wats the best pet for 12 yrs old boy to keep at home?

Answer 1

rabbit

Answer 2

fish, frog, hermit crab, hamster (IF he is willing to clean cages once a week).

cat...IF he will clean litter box once a week AND provide (this is the parents job here, hee hee)...a GOOD quality cat condo! if a cat doesn't have a place to play that it can call it's own..it WILL claim your couch or chair or whatever else you don't want clawing the house up. (declawing is CRUEL!!!! its not just the nails..but the first KNUCKLE that is removed because of the way the claws are..imagine if YOU didn't have your fingertips...!)

Guinea pig, ferret, rat.
cage cleaning, more attention..and sometimes they have an "odor" about them. BUT ferrets and rats can be trained to use a litter box..and are VERY sweet pets.

lizard, snake, other reptiles..i wouldn't recommend to someone that young!!!! they usually live for over 20 yrs, need a SPECIAL cage and lighting, need specific food requirements..and if you aren't educated in how to care for them, you can kill them unintentionally do to malnutrition.

Bird, most birds live for a long while...the larger parrots living over 100yrs old!! these are LONG TIME commitment animals and need special care. cleaning their cage out every week, different foods. (this includes fruits and veggies...not just seed which is mostly a filler). they are loud, and usually need their wings clipped if a small species (such as a parakeet). the also tear up toys rather quickly and need them replaced twice a month...they NEED the toys because birds are very smart animals and need stimulation for their minds or they WILL go NUTS!

Dog, HUGE responsibility. need exercise, training, toys, attention....you can't just throw a dog in a back yard after the cute "puppy days" are over. i would NEVER recommend a dog as a first time pet!! unless someone has gone through pet care classes, and maybe even fostered out through the SPCA to see what it would be like to have a dog.

a 12 yr old will soon be hitting puberty (if not already) and the teen years. soon the most important thing in their lives will be their friends and hanging out..*we've all been there*. a pet might be an after thought.
something easy...that doesn't need a lot of time or energy.

Answer 3

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.

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 almost every animal out there, and the rest I've taken care of at the pet store I work at.

Answer 4

hamster, fish, cat. I have a pet snake, I'm 14, not too much older and I have no problem taking care of him at all and he's an awesome pet, when I was like 8 I had lizards, they were pretty cool. It really depends on the kid what you should get though and what you want out of the pet for example if he wants something playful and cuddly a cat or a hamster if you want moderately easy, a Betta fish works well, and if you want something cool get a snake or lizard, but if you get one of those you really need to do some research before going out and getting one, and don't believe people when they they're easy to care for because they require attention like any other pet. if you need any help with anything you can contact me.

Answer 5

A cat. They are easy to take care of, small and good with kids.
I'd suggest a female mixed breed cat. A kitten about 2 or 3 months old or a younger cat would be best.

Answer 6

Hell no a rabbit. Rabbits are not for kids. They require constant attention and I mean constant. Many rabbits get left outside, kids dont like them as you cant actually cuddle or handle them. While they are great rabbits are not cuddly. I do love mine though.

A dog or cat, nice and easy to maintain, look after themselves.

Answer 7

Check this web before thinking of a guinea pig, they take a lot of special care to keep them healthy.

Answer 8

Rats are cool. Check out these links.

Answer 9

a gold fish because it will be easy to care for

Answer 10

maybe a gerbil as long as it doesn't get loose/lost in the house

Answer 11

dogs, cats, fish, hamster, birds, rabbit