Small pet/s for a 5 year old?

[DreamingOfAFullNightsSleep]

Now of course I realise I will be looking after said pets with some help from 5 (in September) DD and the 3 year old DTs.

DD has asked every single day since January for a pet. Ideally a dog or a pony. Realistically a small pet. She has now set her sights on rabbits. I am not convinced. We had a rabbit (and fish, 2 guinea pigs, 4 mice and 3 syrian hamsters kept separately and 2 ponies) in our families when I was growing up. He - the rabbit- liked to come and say hello, a bit of stroking, to eat every flower in sight and reject all veg and demand wholemeal bread every morning. He definitely did not like to be picked up or held on a lap which is what DD imagines I'm sure based on petting farm experiences.

I'm wondering about rats and a friend has some for her DD which we could meet.

Any suggestions or advice anyone? obviously it's a way off when we'd get the pet but I want to be sure we go for the right sort of animal and have enough knowledge before we start! We have a big garden but not secure enough for the rabbit to be free range as the bunny of my childhood was.

Tortoise? They seem pretty indestructible and low maintenance?

We have a rabbit. DD is 5 and loves him! She carries him around, he sits on her lap, they chase each other around the garden. She likes to feed him and I clean him out etc. he is 8.5 now and seems quite happy. Loves company. (People, we only have one bunny)

Oh that's interesting! I had always imagined a rabbit wouldn't put up with that- being carried round and cuddled. Did you get him as an older rabbit then mouldy ? I like the idea of rabbits though I am wary of them not being the pet DD expected if they aren't the cuddly type. Also whether I'd manage to house train them to be in in the winter (never managed with our old bunny!)

In general, I'd say rabbits aren't great pets for kids. Whilst some like being picked up, most don't. They are also very prone to ailments/teeth issues etc so can end up expensive.

We had a house rabbit pre kids and it was fab, but not a child or wallet friendly pet.

I would really recommend guinea pigs - you'll need a couple as they like a friend. Resilient, love cuddles, friendly but stupid, very easy to look after, entertaining and chatty. We got two when the DCs were 4 & 6 and they have been brilliant pets.

That is what I fear about rabbits nobutreally Do you think seeing if the animal rescue place had any, or finding a breeder (I think there is a good local one I heard about last week) could lead to being able to find a rabbit more amenable to handling?

Guineas would be very sensible. But also not my favourite small animal. I would consider them though. And we haven't ruled rats out either.

I love guinea-pigs. I had guinea-pigs as a 9yo-22yo . When my DD had the "I want a pet" idea, it was guinea-pigs.

They are quite hard work because they're more fragile than rabbits.
But if you love rabbits, I have to say you might find guinea-pigs a bit ......boring

Rats are athletic and interesting though you need to get them from a good source where they are handled. And they have specific housing needs and health issues. And the inevitable "Eurgh RATS " from people.

I've never kept rabbits but I do see the appeal of them running round a garden (in those tunnel things , we have too many foxes) but not the appeal of an animal I cannot cuddle.

Like all animals there will be cuddly and grumpy. If you ask a Rescue for cuddly rabbits they can advice .
Strangely male rodents seem to be more cuddly than females (our male guineas were Love Sponges, my female is a bitey little monster). Don't know if this applies to rabbits though.

I love my small furries noisy , greedy, bribeable, a bit dense and utterly dependant. If that's not what you're looking for, reconsider piggies.

Gerbils
Hamsters
Chinchillas
Rats
Degus

or mice but they are really fast and the males smell

Most important - get a pet that you want to look after. It'll be your job even if your DD is hands on or loses interest.

We got our guinea pigs 18 months ago - two girls.

I rejected rabbits on the same grounds as you OP - my childhood bunny was a stroppy bugger who wouldn't be handled.

Having only encountered them at school, I thought GPs would be really boring, but they have been brilliant.

Our two have very different characters and are very sweet & funny and relatively easy to care for.

I'd definitely recommend them as first pets .

I love rats but I can't see any small pet being suitable for small children to handle. Sorry.

I think our chickens are good pets - they come when called, like being cuddled, but are perfectly happy with no human interaction as well.
They do trash the lawn by grubbing out all the moss, but also produce eggs. Low needs, apart from being shut away at night and let out in the morning - they have a big feeder and water dispenser which gets refilled once a week (or obv more if it was required) and cleaned out once a week which isn't onerous

Rats are brilliant, I'd say especially for kids too. We have 6 and three of them are from a brilliant nfrs breeder who has very family friendly rats. Theyre very happy to be handled by children, what sold me was when I was at her shop (she runs a pet shop too) and playing with the babies she had in her 5/6yo daughter was there and picking the rats up, handing them to me, taking them back, etc and the rats were completely unphased. So a good breeder is essential. If you're near Brighton I can highly recommend mine! I know people travel from quite a distance to get rats from her too.

They need a lot of time with their humans though, you need at least a pair though I'd say ideally three. Lone rats are generally not happy rats. We have one as he can't be socialised due to health issues and he takes a lot of work, he's out for at least 5hrs a day 5 days a week, usually longer. If he were like the others that wouldn't be enough time IMO. Our others are out for around an hour a day.

They are prone to respiratory problems so you need to find a vet with rodent experience, preferably a rodentologist. Saying that, only two of mine ever really get respi issues that are bad enough to see the vet with and they have them constantly. Ironically the only rat who has never seen a vet is our rescue who we think was originally from a pet shop!

Females are prone to tumours too, usually they are "harmless" until they get very big and hinder the rat but you need to be prepared for that, we lost our rescue girls sister to tumours last August as hers was cystic and eventually it burst bad enough that she had to be pts. We had our two younger girls spayed which drastically reduces the risk of tumours, however ops in rats carries risks in itself and its a very personal decision.

I'd advise having money aside for rats in case of emergency too, we have £300 stashed at all times. Its a bit much but it'd cover three emergencies that needed ops in any given month! Its £50 per rat really. We've only ever had one emergency but I'm paranoid

I wouldn't advise pet shop rats or rescues as your first pair, they can be hard work! Definitely well bred and handled ones.

After saying all that, I really do think they're awesome pets and great for kids :) I love my mischief! I wouldn't advise having three cages though, that's not fun ;)

We had our first guinea pigs when eldest was 8 and youngest was 4. Lots of strict rules for DD2

You do pick up guinea pigs
You do not walk around with guinea pig
You sit on the floor to cuddle guinea pig
You never squeeze guinea pig

Your own children will be easy to train to handle guinea pigs correctly but their friends will be a bloody nightmare. Our first boars had at least 9 lives thanks to daughters' friends. Nine and ten year old girls are the worst in my experience

As you can tell I favour guinea pigs and if you get sows, 3 live together very nicely. Has the advantage of a pet for each DC. Boars can only live in pairs but have more personality.

I was going to suggest rats just from your title. They are brilliant pets, very sociable, interesting to watch, friendly. I would like more but have a terrier....Am mulling over how she would deal with a rat! I love Guinea pigs too, but my rats were much more affectionate.

We've been lucky with other kids handling our girls - fortunately it seems that the majority of DD's friends also have guinea pigs or other small pets.

If they don't I'll have them on my lap and they can stroke them but not handle them themselves.

Only issue we did have was when DH asked next door's DGC's round to have a look at them while they were in the outdoor run. The 4yo was so excited he squeezed through a previously undiscovered gap in the fence and the family's bloody Jack Russell followed him.

I was in the kitchen and I have never moved so fast in my life.

rats are great for kids, perfect size for kids laps, they show affection to their owner, very intelligent and can be trained to do tricks.

although saying that you have to make sure your child is ok with poo and wee as they dont always hold themselves til they get home lol

my 4yr dd is grossed out when she sees poo and quickly looses interest in holding her but she is my pet so no problems with unwanted pets. im actually allergic to rats but hey ho

hamsters are not the best due to them being nocturnal and in experience don't like kiddies fingers as alarm clocks!!

guineas are probably your next best thing. mine would love a piggy but the squeek noise would drive me bonkers. buts my own problem opinion.

WyrdByrd this will make your hair curl. There was the time that:-

1. A girl thought it would be fun to put Old Boy down the slide. Luckily DD1 stopped her from doing it. He was at the top ready to go.

1. The time up the road's granddaughter let them out the run without asking

1. The time DD1 took Old Boy sledging in the snow (actually I think he enjoyed that)

1. The time Old Boy was sat on the trampoline and DD1 touched him giving an electric shock. Loose fur flew off him in a big puff

1. The time another girl took on the trampoline for a bounce (he remembered the electric shock). Old Boy jumped out of her arms and landed unhurt in a large Hosta.

And he still lived to be over six years old He became a disgraceful old pensioner. He would go and pee in front of the machine, poop under the radiator, drink tea, eat biscuits, woo his girlfriends, sleep and fart under my chin and hated his hutch door closed. He was a legend

Thanks everyone. Really helpful information and advice.

I am leaning towards rats. I am aiming to get this pet late summer or ideally as near to her birthday as possible. I like the thought of friendly little creatures with a good chance they'll enjoy being handled. The money aside for vets bills would be ok. I can get my sister (a vet) on the job of upping her rat knowledge too as I'll bet she knows bog all about rats I'll test my theory when I see her at the weekend.

I still like the thought of rabbits. Though not keen on being handled our childhood one was sociable. Waited for us every morning to demand bread (he lived free range in the garden and garage with no restrictions. He saw off any cats himself!!) so if after much discussion of what to expect DD cannot be convinced into rats I would still consider them. I may have been eyeing up the bunnies at the animal rescue centre nearby via their online profiles

I know guineas are a great option. But I just wouldn't enjoy looking after them as much. I could do it but I feel it'd be more of a chore and her getting bored is a real possibility. I hope not but you never know. So selfishly I do want an animal I'll enjoy too once the interest has waned.

I like the 3 rats or 3 piggies option. I expect a hutch big enough for 3 rabbits would be too vast to bring into the house and I don't like.the thought of them out all winter shut in a hutch. I think we'd try house training them.

That totally didn't make sense- though not my.number 1 we will put piggies back on the list!!

And I love the sound of your Old Boy. He sounds like a very cool piggie. I didn't really see them as very characterful pets but maybe I'm.misjudging them

I have lots of pictures of cute rats if your DD needs convincing Dreaming

RE vets, it's respiratory things that she'll really need to swot up on, a lot of cat/dog vets completely miss URIs in their early stages, which is the most likely thing you'll be seeing a vet for! I am amazed by vets still though, how much they have to learn and retain about numerous species is fascinating.

Oh rattieofCatan!!!! I LOVE that picture. What a gorgeous little creature. I really want a rat with curly whiskers... My first terrier was great with my rat, great with cats, he was a joy. Terrier two was great with cat friends but did like to chase, and although he met my friend's terrier loving rabbit and didn't attack him, he kept quivering and pushing him with his nose, to try and get him to run. So no rats while we had him, and now we have terrier three. She is good with my hens, but she does chase rats if she sees them in the garden,( and I haven't told her off for this as the rats eat my hens food and once badly bit my favourite hen, damaging her eye.) So I don't know how she would be with pet rats. I would like a couple though. Or a trio.

rattieofCatan That rat is gorgeous! Love that picture.

Thanks He's my runt and lone boy :) You want a rex then, I have one of those too but she never stays still long enough for me to get a picture of her whiskers! Rexes have curly fur too :)
Same ratty as in last post, the last post was when he was around 8weeks old IIRC, this was him last week, he's 5 months now.

Never fancied having rats. Coming round to the idea of guinea pigs but had one as a child and not fancied it since!
We got our rabbit as a baby (6/8 weeks ish) from a pet shop. We've been lucky with him health wise and as I say dd2 adores him. He did get neglected a bit when she was a baby, in terms of cuddles etc but really they look so cute chasing each other around. He seems quite placid, but a little frisky at times! Gorgeous boy. Would probably get another once he's gone..