Ideal pet for a toddler?

clutterydrawer

Shiny.Side.Up wrote: »

As for guinea pigs, does anyone know how happily they live in the big plastic indoor cages? To me they seem a little small but we want to avoid getting a hutch! (As some know, we've got things currently going missing from our garden!)

In my opinion if a cage is an animal's permanent or mostly-permanent home, then it needs to be as big as possible. My preference would be to set up something like these - you can get the grid panels from B+Q.





hope that helps

foreign_correspondent

freezspirit wrote: »

But to get back to the point, fish are a good starting point as you learn how to be responsible for them. Other than that I would say like others gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs maybe even a chipmunk?

I would strongly advise against a chipmunk - they move like hell, and take some handling. I have no feeling in the tip of one finger after having caught an escaped one in my first job almost twenty years ago (I was a zoo keeper!) - they have needle sharp teeth.

clutterydrawer

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

I would strongly advise against a chipmunk - they move like hell, and take some handling. I have no feeling in the tip of one finger after having caught an escaped one in my first job almost twenty years ago (I was a zoo keeper!) - they have needle sharp teeth.

And they need tons of space.

My friend has chippies and although she loves them, has found them to be more of a challenge than she could have anticipated and beleives it is inappropriate that people keep them as domestic pets.

foreign_correspondent

clutterydrawer wrote: »

And they need tons of space.

My friend has chippies and although she loves them, has found them to be more of a challenge than she could have anticipated and beleives it is inappropriate that people keep them as domestic pets.

absolutely - the ones we had were hand-ins from people who could no longer cope with them as pets - I would likewise caution against things like chinchillas for children - and, although I have no direct experience of them, I think degus need quite a lot of consideration too.

lostinrates

As a little kid I enjoyed the family cats and dogs etc. Their comparative bigness meant I was less likely to try and manhandle them, and their freedom, comparative to creatures in runs/cages meant if they felt over kiddied they could get up and walk away. My neices likewise, seemed more confident with the cats/dogs than they did the things we had acwuired in cages. Patient dogs and cats that like being brushed gently we particular winners with my neices. (and two lead on a collar mean little people can ''walk'' the dog with no risk..I always worry a little seeing little people holind leads unaided, even of saintly dogs). And dogs that fetch balls are great (ours never have done, I would have loved dg that chased balls when I was tiny).

With chickens, some can be flightier than other some of the quieter bantams could be a good solution, but close to the ground chickens equire maintained short grass, and are victim to theives more and more frequently.

If your dog is patient, encouraging more care for him/her might be the best first step .

Spirit_2

Although well intentioned you may want to think again.
Can your niece have a share of your dog?

A great neice has one of our chickens as a pet. She has named it, helps clean out when visting us, cuddles the bird (under supervision) has photographs of her with it etc.

Another great neice and a great nephew each have a 'share' of two of our rabbits........the same sort of interaction as above.

My niece had a 'share' of our little pony until it died.

All of these children enjoy "their pets" without burdening their families with real creatures which they may not really want, nor letting small people acquire a pet as if it were a soft toy.

Best wishes

Spirit