Budget-friendly pet for 10-year-old

[virginiamama]

Help! Our DS10 is begging for a pet. We have had dogs since before DS was born, but recently lost our last elderly dog. We are not yet ready to get another dog (but will in the next year or so). DS is wanting a hamster, guinea pig, fish or something! He's not particular. He wants something entertaining, and something he can care for. I want a pet that is inexpensive to purchase and maintain, that is easy to care for, and as mess-free as possible. Any suggestions??? TIA!

 

[r&kmommy]

Get a beta fish. For about $20 you can get a really pretty one, and a good sized bowl and pouch of food. Change 1/2 of his water per week. Feed him as many pellets as he'll eat (drop in one at a time and he'll snatch them right up!) Once or twice a day put a small mirror in front of the side of his bowl and he'll get "exercise" as he ouffs up his gills thinking there's another male beta on the other side of his glass!!

 

[MichelleinMaine]

DD9 has two hermit crabs. (They are social, so 2 better than 1.) She loves making lego creations for them to climb on.

 

[karliebug]

guinea pigs are great pets! much friendlier and easier to handle than hamsters or gerbils. They whistle and purr and are a great pet for youngsters.

 

[Teacher510]

I've had cats for years and they are super easy to care for and mine have always been very personable and affectionate (needy even!) I rarely have to visit the vet and there is no cage or bowl cleaning! I scoop once daily and change weekly and when I go away someone comes in twice a day to feed them. I now have one 17 year old and one 13 year old!

 

[Chelley00]

Avoid the hamster. DD has one. It drives her crazy at night burrowing in it's bedding and gnawing on her cage and running in the wheel.

I say it's God's way of getting her back for keeping me up because she didn't sleep all night until she was 2

 

[DisneyMomma81]

DS calls me a rodent killer We've had a couple guinea pigs, 2 chinchillas *cute but not cheap* all have died, 1 chinny had an awful death, fell down a heat vent! I'm done with animals who don't show affection, aren't excited to see us - I don't care for cats *too moody and I hate litter boxes! I'm a dog person.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Avoid the hamster. DD has one. It drives her crazy at night burrowing in it's bedding and gnawing on her cage and running in the wheel.

I say it's God's way of getting her back for keeping me up because she didn't sleep all night until she was 2

to the OP so sorry about your dog, I agree with the beta fish as pp said. Since you said perhaps another dog in the future I think I wouldn't go with the cat...we do have a cat & a LOT of dogs but he came in with a dog...easier acceptance by all

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

Get a beta fish. For about $20 you can get a really pretty one, and a good sized bowl and pouch of food. Change 1/2 of his water per week. Feed him as many pellets as he'll eat (drop in one at a time and he'll snatch them right up!) Once or twice a day put a small mirror in front of the side of his bowl and he'll get "exercise" as he ouffs up his gills thinking there's another male beta on the other side of his glass!!

This is a good idea, I wouldn't mind having one of these for myself.

A parakeet is a good pet, they can get very friendly if you only have one. I had one that totally bonded with me. She was fun. She was young when I got her, and I held her alot. She would actually lay on her back in my hand and I would rub her belly.

 

[r&kmommy]

We have a guinea pig and she is NOT easy to take care of... the shavings from her litter box scatter all outside of her cage and she needs her litter changed every other day, and the lining of her box changed 1x sometimes 2x week if her water bottle is leaky or if she pees not in her litter box (she's "kinda" potty trained LOL!! "kinda" is better than "not at all" though!)

She gets a handful of hay every morning, and something in the way of fresh veggies once a day (a few spinach leaves, 2 baby carrots, a radish, a big piece of lettuce, a green pepper spear...)

Wicked fun pet (she cheeps and whistles when she hears me or ds come into his room, she will eat from your hand and nuzzle you), but hard not a kid-take-care-of-alone pet not even a 10 year old, IMO. Also, people can be allergic to them. Turns out ds is, not airborne - he sleeps w/ her in his room, he's allergic if he plays with her/pets her and then touches his face he gets all itchy and red watery eyes. They have dander just like most dogs/cats, and they also shed when they get nervous and at the start of summer.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Get a beta fish. For about $20 you can get a really pretty one, and a good sized bowl and pouch of food. Change 1/2 of his water per week. Feed him as many pellets as he'll eat (drop in one at a time and he'll snatch them right up!) Once or twice a day put a small mirror in front of the side of his bowl and he'll get "exercise" as he ouffs up his gills thinking there's another male beta on the other side of his glass!!

...in addition to the above, buy a small heater for the tank. It amazes me that people keep these poor TROPICAL fish in cold rooms! My betta lives in a 2 gallon glass bowl with a heater set between 78-80 degrees. As a result, my fish tend to be very healthy and live a long time...I had one live 6 years!

Also, only buy FLOATING pellets. Skip the flakes and pellets that don't say they float. They will dirty the water way too quickly.

 

[r&kmommy]

This is a good idea, I wouldn't mind having one of these for myself.

I had a beta fish in my cubicle for 3 years!! He died when I took him home to be with me on maternity leave. They're awesome fish, not boring like some. He'd see me walk into my cube in the morning and swim to the top of his bowl for his food!

 

[r&kmommy]

...in addition to the above, buy a small heater for the tank. It amazes me that people keep these poor TROPICAL fish in cold rooms! My betta lives in a 2 gallon glass bowl with a heater set between 78-80 degrees. As a result, my fish tend to be very healthy and live a long time...I had one live 6 years!

Also, only buy FLOATING pellets. Skip the flakes and pellets that don't say they float. They will dirty the water way too quickly.

YESYESYES!!! Totally forgot about that! I had a tiny submersible heater that kept his water at 78-80'... some people use a desk lamp, but that promotes algae growth...

 

[maleficentmom]

Get a beta fish. For about $20 you can get a really pretty one, and a good sized bowl and pouch of food. Change 1/2 of his water per week. Feed him as many pellets as he'll eat (drop in one at a time and he'll snatch them right up!) Once or twice a day put a small mirror in front of the side of his bowl and he'll get "exercise" as he ouffs up his gills thinking there's another male beta on the other side of his glass!!

even cheaper, put him in a nice big, clean glass vase. I bought 2 large vases on clearance at Target, and I have 1 in a 2 gallon tank from a garage sale.the vase can go on a mantle,dresser etc. The Petsmart guy said feed 1 time per week, but I do 4 pellets , 3 times a week. You can get feeder tablets for vacation. If you have a vase or bowl already, you just need a few cheap fish tank gravel,the fish,water purifier,and food,...the food will last like a year. They are almost affectionate,after they get used to you.Mine get excited when I go to the bowl, I have had several for over a year, and I have one that I have had 3 years.You can only have 1 fish per bowl,as they fight.I just change the bowl completely every 2-3 weeks, but you should probably do more often for a smaller container.

 

[SarahKate]

We have two aquatic frogs that we've had for over three years and they're going strong. They came from the Grow-A-Frog website. Started out with one, then ordered a bigger tank and they sent another frog with it!

They're basically like taking care of a fish. I sprinkle food in there every other day......you can buy aquatic frog pellets at PetCo/PetSmart. There's controversy regarding using a filter causing them too much stress. I have one, but don't run it all the time. I have the tank on our kitchen counter and change 1/2 to 3/4 of the water 1-2x a month. In the wild, they are accustomed to being in still, stagnant water so it doesn't have to be crystal clear. To help keep it cleaner, I have a few snails that help clean things up.......those cost just a few bucks each.

Grow-A-Frog has a lifetime replacement policy where if the frog(s) die, they'll send out a new one. The 1st one we got as a tadpole and it was really cool to see him evolve.

I have the two of them in a 10-gallon tank which is just about right for them. They are cool to watch, but of course, it doesn't take much time for the novelty to wear off since you can't really handle them.

Inexpensive pet to have and super easy to take care of! I think if you're looking for simplicity, something like this or a fish is going to be your best bet.

 

[cheriemek]

I agree with the cat idea. They are very clean and require little care (when we go on vacation, we just need to have someone check on her every other day). When one of the kids are sick, our cat sits with them for the whole day (cats love to relax). It the child is watching TV, the cat does too. If the child is sleeping, the cat climbs into bed with them. I think they are great company and pretty entertaining.

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

My daughter has convinced me to get a Hedgehog for her birthday - part of a deal we made to find different homes for our 4 cats because of allergies NO CATS LEFT WHOO! I hate cats! We ended up saving a few when we lived in a different area of town, one was pregnant... bga.

They are self sufficient and interesting pets. She is 12, and has taken excellent care of her rabbit.

A rabbit is another fantastic option - she has had hers for 4 years, it lives in a cage in our living room, and we got it for $5 from a farm! Never been sick, will lick fingers and sit on her lap when she is reading... food and shavings are cheap, and the only thing NOT to do is let them sleep in someone's room since they like to play at night

 

[Irin997]

We have two aquatic frogs that we've had for over three years and they're going strong. They came from the Grow-A-Frog website. Started out with one, then ordered a bigger tank and they sent another frog with it!

They're basically like taking care of a fish. I sprinkle food in there every other day......you can buy aquatic frog pellets at PetCo/PetSmart. There's controversy regarding using a filter causing them too much stress. I have one, but don't run it all the time. I have the tank on our kitchen counter and change 1/2 to 3/4 of the water 1-2x a month. In the wild, they are accustomed to being in still, stagnant water so it doesn't have to be crystal clear. To help keep it cleaner, I have a few snails that help clean things up.......those cost just a few bucks each.

Grow-A-Frog has a lifetime replacement policy where if the frog(s) die, they'll send out a new one. The 1st one we got as a tadpole and it was really cool to see him evolve.

I have the two of them in a 10-gallon tank which is just about right for them. They are cool to watch, but of course, it doesn't take much time for the novelty to wear off since you can't really handle them.

Inexpensive pet to have and super easy to take care of! I think if you're looking for simplicity, something like this or a fish is going to be your best bet.

We just lost our last aquatic frog and he lasted a good 2.5 to 3 years. I did run a filter in their 10 gallon tank which allowed me to only have to clean the tank with a siphon cleaner about once a month. About 2x's a week I would replace about 10-20% of the water with a cup. They didn't seem to mind the filter once they got used to it.

Feeding them is super easy. After the food they came with was eaten up, I spent a few bucks on sinking aquatic frog pellets at Petco and that was forever ago and I still have probably 3/4 of the bottle left. They usually ate about 3x's a week. More than that and the food would sit. I also purchased a "food bowl" for them since their food would get lost in the gravel and this way they would know where to always find food. All I did was go to Walmart and buy the bottom part of the smallest terra cotta pot for like $0.30 and put it on the bottom of the tank right below the lid so the food would sink into the bowl for them.

They are super cute and fun creatures to watch. They swim all over the place and will sporadically swim super fast to the top to grab a breath. When our female was alive, the male would "sing" to her and then my daughter got a live lesson about animal mating. I'm pretty sure that at one time we did have dots of tadpoles swimming around. The parents ate most of them and what they didn't eat I just cleaned out of the tank. Trying to raise tadpoles would have been too hard.

And they are super cheap! However my DD9 was never able to siphon clean the tank, she would clean the pieces inside the tank for me.

I'm not sure if more aquatic frogs are in our future right now. I think DD9 wants some fish. I would LOVE a guinea pig but I don't want the work.

 

[FarmDisney]

We have Dutch rabbits, and they make wonderful pets! There are no vaccinations required for rabbits, and they really are quite low maintenance. We keep our outside, but they can be litter trained. My daughter has a harness for her rabbit and hops him all over the place. He loves to get out and go for a hop - he's not afraid of anything the dog or the cats.

If you go the rabbit route go for a smaller breed such as the Dutch which get to be about 4-5 pounds or Polish which are around 2 lbs. In all our research before getting rabbits, we found out that Dutch are very sociable and make great pets, and we have definitely found this to be true.

Good luck with your choice!

 

[tinkermom23]

I asked DS10 and he said not to get a frog. (his tadpole died after about 2 months.)
He has a gerbil. It does make a mess with kicking the bedding outside the cage but DS10 just lays newspapers down under the cage. He chose a gerbil over a hamster because hamsters are nocturnal and gerbils usually sleep at night. He still makes some noise but not much. Also, he plays/holds his gerbil whereas a hamster doesn't like to be active during the day and they tend to bite or nip if you wake them up to play.
His gerbil's name is "stitch" but he says he is much less trouble than the real "Stitch". Oh, don't buy a super cheap plastic cage with the tunnels and stuff. They chew through anything plastic and become great escape artists!!