What is a good pet for an eleven-year-old that is not expensive and is not hard to take care of?

Question

Please, Which pets are good for elven-year-olds that are not the most responsible people on earth, don't cost to much, their supplies don't cost to much, and can be found at a lot of pet shops?

Please also include links (websites) and also the costs if you know them.

THAKS!

Answer 1

I answered a similar question, so here you go :D

Mice are very easy to keep and after the initial setup, don't cost much too take care of. Mice make great pets for people of all ages. They can become very tame and social with their human caregivers and are a lot of fun to watch. They also come in all sorts of colours, markings, and fur types- there’s different mice for everyone!

Compared to many pets, mice are also pretty easy to take care of. As long as you have a suitable cage for the number of mice that you have, you only have to clean the cage once a week, which is very easy and not time consuming at all. They are the perfect pet for someone with a busy schedule, but also appreciate any time you can spare. Once tame, they’re also easy to handle.

First, male mice should always be housed individually. Even littermates can, and often do, become agressive and fight to the death- seemingly out of the blue. Female mice are the opposite and should always be kept in a pair or a trio at least.

Whether you keep them in a cage or an aquarium is your choice, however I recommend an aquarium for both. It helps keep any odours in, as well as food and bedding, and is also easy to clean. If you do decide to use a cage, make sure the bars are close enough together that they cannot poke their heads out- if their head can fit through, the rest of them can too. A 10 gallon tank is sufficient for a few female mice, and a 5.5 gallon is fine for a single male. Of course the bigger you can afford, the better.

As for food, I feed a mix of 75% "Lab" or "Nutri" blocks. These are square light brown blocks and you can find them in most pet stores. These make sure that they get all of the nutrients that they need. I then add 25% of a seed mix made for Rats and Mice. Small animals prettymuch live to eat so variety is important which is why I add the seed, however if you only feed them the seeds then they often only eat their favourite parts out of it and don't get everything they need. This can also be supplemented with some fresh veggies every few days or so, as well as the occaisional small animal treat.

As for bedding, I do not recommend ceder or pine. There is a lot of talk about them being very bad for small animals, and as mice have very sensitive respiratory systems, I don't take the chance. I use Carefresh which is a paper product. To me it looks nicer, absorbs odor, and is softer. It is slightly more expensive though, so my second choice is Aspen. It's a type of wood shavings but supposedly safer than ceder or pine. Depending on the size of your cage and how many mice you have, you can generally get away with cleaning the cage once a week.

Mouse Checklist (these are approx. prices based on what they are here in Canada):
-Tank or Cage and Lid: $20
-Wheel: $7
-Bedding: $5 (aspen) $8 (carefresh)
-Food: $5 a bad (so $10 for blocks and seed)
-Hidey-Home thing: $3-6
-Toys: free if you use cardboard tubes and boxes with holes in them. You can also use bird toys which are more like $5-15
-Water bottle and food bowl: $6

This is all a rough estimate. Bedding will probably have to be bought twice a month, and food once a month. So I would say the monthly cost is about $20 or so. It is hard for me to say for sure since you are only getting a few mice at most, whereas I have 12 (and growing) so I obviously have to buy much more food and bedding.

If you live in ON, Canada, I could probably get you some mice. Even if you don't, my website is http://mice.wordpress.com My email is there as well as some more info so feel free to contact me with questions or advice. Mice truly make great pets and I can speak from experience. I work at a pet store and also own two rats. I've had hamsters, gerbils, and a spiny mouse in the past, too.

Answer 2

A rat....preferably a male. The males are sweethearts and will put up with all kinds of cuddling from an 11-year old. My goddaugther has one and will soon be getting a second one. They are so great! And they don't live a really long time, so it's not a big commitment either. Also, try to buy one that's been hand raised. A hand raised one is usually more tame than a feeder rat. Many pet stores carry the hand raised rats and sell them only as pet rats. They are just a few bucks more than a feeder rat, but it's worth it.

Answer 3

Goldfish. Not much fuss, not much muss.

Box turtle. More expensive. Feed the box turtle the same kinds of healthy vegetables that a boy or girl should be eating. They also need protein; most pet shops will sell mealworms, which aren't too messy.

Female cat. Wonderful pet. You'd need to get it spayed ($$$) and get it shots ($$$) and buy cat food for it. Properly handled, your pet cat can be a good friend, and live 15-19 years.

Answer 4

If they are not to big on the responsibility thing then why consider even getting them a pet? If you want the pet then get it for yourself and not for them. I've grown up in a household full of animals, and when i had ponies i was expected to look after them, to a degree. Unless you are going to enforce the responsibility then there's absolutely no point, becuase you will end up looking after the animal, and is that entirely fair? on you or the animal.

However if you are hellbent on gettin the kid a pet, then id say a fish, because of reasons already given, low maintenance etc....and they can be quite pretty, and fortunately dont have particularly long life spans...well, not goldfish anyway.

Answer 5

Does your 11yr old even want a pet or is this your idea?
If you are trying to teach him responsibility you need to be aware that this won't happen over night and that you will have to pick up the slack when he won't. Animals depend on us for everything and it's not fair to bring one in the house if you already know that it is going to be neglected. So, make it dependent on his promise to take care of whatever pet you are getting him, let him know that there WILL be consequences if he doesn't keep his promise and then stick to your guns. He forgets to feed the pet, he won't get any snacks that day, he forgets to water the pet, he won't get any soft drinks that day, he forgets to clean the cage, make him clean the garage or the basement or something. ANY pet is going to require a minimum amount of responsibility and someone is going to have to be the one to make sure it gets its needs met.
As far as what pet, I'd go with a puppy, or a rat.
You might want to go to petfinder.com and adopt one that is looking for a home, rather than spend oodles of bucks on a pet shop pet.

Answer 6

Well, when I was eleven, I had emperor scorpions, but maybe that's not for you. You can practically through in a cricket and a wet sponge and leave it in a dark closet for a month and it will thrive. They not good in terms of grooming and petting, though.

I also has box turtles. They wondered free through the house. They like non-acidic fruits (coconut, cactus pear, berries, papaya, banana, etc.), fresh greens, mushrooms, and even snails and earth worms. They're pretty low maintenance.

Answer 7

get a dwarf hamster. they are about 10 dollars per hamster (one at a time though, they will kill each other if kept in same home) and their cage costs about 30 dollars. but you can reuse it hamster after hamster. roborovski hamsters, the world's smallest hamster are sooo cute (i just had one) and they are known for their non-bite-ingness. my sister had a dwarf hamster when she was 8, and she's now 11 and still has hamsters. they only need their cage cleaned like once every 2-3 weeks, and if you leave a big supply of food and water, just refill it when it's low. i would recommend the habitrail homes, if you can find them.if not, critter trail i think is what it's called; it's those plastic colorful ones that can go up to like 3 levels. you would only need a one-story home for a dwarf hamster. good luck!

Answer 8

a cat would be the way to go. a lot of the time you can find people giving kittens away in the classifieds. but if you dont want to have to potty train a cat, the humane society should have grown cats that came from a good home. cats arent really hard to find. they are good pets and don't need a lot of care, just food and water, and change the litter box once a week, you could even get a self cleaning litter box. a lot of people dont think you can play with a cat, but one piece of string will give you and your cat hours of fun. p.s. dont get fish or hamsters because they can die very easily.

Answer 9

cats are the best animal to take care of if u are lazy. u don't have to walk them or give them lots of attention. as long as u feed them and give them a place to sleep and a litter box they are happy. u have to play with them 2 but that wont be a problem 4 an 11 year old. mind that they can be cranky at times so give them some space at times. if u want a cat that doesn't cost much adopt one from the humane society or look in the classified section of the news paper under pets. good luck!

Answer 10

All animals are work.They need attention,room,food,and something to occupie them.They also need a place to let all their energy out.You could always search Google.If you want something that all you have to do is feed it,clean out it's bowl,and get a bowl,get a fish,but you can't play with those.I would sugjest saving up your money and getting a small laid back dog.Make sure you are ready for that kind of responsibility though.