^low

🕷 spiders if your kids like those. My kids liked tarantulas when they were young but now they moved on. Turtles are another blow maintenance pet.

Please just pass on the pet idea for now. I don't care if your DC is begging.

Back in the 80s, our first pets were Sea monkeys 😊

Anonymous wrote:Cats are the lowest maintenance of any pet.

And there is just something amazing about the bond between kids and their cat or dog.

We had fish, but that was mostly for me. I loved them and I always took care of them. I never could get into the idea of the work it took for hamsters or guinea pigs. Birds are kind of cool but they live forever and are really messy.

Cats are the lowest maintenance of any pet.

Have to agree that if cleaning the fish tank is getting old then you are not ready for a needier pet.
We are an animal family and have had very animal listed here except the spiders. They all require care beyond what a 6 year old can safely provide.

Six is too young for a pet unless it's a family pet. There is nothing a six year old can do with a hamster, not even safely hold it without it escaping.

Also, cleaning the fish tank is easy compared to caring for a rodent or rabbit. If that is feeling old (hopefully you are keeping your fish?) then adding responsibility is not a good idea.

Anonymous wrote:I kinda hate the idea of “beginner pets” also. Hamsters and guinea pigs are actually high maintenance pets IMO. Their cages require frequent cleanings (hamsters at least once a week, guinea pigs even more often). They are tiny little poop machines. And 6 is too young to be responsible for all of its care so you will be the one caring for it. Do some research on whatever pet you decide and make sure you are ready to deal with whatever it requires.
I really think a dog or cat is much easier to take care of and is more interactive, they also live longer so your young child won’t have to deal with the heartbreak of losing a pet so soon.

+1 a lot of these small animals that people treat as "beginner pets" actually need very specialized care. Don't get a pet you can't properly care for, period.

We had a cat anyway. But DS' first pets were toads and frogs he found. After awhile they managed to hop away. He also kept spiders and cocoons that turned into moths or butterflies. We lived in apartments. Had a wolf spider who carried her eggs on her back, the eggs hatched, the babies lived on her back for awhile and gradually hopped off. Showed her to a university biologist who was thrilled because she knew they did this but had never gotten to see it IRL.

A praying mantis is an easy pet (according to what I found online) and they only live a year or so. There are other large creepy crawlers that people keep as pets. Octopi also have short life spans, there's an awesome youtube video I saw with the scientist and his daughter who kept one for a year--they are super smart in spite of their relatively short lives.

I kinda hate the idea of “beginner pets” also. Hamsters and guinea pigs are actually high maintenance pets IMO. Their cages require frequent cleanings (hamsters at least once a week, guinea pigs even more often). They are tiny little poop machines. And 6 is too young to be responsible for all of its care so you will be the one caring for it. Do some research on whatever pet you decide and make sure you are ready to deal with whatever it requires.
I really think a dog or cat is much easier to take care of and is more interactive, they also live longer so your young child won’t have to deal with the heartbreak of losing a pet so soon.

Definitely a hamster rather than a guinea pig. Make sure you buy a wire wheel. The solid ones will get gross with poop, but the wire ones will run clean for the several years needed.

Guinea pig. But you have to clean their cages and they can stink. I'd much prefer a nice low maintenance dog or cat to all of that.

I think the idea of a “beginner pet”, or even giving any small animal to such a you g child, is cruel. Wait until your kid is older. Don’t treat small animals as throwaway “beginner pets” that you are cool with being handled roughly or mistreated by your 6 year old. The guinea pig or lizard or whatever will lot enjoy living in a little cage and being handled by a 6 year old. Have some respect for life and tell your kid he needs to wait until he is older and can then get a dog.

What is the best beginner pet for an almost 6 year old? No dogs or cats. Thinking more of a bearded dragon or guniea pig. We have always had fish but it’s getting old keeping the tank clean LOL