6 year old daughter announces that she wants either a tarantula, snake or lizard for her upcoming 7th birthday.
She knows I used to keep chilean roses (20 years ago) and I knwo they are pretty easy going, plus you can forget about them for weeks on end and nothing bad happens..

But I am wondering if you guys might have better ideas?
Easy to handle, not much cleaning, and will take neglect..

something that won’t live more than about 18 months and that you don’t mind looking after in 2 months time when the novelty has worn off.

I’d avoid snakes – your daughter will be in her twenties before one of those dies.

small mammals are popular for a reason but can’t be ignored for weeks at a time (although no pet should be really).

Good Pet for 7 year old

Something with fur ?

I’m happy to take over the running, plus with the tarantula for example can be sold on easily.

small mammals are popular for a reason but can’t be ignored for weeks at a time

STO – Do you think I am thick or summink?

Just wondered if there was something else-

Stick insects? They’re fine eating privet. I kept them for a few years when I was a kid.

Do you think I am thick or summink?

I was thinking more about what pet small children want to own and can also cope with rather than impugning your mental capacity.

I have no idea what STO means – am I thick or summink?

oh, and if you’re planning on putting it in her room don’t get anythign nocturnal – it’ll be out the room after the first disturbed nights sleep.

Stick insects are ok but need regular supplies of fresh bramble which can be tricky.

Hamster will teach here about life and death and if she gets bored after a few weeks your only saddled with it for a few months and you will easily be able to sell on the cage, wheels and paraphernalia!

Stick insects are fine eating privet.

waswas -was a joke STO means stating the obvious. Love you xx

liking stick insect. Hamsters need cleaning, and smell..

Stick insects are parthenogenic: females don’t need males to reproduce. I ended up with loads of tiny ones!

Get her a rock and tell her a troll will hatch from it eventually
In two months time it wont have hatched ,but the novelty will also have worn off

Most tarantulas are not so good with handling. They can be easy to look after and feed, but can suffer stress with being disturbed. Realy they should be viewed liked fish, you only look at them. Saying that, there are a few docile types of tarantulas especially something like a B.smithi which can cope with some handling, but you can always get the odd one which is a bit bad tempered. Also remember that some females can live 30+ years.
If she likes bugs there are also giant millipedes or giant African land snails.
Make sure you do your research though, some bugs do secrete things which are not good or have iffy hairs.

Just as a thought, how about getting her a bug finding kit with a small tank, tweezers, USB microscope etc? She can go into the garden or woods, find something interesting, look after it for a while, and learn about it and release it again. It can be a good way to enjoy lots of different types of bugs without so much commitment.

Cheers Roper, I had Chilean Roses and they were great for handling, loved the warmth of your body and would trot up your arm and nestle in the back of your neck, was quite unnerving at first but became quite awesome…

I kind of like the idea of restricting her from playing with it.

Like the bugs finder kit idea though.

PS misinformer – rock is a good plan..

Get her a pair of rats. Perfect for her age. Lovely intelligent creatures.

Giant African land snail.

Sid the Snail needs some food once a week to nibble on, fresh water maybe a bit more often, clean soil once or twice a month.

They are illegal in many US states, for added kudos. But make enough noise to keep kids awake at night….

A Siberian Hampster

would trot up your arm and nestle in the back of your neck

Oh dear God! I type with my neck scrunched up and tensed.

Edit: just get her a couple of gerbils. Hardly any smell and only live a few years.

When you get used it, its rather cute.

Snakes are good as im sure you’ll know. Try and get something diurnal though as if she does become uninterested, you can use it for display in the sitting room! Carpet pythons as an example. I had a big female royal python that would wake me up by falling when she tried to climb the glass, nocturnal see…

You can have our Guinea pigs.

Mrs Coolhandluke got them for our daughter but, as I predicted, she looks after them now.

Thankfully my foresight was spot on and I protested at their arrival stating that I’d have nothing at all to do with them that included feeding cleaning, stroking. All I would do was tolerate their existence in my house I added that if I felt they were being neglected, I’d take me to the re homing place without delay.

Don’t buy kids pets. Buy yourself a family pet for you.

That’s my advice.

If you have to get a rodent, get a rat: they’re intelligent, awake at fairly reasonable times, don’t bite too much, and are fairly clean.

Hamsters are crap: they don’t do anything interesting and bite. They’re also nocturnal.

Guinea pigs are also crap: they’re a bit more intelligent than hamsters, but are noisy and smelly. Rabbits aren’t much better.

African Land Snail – keep them apart, live about four years
Stick insects – you will argue over who goes outside to collect the fresh bramble.
Fish – you will argue over who cleans them out.
Guinea Pigs – you will argue over who cleans them out.
Hamsters – you will argue over who cleans them out. Cute though if well-handled. Avoid the dwarf Russian, not a twoforone.

Rabbits – avoid at all costs. Not a children’s pet at all.

Get a dog for the family and a snail for the 7 yo. We’ve had all of the above with the exception of the rabbit.

A crayfish.
It’s like a lobster, they shed their entire skin to leave replica lobsters.
You can put fish in with them for decoration/ for them to eat.
Low maintenance.
You can eat it if she gets bored with it.

Rats?! Contentious perhaps but they’re intelligent (relatively), sociable and robust. Downsides = they can smell a little and do require cleaning out every so often.

Sea monkeys

+2 for a Rat

Make great pets far more interesting than hamsters and gerbils,more social-able and less smelly than mice.

I had one for years and it never ever bit anyone ,would answer to its name and a bit of personality too,in fact my father became very attached to it and was quite upset when it passed away.

Rabbits and Guinea pigs are possible the most pointless pets ever, a rock with a face painted on it would be more interesting.

Get some tadpoles when the frogs have spawned.. free easy to look after and get to set them free after a short while just as the novelty has worn off.

Rats. There’s a reason they are the most popular pet in the uk. They are much more clever and fun than other small animals, and they are also genuinely affectionate towards humans (not just tolerant). Sleep during the day so they are happy to be left alone then, and played with for an hour or two in the evening. Also, they only live about 18 months, so you aren’t committed to years of work when the child gets bored.

Get at least two of the same gender, they are sociable and rarely happy alone (except one antisocial bugget we once had, she hated other rats even more than she disliked us).

2rats for our children, really cool pets, not so much as a nibble of of them and they already play fetch, Mrs like them too.
As previously mentioned they are awake at sociable times too, my children love them.

Guinea pigs are fab pets if you aren’t a lazy arse who looks at them once a day in the hutch stuffed at the bottom of the garden like 99% of fools who buy them!
They respond to you, love you talking to them, you can teach them simple tricks and they don’t smell if you actually bother to clean them out, you’d stink if no one cleaned your house!
Don’t get them for kids as lazy parents can’t be bothered with them when they don’t instill care and responsibilities into their kids.
Get her a pet rock!

got mine 3 chickens.

Rats. There’s a reason they are the most popular pet in the uk.

😯

Get a dog all other pets are shit apart from maybe cats

Easy to handle, not much cleaning, and will take neglect..

With a couple of minor caveats…..