Pets - What's a Good One?

[twinmomma]

Talk to me about pet options for kids. All three kids are begging for pets, my two especially. I'd just blow them off and buy a beta fish and call it a day, but beau is much more open to getting something more fun than that. 

My kids had two pet rats for about two years. They were fine, but the kids didn't really do much to help care for them. I think we got them when the girls were too young to really be invested in the responsibility of it. As soon as they both died I sold off the cage and all the supplies and happily reclaimed that corner of my living room. 

Rabbits? Could be cool, but they have one at their dad's and it chews everything. 
Guinea pigs? Seems like they're fun and sort of like a rabbit/cat level of pet, but we'd have to find a space to keep them because they need a larger cage area.
Gecko? Seems kind of cool, my kids would like it, but is it a fun pet? 
Hamsters? All my memories of hamsters as a kid are that they bite and don't like to be held that much. 

Unfortunately, cats are not an option or we'd go with that. My mom's got such severe allergies that we'd have to change our clothes before visiting and she'd essentially never be able to enter my house again. She's got an epi pen and has been hospitalized in the past for visiting houses with cats. It's bad. Not something I'm willing to deal with.

[mae0111]

I know rabbits can be litter box trained, so that seems like a good option.

Is your mom only allergic to cats? I’m allergic to everything you listed but the gecko, but the cats trigger the worst reaction by far.

We are hoping to get a dog toward the end of the year. I know it will be a ton of work and most of it will be on me, but I’m still excited. Would a small dog be too much with your schedules?

[twinmomma]

She's really only affected by cats. We had dogs growing up and she was ok with them. Not sure if a guinea pig or a rabbit would have a similar reaction to a cat though.

Maybe we just go for 3 hamsters in 3 cages and they can all be happy and independent with their own pets that don't take up a ton of space.

I feel like I don't have the energy or mental capacity for a dog. I work long days with a commute (granted, from home now, but hopefully that's not forever). And beau's schedule can be so sporadic with late nights back and forth into the city for the restaurant. During quarantine life right now we could totally handle a dog. During our more normal lifestyle? It would be tough. We would have to find a small, very easy going dog that doesn't require a lot of walks.

[librarychica]

I have a dog and she’s awesome but she’s MY dog. The kids walk her when told but she’s a lot of work and I do most of it.

My 8yo got a teddy bear hamster a few months ago and that’s gone well. He’s friendly (we watched some videos on how to tame hamsters) and surprisingly interactive. His needs are simple enough that, other than some help lifting the cage, she can care for him by herself. She saved up her allowance for him and is responsible for buying his food and treats.

[waverly]

We had rabbits and the poop part was not fun. We also had lizards and constantly had to buy them live crickets to eat or catch flies in our attic so not for me again.

We have a cat and a dog. The cat is super sweet and everyone loves him but he pees outside the litter box and claws the furniture. Same thing with the dog- super sweet but requires training and us being home more. She chases the cat and was pooping in the basement I think because that’s where the cat lives now. We have to keep the door closed.

I had a lot of fears of the dog biting, and now that I have her I know she won’t. But lots of my friends have had issues. I would recommend a dog but make sure they won’t bite. I can’t tell you how to do this since we lucked out really, but we also fostered for 3 months rather than adopted. It worked out that way because the rescue lady forgot about us, but I was glad to foster to make sure it was the right fit. You can also research dog training options now. We got a one year old so we didn’t have to potty train and was less work. There are advantages to a puppy in terms of training and socializing, but I couldn’t deal with puppy crazy. Also we already had a fenced in yard which helped.

My kids are 9 and 7- they let the dog out in the fenced yard and give the dog water and food. I’m glad we waited until the youngest was at least 7 to get a dog. I wouldn’t have wanted one with a toddler.

Our plan is to hire a dog walker once we are back to work which won’t be until November for DH.

I feel like a turtle (if you don’t lose it) or a frog might be easier than a lizard that needs live food.

[xctsclrx]

pets to me just mean one more thing to take care of. I still have a kid in diapers though.


We had a ferret growing up, dog, cat, hermit crab, lizard.

I really liked the lizard, I let my hermit crab die, the dog was the best, and my cat was pretty great too.

The ferret was named trouble and she lived up to it, and you really need to get two. They need interaction and are very social, however they smell if you don't clean the cages often enough.

[supertrooper1]

Rabbits chew everything like you said, even if they're litter box trained, they're still a pain.
Guinea pigs can be noisy.
My brother's hamster he had when we were kids just slept all day.
I had a gerbil that was super friendly and fun.
The problem with little pets like gerbils is that they only live a couple of years.
It's too bad cats are out of the picture.
A small dog would be good, but may be hard to find right now. Beau has been contacted by hundreds of people for four puppies he had listed. Some were many states away because they say they can't find dogs right now.

[sdlaura]

Jul 10, 2020 10:19:08 GMT -5 xctsclrx said:

pets to me just mean one more thing to take care of. I still have a kid in diapers though.


We had a ferret growing up, dog, cat, hermit crab, lizard.

I really liked the lizard, I let my hermit crab die, the dog was the best, and my cat was pretty great too.

The ferret was named trouble and she lived up to it, and you really need to get two. They need interaction and are very social, however they smell if you don't clean the cages often enough.

Yes same on one more thing to take care of and still having a kid in diapers

I had rabbits growing up and have good memories of them.

Our dog passed away recently and we’re going to hold off on any other pets for now. We’ll probably get a puppy in like 5 years when our oldest is 12 and youngest is 5. That way hopefully they’ll be able to help more and really get to experience the puppy as a formative childhood memory

[mrsGreeko]

My kids have had a hamster, gerbils, parakeets, African clawed frogs, and goldfish. Plus we also have a dog.

Hamster- good pet. You can litter train them so the cage doesn’t smell as bad, but they stink. If you get it from a place that hand raises them and get it young they don’t really bite. Ones from places like petCo or pet smart tend to bite more because they aren’t used to being handled. We have a small pet store that hand raises them so that’s where we got ours. She did escape a bunch of times before I bought a better cage (rat cage actually because hamster cages are actually too small for hamsters). Easy to leave with a full water bottle and food bowl for short vacations.

Gerbils- great pet. Fun. They don’t pee as much as hamsters so they stink a lot less and also the cage doesn’t need to be cleaned as often. They have to be in a pair though, they don’t do well alone. They chew everything. And they dig so a glass cage is probably better. We are using a wire rat cage so litter does end up outside of the cage. I don’t care though. You have to be careful with their tails as kids can injure them. One of our gerbils has only half a tail because of this. We get our pairs (on our second pair) from a local gerbil breeder who hand raises them so they are super sweet and don’t bite. Easy to leave with a full water bottle and food bowl for a vacation.

Parakeets - okay pet. They generally need to be in a pair. They don’t really like being played with a whole lot and get nippy and their little beaks hurt. They are fun to watch. They live a really long time though, 7-10 years. Ours are 3-4 years old... they are messy. Seed husks and bird poop get everywhere. Easy to leave with a couple full food bowls and a big water bottle.

African clawed frogs- awful pets. They smell so bad! The cage has to be cleaned constantly. Technically you aren’t supposed to have a filter, but even with them the water gets so gross. They also can live forever. We eventually pawned ours off on a teacher at school. And then a student took them home for a break and they died. I was so glad to have them out of my house. They are fun to watch and you can feed them live minnows and it’s fun to watch them eat the minnows. Couldn’t really leave for vacation because they needed to eat every day. Maybe if you put enough minnows in the cage first.

Goldfish - most low key. Don’t require a heater or much of anything besides some fish food. We buy the feeder goldfish for like $0.15. About half live and half die right away so if you go that route by a couple more than you want to keep. The ones that live live for years though. I’m not sure how old one of ours is, but I think it’s probably like 5 years old or so. Easy to clean the tank. Easy to leave for vacation with a vacation fish feeder pellet.

Dog- most fun, but most work. Requires training, feeding, care on vacation, exercise, care during the day, etc etc. we have a 14 month old Weimaraner and the kids are absolutely obsessed with him. He’s obviously the most interactive and fun of all the pets, but requires much much more commitment from the adults.

[twinmomma]

mrsGreeko, That was exactly the breakdown I needed! Thank you!
I think beau and I are both at "we could be convinced to go to hamsters, otherwise, maybe some caterpillars." LOL
Clearly, we are not ready for a dog or anything requiring more effort right now.