Children and Pets

I would skip the "mock pet" part... And agree that the child showing responsibility (i.e. doing chores consistently) first, is a good step.

If the child is old enough to understand the routine of chores and responsible enough to keep with that; then provided that they research the pet, I would say it should be OK to do.

I would probably lean on the side of not getting them a "personal" pet until they are older (not high school age, but at least upper elementary or MS). Until that point, you can have "family" pets that they share some responsibility for. Only when they prove that they can handle their chores, and some chores for the "family" pets, can they graduate to their "own" pet.

I know that I will always have animals in the house for my personal enjoyment.. So that will be helpful for exposing my kids to animals and their care before they get a personal pet. I could see this issue being harder for parents that won't be keeping pets themselves.

I know my parents never wanted animals unless we asked for them.. Of course, I had to wait until I moved out to get any reptiles (parents are slightly afraid of snakes) but they did let me get rodents, fish, and cats.

I would also like to say that rats might be more of an intermediate pet... They can live in cages, but need big ones, very frequent cleaning, and interaction / socialization.

I also wanted to add, that for me, especially if the child is older, cost should factor in and they should be responsible for saving money for the purchase of their pet and allocating money towards it's food and supplies. This might be a "reduced" cost, with me paying most of it, but the child should learn that having your own pet will cost you both in time and money. This could be money earned from chores, or in HS, from a job, etc.

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Originally Posted by Mr_Hughes

Really I didn't think of it that way Lizardlicks. I guess I just wanted a way to get them into the habit before loosing them on a pet. Part of the discussion had turned to our roommate (who is moving in two weeks partially due to the impending baby and partially due to the situation that arose with his rats.) and his complete uncaring neglect that resulted in one dead rat and one nearly starved survivor. He tried to say they fought and one killed the other, but when I picked maple up she was nothing but bones. Needless to say she is ours now. I guess it just really got to me because I thought back to my childhood and how many of my pets died or were lost due to thoughtless neglect. The first being my first grade pet. A Parakeet named Ben. I fed him. That was all I was allowed to do. no taking him out to train him no cleaning his cage just feed him. When he ran out of food I told my mom and waited. and waited and waited. Gave him some crackers to tide him over (because "he should be alright until mom buys him food right?") and one day I went in just in time to see him keel over off of his perch. most of my experience with pets was that they were disposable things. Truth be told I didn't become truly responsible with my pets until we settled where we are now 3 years ago. I suppose that's why my roommate's thoughtlessness with his rats got to me so much. and maybe I am over thinking it too much. When you know better you do better. I really do like the idea of Letting the child help care for the already existent pets of which we have a nice variety (would even have two clown fish that we'd rescued two years ago had I wanted to continue my amateurism with them. Just gave them up to a willing friend two weeks ago.)

yeah I was just over thinking it all. I've been doing that a lot lately lol. This whole impending parenthood thing has me over thinking a lot of things.

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Ouch, that's harsh, man. Not your fault though, sounds like your parents were the irresponsible ones, not you. Ditto the roommate. Adults are a whole different matter than kids, their habits and priorities are already set. Honestly, in this case the best advice I can give would be to be the example you want your kids to have about responsible pet keeping. Be kind and conscientious, do the research together and have honest discussions about who is expected to do what and why. Kids are a lot smarter than adults give 'em credit for! My daughter has loved helping me take care of the pets we have since she was two or three. She'd help feed the dog, and even clean the cat box (with supervision so she didn't make TOO much of a mess, lol). Now she has a fish, and same deal, the only thing she's responsible for now is the feeding, but she does it everyday. Even reminds me to go get the food down for her. Kids are always gonna be interested in animals, and the best way to foster that interest for the long term is to be in there, hands on right along with them.

I am certainly glad that I have been able to become a better pet owner so being a better example won't be hard. ^_^ Thanks so much!

I know when I was growing up I didn't have pets of my own, we just had a ton of animals (cats, dogs, horses, fish, goats, snakes, possums). Growing up surrounded by them taking care of them was just kind of second nature. By the time I was old enough to take care of them, I could because I had been doing as much as I could since I was able to.
I'm a big believer in the idea of no one in a family having individual pets and all the animals being everyone's responsibility. Now I do most of the reptile care and my husband does most of the dog's care because that's just where our interests lie, but all the pets still belong to everyone.