Originally Posted by TooManyKitties:
When I was a kid we had rats. Sounds gross but they’re calmer than mice (they never bit), and if you get them young their tails are still small and not ugly. They make great, low-maintenance pets, and we had a series of them over the years. The good/bad thing is they only live about 2-3 years, which worked well for my parents. I’d want my kids to have pets that lived a little longer.
The first time I let DCKs pick out the classroom pet they picked out a rat. DW was less than amused.
They are great pets- we ended up with 3. The DCKs and I built a big multilevel cage about 3'x3'x2' and they loved it. Even had a leash/ harness for the oldest one to walk around outside with us. We kept them till I had to relicense with a different rep (my normal one was on a temp assignment) and she wouldn't do it with them in the house.
Still hacked about that.
I think fish and frogs are boring, can't have a reptile around kids, and I won't keep a bird inside. So basically I take the kids to the "small & furry" section and let them pick. They probably choose mice (they've chose a hamster once) is because the mice are the most active and attract the most attention.