Would a parakeet be a good pet for a 4yr old?

Question

My son will be 4 in April and we are considering getting him a pet. He has really taken by the parakeet in his preschool class, but would it be a good idea for home? He is very hyper and we were hoping to help calm him.

oh yeah, we rent and cant have dogs or cats.

Answer 1

Well, there are things to consider. First, does the parakeet help to calm him at school? If so, then you might not want to get one for home or it might lose its attraction for him. If he has one everywhere then he might not be so "taken" by it anymore. In that case, take him to the pet store and see if anything else, that he doesn't have at school, grabs his attention. Fish have a wonderful calming affect.

Also, before you get him any kind of pet, be aware that YOU are going to be the one taking care of it. Don't expect him to bear the responsibility of total care for the pet. Although, he can help and maybe be in charge of certain pet related jobs.

Answer 2

I would not recommend any type of bird for a 4 year old. Parakeets bite and they don't like being held tightly. I wouldn't recommend any small pet for a child of that age. A dog or a cat would be alright but nothing smaller.

Oh yeah, I rent and have two dogs...It all depends on where you rent.

Answer 3

Talk to someone at the pet store about it. When your child gets hyper, the bird will get loud and agitated. They may feed off of each other. If the bird is easily calmed by putting a sheet over the cage, it may make a good pet. If your child is hyper, the best pet would be one that is not easily excited. Perhaps a turtle...

Answer 4

I wouldn't choose a parakeet for a 4 yr old. I understand that you would probably be taking all the responsibility, cuz they're alot of work. But its pretty hard to get a pet that can be man=handled by a little kid. I really suggest a Guinea Pig. We've had a few, and they're supposed to live pretty long. Guinea pigs are relatively small, and luv to cuudle, eat and meep. My mom has a kindergarden class, and they LOVE when the guinea pigs get to come in!Good lucky, but I'd really advise against a parakeet/bird.

Plus, guinea pigs can't fly away!!

Answer 5

No pet is good for a 4-year-old, as they are too immature to handle this sort of responsibility. A parent should take responsibility for the family pet, and a child can be given increasing responsibilities for the care of the pet as s/he grows older.

Now, a HYPER tot is another kettle of fish altogether. My best friend has two hyper boys (teens now), who visited my house when they were, say, middle-school age. I have a cat. They wanted to play with the cat, which was fine, but I knew that she'd run away if they behaved the way they always did. So I demonstrated how to talk softly around the cat and how to pet her gently and how to not run around, stomping wildly, around the cat...and they simply didn't GET it. These are not "stupid" boys--they were (and still are, to some extent) incapable of controlling their hyper-ness. My gut feeling is that a 4-year-old wouldn't be able to control it either...and birds are delicate creatures!

So my advice would be to go ahead and get the bird, but let it be YOUR responsibility to care for it, and always be around him when he's interacting with the bird.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Just an idea for you, my son is 4 and we got him a beta with a cool tank to put in his room and told him the importance of feeding his pets and taking care of them. It teaches them responsibility! Sure enough everyday he will remind me that it's time to feed the fish!! Fish are calming, maybe that will help!

Answer 7

well if he likes the one in class and helps take care of it already it may not be so bad because he's got some ideea of what caring for it would be like.

But do you? research into what it will be like to care for a parakeet because no 4 year old is capable enough to take care of an animal all by themselves. The biggest thing with caring for birds is the poop. They are messy poopers and you have to clean their cage often!
I would reseasrch into seeing if you yourself would enjoy one and if so, go for it. If not I doubt it would be hard to convince him to get a differnet pet, little kids love all sorts of animals.

*additional* If you rent it may not be such a good idea, especially if you have crpeted floors. Its not uncommon for the food and poop to get ont he floor.
Perhaps you may want to look into something small like a hampster.

Answer 8

nicely, at that age he will prolly ignore he wanted it in a year or so anyhow. Heck, at the same time as i became 6 i wanted a peacock. We were given peacocks, and nevertheless have them, yet I easily can not ever bear in thoughts desiring them as a baby. in case you get yet another puppy, i'd get yet another canines. you've already got a canines, so it wouldnt be that a lot of a substitute, and they'd prolly be a extra appropriate puppy for a small baby than the others. A cat will be a lot less likely to tolerate tugs on its tail and such. both rodents and birds are small creatures- your baby ought to accidently harm them at the same time as conserving them, or drop and harm them, or be dropped and they run. Im no longer conserving this occurs with each puppy and baby, yet regularly sufficient. Oh, and do not provide the duty of feeding the puppy to the youngster, or in case you do make positive you verify it commonly used incase he forgets. At that age they could in simple terms ignore- regrettably for the puppy. I had a cockatiel at the same time as i became round that age- a touch older. anyhow, i became suppost to feed it, and that i dont imagine I did....It died, and regardless of if my mom says it became because of a affliction or some thing, my dad said the element became horribly skinny and that it prolly died because I not at all fed it...:'( anyhow, I didnt attempt to kill it. I easily forgot. You do this at that age.

Answer 9

Get him a very very low maintenance pet like a goldfish (cheap too). That way, if he decides he is tired of it, it is not a burden on you to throw in some flake food and clean out the bowl once a month.

Answer 10

I think 4 is too young for a pet.