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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Getting A Pet For Your Child

By Peter

Are you sick of getting your child pestering you to get a pet? Well it looks like most parents will run into this pet issue at least once in their parenthood. While your child may think it is fun and cute to own a pet, you as a parent can take this chance to teach them how to be a responsible person. For starters, it is best to start out with a pet animal that is easy to maintain and smaller in size. Dogs and cats tend to be harder to maintain, but never the less it still depends on your child's likes and dislikes of certain animals (and even allergies).

If you want to get a small pet for your child, then you might want to look into gerbils. They are animals that live in the desert. Clean and easy to upkeep, this is the ideal pet animal for small children. These creattures like to interact with their kind, so it is also a great idea to buy them in pairs. Just make sure that if you are choosing a male and female gerbils, you are prepared to take care of their little offsprings!

You'll need a large tank with wood shaviings in it for the little creatures to burrow in. Buy some digging toys as well as it complements the creatures' digging habits. Gerbils can take vegetables like lettuce their lifespan is usually about three years. You can purchase at pet stores quite inexpensively.

Another alterative to gerbils are the guinea pigs. They are also small creatures and easy to upkeep. Again, buy them in pairs if you like as these creatures like to interact with each other. For their living habitat, you will need to get a large tank and then litter the area inside with grass and sand. Guinea pigs like to dig around as well though they tend to be more timid. For dietary needs, guinea pigs take food that has high fiber. Their lifespan is usually about six years.

For slighter larger pets, but still small enough for your child, mice can be a good option as well. Take note though getting female mice are better as male mice tend to fight among themselves if left unattended in their cage. Get a wire-mesh type of cage with plenty of breathing space as their living quarters. You can add tunnels and related tunnelling toys for the micce to play with. Get them things that they can chew on as it is a particular habit of theirs to chew on things.

These little creatures are harder to maintain though as compared to the previous two. But at the same time, it also gives your child a good exercise in learning responsibility while they are young.

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