Any pet ideas for a 6 year old?

Question

My little sister is 6 years old and she wats to buy a pet, but she dosent know what to get! Does anyone have any ideas that would be good? Any animals that are friendly and good for a 6 year old!!!

Answer 1

Fish, hamsters, rats, dog?

It depends on your space, my personal choice would be a rat. They are very clean and generally friendlier than hamsters. They are also that bit larger so are less likely to be squashed by a well meaning cuddle from a young child! Rats are very clean pets, and are sociable and playful. Whilst they are nocturnal, they tend to adapt. I had rats for years and they were very active during the day after a month or so of adjusting. As opposed to hamsters, who sleep during the day unless woken up, and a woken up hamster is a grumpy hamster!

Fish are a nice pet but not very "hands on" and if you sister wants something she can cuddle then a fish is not for her!

Dogs are lovely pets but only you know if you have the time, space and money for a dog.

I'd go for a rat, cheap to keep and buy and easy to look after!

Answer 2

Hermit crabs, They are easy to care for and you could watch & play with them~! Here are some links about them....

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/care.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_crab

Here is what they look like:

http://myanimalblog.files.wordpress.com/...

Answer 3

Dwarf Gourami fish would be a good idea. Or, a Manx cat. If you have the room, I suggest getting a Polled Hereford.

Answer 4

hermit crabs are good. Easy to take care of.

Also if you can find a rat breeder that handles their babies from birth. they are wonderful pets. So genital

Answer 5

RATS!!

I know you are probably saying eww, but rats are actually the cleanest rodents...that includes bunnies and rabbits. They are very sweet and can have the affection to its owner of that of a dog.

Answer 6

try her with a goldfish first then see how she gets on

Answer 7

I concur - a rat is an excellent pet for a young child. Interaction will still need to be supervised, but rats are clean, affectionate and when socialized, typically do not bite. In 20 years of owning rats (4 to 8 at a time) I have never been bitten. They can learn their names and often will come when called. They can be taught tricks, enjoy being held and a good snuggle. They are low maintenance and aside from the initial cost of a decent sized cage, are not terribly expensive (excluding the occasional vet care in the event of illness of course, which goes with any pet). You will want to take charge of the socialization process of course, and read up on their care and needs.

Answer 8

A yorkie Terrier! (dog) Its small and maybe your sister likes to groom things. They grow long shiney hair but I like to keep their hair short. Someone stoled my dog and now all I have is a white minuater schnauzer. But a schnauzer will be cute too!

(P.S) Those two types of dogs really like to play with children. =)

Answer 9

When I was six, I owned bunnies, I loved it, the problem is I would have to clean the cage, or hutch and I hated doing that! Bunnies are sweet, but do need their own alone time,

But not enough that they go wild, or untame. If your choice was a bunny, Email me, and I'll tell you all you need to know about them{I'm honestly the bunny expert} =)

Depending on how much room you have, you could get a dog, I would get a Golden, or a lab, but if your in search of a small dog, I would go with a beagle mix, all three are very friendly breeds, and Golden's and labs, are very loyal to their masters, however I believe the shed, and they need room to run, and can't be kept on a chain.

Again depending on your space situation, maybe a kitten, Siamese/ Ragdoll cats are pretty friendly, we had one that would fetch rubber bands, eat doretoes, suck on my moms hair, and he was sooooo sweet. And every cat like that that I've ever met, has been real sweet, and gentle, and patient.

The problem with kittens is they tend to have those sharp little claws, that could easily scratch her, and declawing a kitten, isn't a good idea, especially if it's going to be going outside.

Another little animal I would suggest, is a guinea Pig, their sweet, pretty loving, and they make lots of cute noises, and they need to be cuddled and held, they don't usually bite, they do have claws, but their not that sharp.

However, yuo would need to get a hight sided cage, because they tend to kick up their woodchips, and they get all over the floor. =( yecceh

Maybe try a hampster, I never really liked hampster...But I got one anyway, and she was mean, she bit, and scratched, and hated to be held, then she got loose one day, and I found her a bloody dead mess, the next day, eaten by my cat.

But hampsters are small, and have easy to clean cages, don't make much noise unless their running on their weel, but they don't like to be cuddled.

I think I would choose probably a bunny or a guinea pig, if you only have a little space.

If you have lots of room, get a puppy, but whatever you get, don't buy it froma petstore, petstores have bad health conditions,  and bad genetics.

Try to purchase from a breeder.

Or what I do is I look at all of our local shelters and search for what I want, online then if I like it, in person.

And I adopt from there.

Good luck!

Answer 10

I would go with rats.  My son is two, and he doesn't know it but he's getting rats for his third birthday.  They are surprisingly clean, very affectionate and sociable.  They are easy to care for, as well.  Just make sure you get a same-s*x pair!

I have three guinea pig boys, and he's amazingly good with them for being such a little man.  However, guinea pigs take a great deal of care, which is why they are my pets and not my child's.