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Joined: Oct 2014
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She also has a turtle (tortoise? - it's a box turtle) that she swears is a great companion, and pretty easy to care for.
Side note: I know you said "dog is out" b/c your wife doesn't like them. But could you tease out what she doesn't like and eliminate that?
My wife has never been attacked or bit (although I have) by a dog but she's always been afraid of them. She caved in when my daughter was about 6 (12 years ago) and we got a dog. Unfortunately my daughter didn't help to take care of the dog so we gave the dog to my sister after about 4 years. Therefore, I don't believe we can go down the dog route again.
Nobody has mentioned two that seemed to be recommended a good deal: a rat (although I'd say my wife would be completely against it anyway just because of what it is) and a lizard (leopard gecko or bearded dragon). Anyone had experience with either?
Thanks for everyone's input so far.
TripleB
Last edited by TripleB; 02/26/15 02:17 PM.
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Joined: Oct 2012
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We have a hand fed parakeet, and he is the best pet ever. Extremely easy to care for, and very personable. He is a member of the family and spends all day with us. He has a large vocabulary, and amuses us by saying "I love you!" Whenever he sees us. He is extremely affectionate and interactive. They are a true parrot and very intelligent. They therefore require a lot of human interaction. Ours has free range of the house all day long, although he chooses to spend many hours in his cage.
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Joined: Nov 2012
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How about volunteering at a local animal shelter or serving as pet foster owners for abandoned/rehabilitated animals? Both allow you to test interest in a wide variety of species and require that your children sustain responsibility for the animals. Adoption should be for the life of the animal, and you want to ensure that your family will be willing to meet that commitment.
What is to give light must endure burning.
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Joined: Mar 2013
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For liability reasons I seriously doubt that a shelter would allow a 7 year old to do this without full on parental supervision
Become what you are
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Joined: Oct 2013
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We actually really enjoy our fish tank. It was a bit of trouble to set up, but fun if your child likes to use the water testing kit and have a little scientific record and so on. And the fish have more personality than you might think. There is quite a bit to learn about fish tanks and fish, but the upkeep is not very difficult. You just change 25% of the water once every week or two and change filters, feed the fish, scrub the walls.
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Joined: Nov 2012
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For liability reasons I seriously doubt that a shelter would allow a 7 year old to do this without full on parental supervision Yes, so the parent attends too.
What is to give light must endure burning.
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Joined: Feb 2011
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I'll bite.
I was a vet tech for many years, and I grew up with LOADS of pets, both domestic and exotic, large and small.
We have had:
fish (bettas, tropicals, and koi)
cats (we're on our fifth cat in my DD's lifetime-- though she has sensitized to them, it's taken almost 16 years, so not bad)
dogs (the third dog kind of pushed DD over the edge of the atopic bandwagon, I think-- she's now allergic to THEM, as well)
budgies (parakeets-- we had three, but the cat + budgie thing was a bit more than we bargained for, let's just say, so we gave them to another relative)
insects
alpacas (yes, really)
rabbits (DD and I are now both highly allergic-- sensing a trend, here, are we?)
pigeons
fancy bantam chickens
As a child, I had at various times-- a ferret, a pair of rescued squirrels, guinea pigs (cavies), gerbils, hamsters, dogs, cats, parrots, a chinchilla, cockatiels, rats, and my father once rescued... um... a barn owl. This doesn't include the pigs, horses, ponies, cows, and random other livestock like sheep and chickens and goats...
I'm too highly sensitized to rodents now (occupational exposure) to ever have one in my home again, unfortunately-- rats ARE great pets. Just as well, though, given DD's rate of sensitization. Rodents are the world's WORST idea for anyone with allergic tendencies, though, I'll say that.
I would definitely look at a budgie. They are a pretty easy pet-- and they are a very good companion, in that they like being "with" their human families in the same basic way that a dog does. Ours used to enjoy chatting with me while I cooked in our kitchen, which adjoined the room where they were caged. I recall my cockatiels having the same gregarious and pleasant nature about human interaction.
The one problem with fish, insects, or reptiles is that they are not really interactive in quite the same way that a warm and snuggly kind of pet is. Some songbirds (finches, canaries) are this way, too.
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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Joined: Apr 2012
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There is a wildlife rescue/rehabilitation center near us that allows people to keep a small mammal (gerbils, rats, etc) for a week at a time for a small fee. They give you all the supplies you need, too. Seems like it would be good for kids who say they really want a pet, but maybe aren't really up for a long-term commitment.
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Joined: Jul 2012
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Just to echo, pay very close attention to the average lifespan of this pet. Not all teenagers are thrilled to tend a gerbil, iguana, etc. On the other hand, it can be really rough to lose a deeply beloved pet in the high school years...
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Joined: Mar 2010
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My own personal boundary is, no pets that don't love you back. That cuts out all the fish, reptiles, amphibians, and rodents. What it does leave, though, is birds, which can be highly social and affectionate (particularly the parrots). So if your kid wants a "real" pet (not just a kind of live exhibit), and you can't do a cat or a dog, I would go for a bird.
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