Every kid, at one time or another, will bug their parents for a pet. Although children have no clue about the responsibility of pet ownership, their parents generally do. Since most parents are busy, work full time, and have all of their home duties awaiting them after they get home after a long day, their first inclinations when posed with such a question is to say no. For other parents, they may choose to use the situation for teaching their children some responsibility. However, these parents may still have some reservations regarding which kind of pet to purchase, and will research the best small pets for kids.
Although dogs and cats may not be the best small pets for kids, they are good pets for kids. However, dogs can be particularly challenging as a good starter pet for kids. Dogs will require being walked several times per day, house training, feeding, brushing, and sometimes additional exercise. As such, dogs require considerable responsibility, which often falls upon the parents. While cats are good house pets for kids and are a bit easier than dogs, their litter boxes still need grooming, feeding, and litter box cleaning. For small children who have never owned a pet, dogs and cats may not be the best small pets for kids, nor are they good pets for kids with allergies. And many times, the parents end up doing the majority of the tasks involved with caring for dogs and cats, which defeats the purpose of teaching kids responsibility.
As such, the best small pets for kids are often hamsters, ferrets, chinchillas, box turtles, guinea pigs, rabbits, parrots, and geckos. While some sources claim that betta fish and hermit crabs are good pets, fish tend to die quickly and tend to resist cuddling. As for hermit crabs, a game of fetch can be dull. However, any of the others might be the best small pets for kids. None of the above pets eat much, need to be walked, can be kept in cages, and are easy to clean up after. These are the best small pets for kids because children can be taught to take care of them in a relatively brief period of time. And in the event that mom or dad has to step in, they will not have to commit significant amounts of time and money to do so.
