First Pets – the Choice for Children

Your first pet must be the sort of animal that you can reasonably expect to look after properly and to give a happy life to. In fact, as much as you might want one, even a dog may prove to be too much of a handful for a young pet owner.

Experience has shown that there are four animals which are particularly suitable for first time pet owners. All of these are easy and economical to keep. They are all mammals, that means warm-blooded creatures that suckle (feed milk to) their young. You may well have come across these animals before at school or at friends’ houses. They are the rabbit, the hamster, the gerbil and the guinea pig.

As these animals are all rather similar, most of the general rules that follow apply to all of them.