New Pet for a house with a very young child

wolfpawnat

Hello, My son is 9 months old and I have had animals all my life until now. We are moving into an apartment where we are permitted to have small quiet animals, my pets in the past have included, mice, hamsters, Yorkies, cats and a Cocker Spaniel. I was wondering if there is any pet, not too expensive to care for, something realistic that would be no danger to my son, who will be taught to treat the animals with respect like I did. I like exotic animals too. I just really miss having a pet.

Riva

Hi,

My partner, my 5 year old son, and me are living in a 2 bed rented apartment. We got him a rabbit, they are great pets in a sense that they don't require a lot of upkeep, quieter than a cat or a dog, DEFINITELY more hygienic than having a cat, i.e. no furballs, sick, etc. on the floor.

Having said that, it will take a bit of time to adjust when you let it out of the cage, as it goes for all kinds of small wires and chews it to bits! Day 1 I had to get a replacement sensor bar on the wii because the rabbit made it behind the TV It's fine now though, he knows the sound of my voice and when I yell out "NO", he hauls ass.

You could keep it on your lap for as long as you want, really comforting, we even take him out to the park with us

Hope this helps

Sigma Force

Sorry but rabbits aren't suitable for toddlers, older kids fine but they can kick and their back can be damaged through wrong handling they can also be frightened by loud noises that kids make. Plus they can kick and hurt a baby.
Ok rabbits do live happily in homes with children but at 9 months a rabbit wouldn't be suitable.
Aside from that you would need two so the bun has company then there is the vaccinations (two sets) and spaying/neutering etc.

I can't really suggest any small animal around a baby/young toddler because any of these smallies can be easily damaged through a very young childs handling even under supervision. If you rekon you can keep a very close eye, it only takes a second for a child to accidently break a guinea pigs/gerbil/hamsters leg.

Unless perhaps you place the tank up really high but so that the child can watch a pair of gerbils for example and is allowed to pet the animal when on your knee and gradually move to more handling as the child gets older.

There are a few animals that don't make much noise but are suitable for apartments although as said most small animals aren't suitable as pets for very small children due to their delicate bodies.

Rabbits, guinea pigs, jirds, mice, rats, hamsters (nocturnal so another reason not suitable for kids as they aren't awake and shouldn't be disturbed during the day) chinchillas, fish.

Not trying to put a downer on it, I know a lot of parents incl. myself get small animals 'for the kids' when the pet is really the parents which is good in a way nothing worse than a parent expecting a 7 year old or whatever to have full responsibility for a pet. So many smallies become unwanted because a child gets bored. But it sounds like the pet is more for you than the child lol.
At 9 months he won't be able to do much cleaning out etc anyway lol.

Saying that when our kid was 9 months we got her her first budgies, again they weren't hers really same with all the other critters. She's 10 now and got her very own first puppy but even at 10 I do most of the work but she's great at helping out and is great with critters mainly due to the fact she's been around animals her whole life. Kinda contradicting myself here really.

Main thing is though with smallies, is to be wary of small children and delicate small animals. Ok I'll shut up now I'm just repeating meself.

wolfpawnat

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Sorry but rabbits aren't suitable for toddlers, older kids fine but they can kick and their back can be damaged through wrong handling they can also be frightened by loud noises that kids make. Plus they can kick and hurt a baby.
Ok rabbits do live happily in homes with children but at 9 months a rabbit wouldn't be suitable.
Aside from that you would need two so the bun has company then there is the vaccinations (two sets) and spaying/neutering etc.

I can't really suggest any small animal around a baby/young toddler because any of these smallies can be easily damaged through a very young childs handling even under supervision. If you rekon you can keep a very close eye, it only takes a second for a child to accidently break a guinea pigs/gerbil/hamsters leg.

Unless perhaps you place the tank up really high but so that the child can watch a pair of gerbils for example and is allowed to pet the animal when on your knee and gradually move to more handling as the child gets older.

There are a few animals that don't make much noise but are suitable for apartments although as said most small animals aren't suitable as pets for very small children due to their delicate bodies.

Rabbits, guinea pigs, jirds, mice, rats, hamsters (nocturnal so another reason not suitable for kids as they aren't awake and shouldn't be disturbed during the day) chinchillas, fish.

Not trying to put a downer on it, I know a lot of parents incl. myself get small animals 'for the kids' when the pet is really the parents which is good in a way nothing worse than a parent expecting a 7 year old or whatever to have full responsibility for a pet. So many smallies become unwanted because a child gets bored. But it sounds like the pet is more for you than the child lol.
At 9 months he won't be able to do much cleaning out etc anyway lol.

Saying that when our kid was 9 months we got her her first budgies, again they weren't hers really same with all the other critters. She's 10 now and got her very own first puppy but even at 10 I do most of the work but she's great at helping out and is great with critters mainly due to the fact she's been around animals her whole life. Kinda contradicting myself here really.

Main thing is though with smallies, is to be wary of small children and delicate small animals. Ok I'll shut up now I'm just repeating meself.

Thank you for your information, the pet would be for myself and my partner as our pet, and for our son to look at, he would never be allowed near the animal until he is far older! Nine Months is far too young to allow him near an animal, as you said, he could injure the little animal.

wantolose

we have a little boy. he is 14mths and we have cats, dogs, chickens and budgies and we have no problems, he loves looking at them, however he is NEVER left alone with any of them, he really enjoys one of our cats and she is very gentle with him, we were both brought up with animals so we know what we are at, good luck, there is no badness in an animal, its just the way they are treated!

hunterpetz

hi

i do NOT recommend a guinea pig for a child under 10 years as they are fragile & due to their small legs at the front/back if they are dropped they cant support their fall & will hit their heads off the floor causing instant death or brain damage. really a child under 8 years should not have a pet as they are to young to full understand responsible/gentle pet care & all the cleaning, feeding, watering, grooming, vet concerns, handling ect ect ect will fall on you in the end. please do really think about it & dont decide to get a pet because some expert says so (this expert may not have pets themselves let alone having kids).