# what first pet to get a five year oild



## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

as above
we already have a akita dog, royal python and an iguana
but my son would like something small that is his to keep in his room and help lookafter
we do not want any feathers or furs or snake 

we did consider:
stick insect's
giant snail

would consider:
tortoise
small lizard

opinions please?


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## Lego (Jun 22, 2009)

Well after hearing all about my friends giant land snail I reckon that'd probably be a perfect choice! They gross me out but I imagine that a 5 year old would think it was incredible 

I bought my daughter a hamster for her first pet. Nice thought but didn't really work as I killed it after a month :blush: (Didn't realise how cold the lounge got at night and it went into hibernation).


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

as a child i had hamsters and they can be nasty little things i got biten they escaped and was very reluctant to my hand under the bed to grap it
i then had to females that did not get on and one killed the other and bitten a chunk out of it
def a no go

he would love a snail but have limited knowledge if any is needed also dont want people thinking we just fobed him of with a snail out the garden
still i will consider it if any one has advice on set up and where to get one


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## queenquack (Apr 6, 2009)

furries are much harder than people think! and chances are ull end up cleaning it.
i think an exotic u are cumfortable with, so small lizard would be best for you! just dont let the dog eat it!!


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

r u thinking a geko or is there something smaller not sure about the noise of the crickets we used to beardie's and the sound drove my husband mad


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## Lego (Jun 22, 2009)

kellie.e said:


> he would love a snail but have limited knowledge if any is needed also dont want people thinking we just fobed him of with a snail out the garden
> still i will consider it if any one has advice on set up and where to get one


If you contact Dan51 on here he'll be able to give you any advice you need


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## blackbat67 (Jul 1, 2008)

If you get a leopard gecko then you could feed it mealworms, which don't make any noise as far as I am aware


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

thanks all
it is close between:
snail
geko
tortoise

will need to do a lot of research on this

i am aware that he would like a snail initialy and would be cheaper and easyer to look after but there's not much interaction with them either


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

Lego said:


> If you contact Dan51 on here he'll be able to give you any advice you need


does he have any threads you know about??
cheers


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## maddragon29 (Oct 16, 2008)

I wouldn't get your kid a tortoise. they are a huge amount of work and a lifetime responsibility. Go for a land snail or a stick insect... or a fish :lol2:


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## Spider Call (Mar 23, 2007)

Snailll <333 No contest 

And o= as for there is no interaction... 

















You can interact with a snail lots O= They wiggle their little eyes at you, and some chew on your hands when you hold them. And they slime all over you, and they like being given baths. They will take food from your hands too C: 

It is SO cute when they do the 'rain dance' they wiggle their little necks from side to side when you bath them C:

I would happily play with snails all day 

When I had a group of 9-10 year old kids at school I ended up leaving the snake I had taken in specially and talking to them about GALS instead.
The teacher was baffled. It was the first time they had ever shown any interest in the snails, and by the end the snails all had people holding them... And the snake... Well she was back in her bag. Being ignored.


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

wow you love your snails
def going down that route, what set up do you have are there many different types of snail?


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

snails are on there way


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## C4VEMAN-5AM (May 30, 2009)

Probably the snail, or for a lizard a leopard gecko.

Ive personally never had a problem with hamsters, theyre very easy, and to clean you just remove the lid wet some tissues or old towel and scrub down.

probably the snail would be easiest. :2thumb:


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

eagerly awaiting 100mix eggs and hatchlings for my son and his friend
he has already made temp house and keeps watching it even tho it's empty


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## mahender (Apr 28, 2008)

a bit oT kellie,
are you serious about possibly offering ig sitting services??


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

mahender:
he is going to share them with a couple of friends

def once new enclosure is finished i know how hard it is to get someone to look after an iggy who knows what there doing and that you can trust would hardly charge any thing as the set up will already be there and i grow most food in my garden
just love animals


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

What about Madagascan hissing roaches?

They're brilliant little characters - we originally got ours as feeder breeders, but now they're pets in their own right. They'll take food from your fingers, too.


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

not so keen on roaches but thanks for the thought


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## mahender (Apr 28, 2008)

kellie.e said:


> mahender:
> he is going to share them with a couple of friends
> 
> def once new enclosure is finished i know how hard it is to get someone to look after an iggy who knows what there doing and that you can trust would hardly charge any thing as the set up will already be there and i grow most food in my garden
> just love animals


wicked that is good to know. ;-)


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

once finished i will post pics on enclosure if you like the look of it just pm me any time
always happy to help


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## .D.o.m.i.n.o. (Aug 19, 2007)

Stick instects are intresting,me and my sisters use to mind them for the school on summer hoildays,only because they were too lazy too lol..
But we loved it and we'd hold them.It might be a good pet,but you might wanna check that he//she aint scared of thier sticky paws (well it feels like a little grip on thier feet,well u wont catch me holding them now because im too scared to hold them when i got wiser ahha)


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## kellie.e (May 25, 2009)

gals coming tomorrow so we will see how we go from there
i would like another kind of lizard for my self or maybe a little petting zoo!!!


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## Emmykins (Jul 5, 2009)

i used to have stick insects!! they get everywhere!, when you clean them out if you drop any of the eggs(they are like tiny!!) you will randomly find baby stick insects appearing everywhere!! they are quite delicate to. but then i spose it depends on wot types you get.


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## Spider Call (Mar 23, 2007)

Glad you went for the slime babies  And yes I love my snails <33
And yet I always get stared at by my friends when I coo over them... 
I can get my friends to like tarantulas, yet I put a snail near them and they say eww and flail D:


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## excession (Apr 11, 2009)

Not sure if I find snails a bit creepy myself! 

Remember if you think of a gecko many of them are nocturnal so a young kid wouldnt get to see them too much doing their natural thing.

We decided to get a beardie as a pet for my son. Bigger enclosure needed but he loves him 

Ofc we do 95% of the maintenance and cleaning and so on by my lad loves hand feeding him his veg


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## Martin B (Oct 11, 2007)

How about a land hermit crab, they are great to watch and kids love watching them. They are very educational too!


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## bbav (Oct 17, 2007)

If you want a lizard for a child i think the best one's to go for are either a beardie or rankins dragon both great with kids.


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