Pet Pros and Cons

Source: Tween Parent Staff

(10 ratings)

Adding a pet to your family is often a right of passage for many children. Some families own pets before having children. Others hold off and introduce the concept when kids are old enough to be involved in the process of selecting a pet. When thinking about the added responsibility, be sure to consider what your tween will be responsible for and where you'll pick up the slack. Beyond dogs and cats, there are many types of pets to choose from that involve varying degrees of effort and interaction. Here are some to consider:

Mouse (live 2 to 3 years)
Pros: inexpensive; easy to care for; small cage; group of females can be entertaining with play; lively and easily tamed
Cons: difficult to handle since they're quick; agile and skittish; most active at night

Hamster (can live up to 2 years)
Pros: don't require much space; get quite tame; will interact
Cons: can bite until they're tamed by regular handling or when sleepy; awake mainly at night; should be kept singly

Gerbil
Pros: get quite tame with regular handling; fun to watch; more active during the day than other rodents
Cons: require patience to tame

Guinea Pig (live 4 to 7 years)
Pros: friendly and most don't mind being handled; tamed easily; rarely bite; get to know routines and can be quite responsive; active during day
Cons: active during night; require gentle handling; should be kept in pairs and need a large living space; need fresh healthy foods

Frog (live 4-15 years)
Pros: can be quite beautiful to watch and live in interesting environment (semi-aquatic are popular - half land and half water)
Cons: fairly sedentary; sensitive to contaminants in their enclosures (need to clean often); need to handle insects to feed

Bearded Dragon Lizard
Pros: mellow; very tame; amusing; distinct personalities
Cons: get fairly large; need a large cage

Turtle (live up to 50 years)
Pros: quiet; they don't need attention; easy to feed
Cons: long life (commitment); specific indoor habitat; can be risky to someone with lowered immune system (naturally produce salmonella bacteria); odor

Rabbit
Pros: tame and quiet; once comfortable, can be very loving and playful; can be trained to some degree; fairly long life span; great first-pet experience; inexpensive to feed
Cons: if not held properly, can hurt themselves; need to be spayed or neutered; chew on materials; may bite; fairly large environment to live in; need to trim nails; distinct odor

Leopard Gecko
Pros: one of the easiest reptiles to care for; fairly small cage; can be handled; morph colors
Cons: special tank set-up can be costly; not as responsive as other pets; may require large prey for food

Hermit Crab
Pros: don't need a lot of space, though bigger than the little plastic boxes they often come in; can be fun to watch; quite social (should have at least two)
Cons: nocturnal; can die unexpectedly; can smell

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
Pros: large enough to handle; docile; completely undemanding of attention
Cons: cockroaches...not cute!; not interactive or responsive

Tarantula (live up to 30 years)
Pros: not as dangerous or venomous as touted; need very little space; quiet and clean; (Chilean rose is a good species to start); low maintenance -- can leave for up to two weeks alone; odorless; quiet; interesting to watch; carry no diseases
Cons: eat live crickets, which will make noise; can bite (though not lethal); are scary to some

Emperor Scorpion
Pros: need very little space; interesting to watch; clean and quiet; not terribly venomous (though sting would be very painful)
Cons: can't handle; are scary to some

Corn Snake
Pros: good snake species for "beginners;" don't need huge tank (but larger than other small animals; 20 gallon tank); easy going; easy to care for
Cons: require live prey for food

Fish
Pros: inexpensive to purchase and low maintenance; easy to feed; aquariums can be simple or complex
Cons: taking care of aquarium can be challenging (proper pH, temperature, nitrogen level, etc.); not a lot of interaction

Ferret (live 8-10 years)
Pros: distinct and playful personalities; can be very tame if handled frequently; more popular than in the past, so not hard to find a vet
Cons: like to live with another ferret; need a lot of space; can bite; strong odor

Bird
Pros: can be trained; many can talk; interactive; generally happy
Cons: like to live with other birds; some (parrots) can live up to 50 years; some bite; some are small and fragile; cages must be cleaned daily; fresh food and water daily; can carry diseases that affect immune-compromised

If you've decided to add a pet to your family, it's important to think through the implications and gain agreement from your tween about caretaking responsibilities. If you manage expectations ahead, you can avoid pet care adding to the day-to-day stress of family life. Also, you should consider ease and others' comfort in caring for your family pet while on vacation. Only animals that are bred locally and tested to be free of disease should be considered.

If after careful consideration, owning a pet isn't the right choice at this point, you can always introduce your tween to a virtual pet site! Some to consider: Marapets, Powerpets, The Fuzz Academy, Zetapets, Creature Breeder, Pup World. Giropets. Cyopets, Club Penguin [if it counts], AnimaZoo, Black Star Kennels, Dizzypets, eCritters, Creature Park, FooPets