Can anyone recommend a good pet for a 10 year old boy, please?

[SomekindofSpanish]

Hi all. As title says, any recommendations?

Ds1 wants one for his birthday and has been asking for ages, so have given in.

He is willing to do the majority of caring duties, but he also has two younger brothers who will want to get involved.

Basically, we are looking for a pet that will be fun, pretty simple to care for and is small. We have not agreed to having a snake, which was his first choice .

TIA

Degus!

Degus are amazing. They are very active in the day, but very social so you need at least a pair. I think they prefer groups. They are exciting, as not many people have them.

Although - my first thought was a hamster. They sleep all day, but it might not be too bad seeing as your children will be at school during the day... Then you only have to get one, (otherwise they would eat each other).

Hamsters also dont live very long, which means that you dont have to commit to long term responsibility (your son could be off to uni in 8 years, so you dont want something that you'll be stuck with)

If you are getting rodents, a rat every time! Hamsters are nasty little things who bite, stay up all night and fight (if more than one).
Rats are very friendly, don't stay up all night and love to snuggle into your clothes.
Used to spend many an evening with a couple of rats stuck in my armpits as a teenager

Rat vote here too! Once heard them called palm-puppies .... how true!!! Boys are the snuggliest usually, girls tend to whizz around alot. Really miss mine - no time for any at the moment, but one day........

We've had many animals - a rabbit, guinea pigs, gerbils, Syrian hamsters, Russian hamsters, Roborovski hamsters, rats, tropical fish and our dog.

I'd definitely recommend guinea pigs (have 5 at the moment!) for a 10yo as they have lovely characters, and of the 15 that have been a part of our lives at some time or another, there has never been one who has been aggressive towards us. The gerbils were great little pets. They (a pair of males) lived in a 16 gallon fish tank that was 2/3 filled with fine sawdust and they would burrow through the sawdust and you could see the tunnels through the glass. They also come in handy for shredding paper documents, which they turn into a nest, and also use to improve the integrity of their tunnels. They also made hardly any mess and were cleaned out only every 12-16 weeks, depending on the smell. They aren't really pets that you can hold, although they will scamper all over you and are incredibly cute!

Rabbits and rats need a lot of room and mental stimulation, and I wouldn't recommend them for a child of 10. All of our hamsters were real sweeties, but, the smaller species esp. weren't handleable (sp?) because they were just so fast.

Obviously a dog has to be a family pet and is a huge commitment, but I know I wouldn't be without ours :)