Our 9 year old has a tarantula, Rosy, that he LOVES! He likes to set up a little town of his cars, monster trucks and the accessories that come with so that Rosy can crawl around and 'attack.' The 6 year old has a herrmit crab and loves to decorate the shells for it.

But Carol is right, the parents have to be able to handle the pet, in our case, dad is freaked out and won't touch the spider.

If it were not for the smell factor in the boys rooms (and dad saying 'NO MORE PETS!!'), I would have chosen rats for them. They are affectionate and fun pets. They are your best bet by far...

Properly taken care of, rats should not smell.

Hahaha! I didn't mean the rat smell, I meant the 'boy' smell! J/K!


IME if you clean daily, that is correct, but we are talking about youngish children who have a million other things going on in their lives. I don't even clean the stray poop in the back yard daily.

I also think that by having mom or dad do the daily cleaning, the child is loosing a very valuble learning experience.

What about fish?
They are mess free and with some basic proper care can live for a very long time. They also make a great relaxing night light in a kid's room. My 7 yr old son is fascinated by our fishtanks

I had a normal Hamster & a dwarf one when i lived at home.
The normal Hamster was a great pet. Friendly, didn't bite. The only downside to Hamster's was that they are nocturnal and are more active at night. I used to have to put the cage in the bathroom at night so I could sleep.
Had a Rabbit....they are great pets too but I would think for a 6 year old they may be a bit much.
Now if I had to pick something, I would pick a rat. They are awesome pets and can be very affectionate and they are pretty hardy (i think hamster's are a bit delicate for a 6 year old to handle)
Whatever you choose, make sure You get a young one so that they have a chance to get used to you and being handled without biting.

I had rats and mice when I was a kid - mice are a little bit small for small children (small and delicate) but they are fun to watch - very active and playful, very clean and don't smell (if the cage is kept properly clean) - get all females so they really have very little odor and then you won't get a million baby mice that you don't know what to do with. Males smell more than females.

Rats are SUPER pets for children. They are big enough to be handled without too much danger of being squeezed to death or injured too badly if dropped by accident. They can be allowed to run around free without worry of getting lost in the wall or sofa (they stick around if raised from the start) If raised from a baby, they are very friendly, never bite and can be trained simple tricks also! Females are very clean and odor-free - takes a really dirty cage to make them smell. Again, males smell worse and aren't quite as cute as adults - they get bigger and get guard hairs around their neck and down their backs, get a little bit creepy-looking. Females are better. If the parents can get past the stereotype and the naked tail, rats can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Ferrets - not appropriate for very young children (they can be aggressive to babies/infants) but for children 6 and older, they can be really great pets - again, females don't smell - males do. They are very smart, fun-loving and very active. They don't bite if raised and treated properly and are easy to care for. I had ferrets in my young adult life and really enjoyed them.

molly

 Quote: carol boche

A Rat.

I had a rat for almost 9 yrs. She was the sweetest "pet" I have owned.

You had the SAME rat for 9 years? They usually only live for 2-3 years with the oldest I've heard of being 5.

We had a rat for Andrew, about 6 years ago. you can see him on this page http://kaiserhaus.com/andrew.htm

He lived about 2 1/2 years and the problem I found with Jynx and Andrew is that if Andrew had been eating and didn't wash his hands after, Jynx would smell the food on Andrew's fingers and try to taste his finger. He wasn't being aggressive, but it still made Andrew a little bit worried about holding Jynx and he ended up being my rat.

I'd have another one, but Ed has drawn the line.

Yep, I bought her when I was 18 years old and Misty passed away when I was 27, I remember as it was Valentines day. She moved 5 times with me and one morning I went to her cage and she was gone. All curled up under her little "log house".

Not sure what I did right except for make sure she was clean, well fed and thoroughly loved.