I know you said no dogs, but have you considered giving a home to a retired racing greyhound? All the ones I have ever met are docile and just want to spend as much time as they can sleeping.

Aye!  And surprisingly clean, don’t need as much exercise as you may fear… but you’d need a spare sofa.

Chickens are great pets.

Although you said you don’t fancy them, can definitely recommend hamster (Syrian). We were in the same situation as you are. Very entertaining, ours wasn’t bitey in the slightest, and she was very friendly and definitely had a personality. Make sure they have been handled from birth.

Died at 2.5 years as is about standard. Very upsetting for the kids but no pet requests since.

Win!

That poor wee plucked kitten, skin not like my bawbag does look cute, but get a Burmese kitten they are mental but great fun, so many folk allergic to cats these days, you should have played more in the dust and dirt as a youngster and no central heating

Not a rabbit…we had an amazing one that had absolutely no fear of humans (or any other predator), bags of character and always wanted picking up for a cuddle.

However, despite being a ‘perfect’ example, he was still too boisterous for young kids, a secure garden is not much cop if you have foxes/aggressive cats and even the odd bird of prey, his mate was a bit more assertive so it was a struggle to find a neighbour or pet sitter that would do any more than fling some food through the door.  He also lived to about 15…he got through several partners in the end and was alone for the last few months as we could see he was going blind/deaf and didn’t want the anguish of having to rehome a new mate after he died.  Even though he had a two tier hutch, and an 8×4 shed with a window he could sit by, and got let out most evenings (when I should have really been washing up/converting my camper van etc) I always felt a bit sorry for him being left for hours (probably as he was always so happy and OTT to see us!)

Get something that can run around the bedroom or lounge and its much more likely to stay at the centre of your kids attention 🙂

Stick insect

Whilst I love seeing animals in the wild, I hate having them near me and cannot understand why people want pets. It seems cruel to me. Since your son suggested snails or worms, why not get him one/some of those? Perhaps he is more interested in the lifecycle of the animals (in a mini Chris Packham way) than having one as a ‘toy’ – obviously you would know best about this.

Otherwise, I was listening to an episode of ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage’ where someone had a crow – sounded fascinating – but still cruel.

Rats make great pets, I currently have two (they should at least be in pairs) but have had over 100 at one point in my teenage years, had to convert a wardrobe to house them all.

Females are meant to smell less than males but I have had both and to be honest if they smell just as much as each other, the key is to clean the cage often.

I clean the entire cage every Sunday and change the bedding every second day, as my rats like using the bedding to urinate in occasionally. They do get out of the bedding area to use the toilet but it seems at least one of them is lazy and pees the bed. Also give them a corner in the cage as a toilet and they will use that, so they are quite clean that way.

Male rats are way more chilled so will probably be better for younger kids as Females tend to be more jumpy. Rats never bite unless you properly give them a reason to they are very submissive and would rather squeak and run off over fighting back.

They can live up to 3.5 years though so a bit longer than the 18 months previously quoted.

They are very intelligent and love to be interacted with usually first thing in the morning and at about 6.p.m if they are left alone they will just sleep until something interesting happens.

Guinea Pigs are awesome. Our two are nearly 6 years old and going strong. They live in our kitchen in a 1 X .5 metre plastic cage which gets cleaned out twice a week, takes about ten minutes. Their food is cheap, nuggets from pets at home, big bag lasts a couple of months the rest of their food is veggies, cucumber, celery, carrot, spinach. They have a run in the garden for nicer weather and love to eat the lawn. Bedding is wood chips and hay from a local farm shop, again big bales are cheap and last ages. Old news papers to line the cage, everything can go on the compost.

Because ours live inside they are very social and make lots of noises when you enter the room. They love cuddles and purr when you stroke them. I think guinea pigs left out in a garden hutch remain shy. The more attention they get the more they give back. Lovely creatures.