Childs first pet?

[JenboJambo]

My daughter started taking care of hamsters by herself at around 8 years old(I had to nag her to clean them) She’s now 11 and has a rabbit. I don’t have to nag her about cleaning anymore. She cleans up the cage/litter box daily. Always stealing fresh veggies from the fridge. That rabbit is so spoiled. But a hamster was definitely a good starter pet.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you're set on a cage animal, Guinea pigs or rats. They have the capacity to respond to humans with affection and will actually seek them out. However, do not get 2 of anything unless (1) you want oops babies or (2) you actually buy from a breeder (not a pet store) who will give you a written guarantee that you're getting 2 of the same gender.

Although I’d go the breeder route with rats because they really love having a companion.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

If you do a hamster, I do NOT suggest a robo dwarf. They are very tiny and not great for a first time hamster owner. They are so quick, they tend to be "look, don't touch" pets. If they get loose, it is extremely difficult to catch them - I say that from experience! A good hamster would be a syrian - they tend to be easier to tame and hardier than a dwarf. Hamster do great as solitary animals so don't buy a pair. You can sometimes keep robos as pairs if they are same sex litter mates, but even then, you have to be prepared to separate them if they fall out. Hamsters will fight to the death and it's not pretty. Also, hamster need a large living space. The small cages with the tubes they sell at pets stores are NOT adequate. We have a russian dwarf in a 40 gallon aquarium and that is typically a minimum size enclosure.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We ended up with a Syrian long haired hamster..
He was $12 I got a 40g clear tote we drilled holes in it. We will see how this goes. I think we spent $60 so we are not out much and I have to rehome him. I think he can do almost everything he needs.

 

[Kittyblue]

Both girls had kittens as their first pets. The oldest was gifted a kitten by her grandma, who didn't bother to ask us first .

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I had Syrian hamsters when I was about that age, and so have my kids - in addition to dogs. My kids have had eight now; really DD. Originally it was DS who wanted to save one in the snake room (not sure why he was there but DS wanted him out!), but DD pretty much took over their care while DS just likes the fun part of holding them. We work hard at taking them by handling them gently and sometimes letting them run around our closed sunroom. We also always give them something good when they come out - mainly in the evening - that way there is a positive association with being handled. Our current hamster actually comes when we call him, he’s really cute! We all get attached but especially DD since they live in her room and she basically cares for them. They only live about two years so it’s tough on her when they die. But generally she gets another fairly quickly and grows to love the new one, too. We’ve had a few little bites but nothing major. They will bite if they smell food on your hands as their eyesight isn’t always the best. We had two once that we got because the pet store was closing and we couldn’t decide. That was tough because they fought and we had to separate them so then there were two cages to clean! I think the key to a good cage, besides space, is one that’s easy to clean.

OP I see you got your hamster! Good luck!!

 

[scrhsa]

Rats, I think my oldest was 11. Very clean, very smart, very friendly, and they are bigger than hamsters (we had hamsters first, rats are like dogs, but a little smarter).

We had rats! Had surprise babies right from the start. Ended up with 12 of them. We were too much of softies and couldnt give them back because we knew they would be feeders for snakes! Great pets--even 12 at once

My dd ( about 11 ish) had hermit crabs as her first pets. Super easy. She had them for many years.