Children love animals, they think they are cute. Most children like furry animals, like dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, tarantulas … tarantulas? That’s what our 3-year-old wants for his birthday! His revelation got me thinking. What makes the BEST pet for a child?

Our son loves spiders: small, large, garden, bedroom, bathroom … he wants to pet and caress them. A friend of ours has a son who is fascinated by snails and slugs: he comes home from school with his pockets full! Kids are great, right?

Personally, I am also a huge fan of spiders – I had a tarantula for 10 years and she was fascinating. I watched her eat, I watched her shed her skin (those things in her shed or garage that look like dead spiders are actually spider skins), I saw her woven webs. Because they are so large, you can see everything they make clearly – they are extremely easy to maintain, relatively cheap to buy, fascinating to look at, and can live up to 20 years. Amazing. So obviously I encouraged our son’s enthusiasm for having a spider for his birthday! I think I’m more excited than he is, even though he asks me every day if it’s his birthday already!

This came in a week in which we have received 6 new additions to our extended pet family: 4 guinea pigs and two rough green snakes. The reptiles are mine and the mammals are my wife. We already had 17 fish (all in one tank), 2 cats, a dog, a hamster, 2 rabbits, a western hognose snake, and a bearded dragon! With the new additions, that makes 31 pets … Good job, none of them are a problem!

I love reptiles and spiders, they absolutely fascinate me. I’ve wanted a rough green snake since I first saw it in a book about 22 years ago! So when I walked into my favorite reptile stores and saw two for sale, I couldn’t resist asking to handle them. I fell in love, I didn’t mean to go with them, but I did! After 22 years, it was impossible not to; When the owner handed me one for the first time, I was overwhelmed with emotion, holding back tears and letting this beautiful and fascinating creature slide through my hands. Wow!

My wife has always had guinea pigs. Since I was a child, I personally couldn’t see the attraction, what about 4? Okay, it started as one, as a companion to our male rabbit, who then needed one of his own with him, so one became two. So our second rabbit needed a mate (!) – number three came – but the rabbit didn’t see eye to eye with the guinea pig (he’s in a bad mood!), And thus they parted ways. “I can’t leave him alone,” my wife said, “They MUST have company!” and so came number four. Two males and two females.

I have always had rabbits and I think they are lovely, but I have never had guinea pigs. Now I see the attraction! How cute are they? None pushy, small, easy to handle and very tame, not to mention easy and cheap to buy and care for! Perfect. They are from my wife, but one by one when they came to our house, our children claimed them. The older one had a hamster and therefore did not bother. The middle daughter named the first guinea pig “Sparkles” but then said she wanted one of her own; number two was called “Wriggles” and our youngest daughter has taken over. Number three arrived and our youngest and I took over – I called it “G for the PIG” (or G Dude for short). So when number four appeared, my wife took possession before we got home! “Jazz” is the brother of “G Dude” and they live happily together.

Now that I am converted, I see exactly the good in guinea pigs. In addition to everything already mentioned, they live a decent amount of time, 6 to 8 years, compared to, say, a hamster or a mouse (around 2 years). They are beautiful pets and because they are so easy to handle and have great longevity, they are the perfect pet for your young child. Your child will find them easy to love, to feed, to complain, to handle, to melt! For a first pet, you couldn’t choose anything better than a guinea pig, and when your child speaks to them, they will respond, and that’s guaranteed!

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