4 hours at a time. (adult dogs that is, not puppies)

Besides that, I'd say either guinea pigs or hens. I think guinea pigs tend to be friendlier than rabbits and with hens you have the fun of collecting eggs. (turn your DS into a little farmer :p)

Another vote against fish- unless you would be happy to do most of the reading up and take over when their interest fades. Mine lost interest in the first few weeks- and though it has become a great hobby for me, that was hardly the intended result. Fish are great if you are interested in animal behaviour (mating, territoriality, hierarchies), but they are not cuddly.

I wouldn't say they are high maintenance: I spend about 3 hrs/week on my 7 tanks- but they are certainly specialist maintenance: you have to know what you're doing.