Any suggestions for a pet for a 2 1/2 yr old? Something easy maintenance.. Going to wait till he and his 9 mth old sister are older for a dog but I was thinking a hermit crab? Any other suggestions?
- Guinea pig? Tara
- Fish? We have gold fish and my 16 month old loves them. Chantel
- My 2 yr old has a rabbit; she helps me fed her and holds the water bowl while I fill it. She loves it. Jazmyne
- A little cockatiel? My 20mo loves ours. Jess
- Hermit crabs are awesome! !!!! My kids loved them, so easy to look after and they can hold them. Jasmah
- A fish, my 2yr old has a gold fish called nemo; he loves sitting quietly watching the fish and remembers to feed him every day. Alexis
- Wouldn’t recommend a hermit crab. I used to own hermit crabs and they’re actually quite high maintenance and fairly inactive for a large portion of the year so would probably be quite boring for a little one. I would also recommend a fish that’s easy maintenance like a gold fish or betta. Chantelle
- Every one may think I’m crazy but if you’re hands on enviro mummy earthworms in a worm farm are great! You get to put your scraps in there get worm tea & castings for your garden they are very clean & don’t bite so they can be held. They don’t smell bad & teaches children to reuse, think of the environment & make eating fruit & veg fun as the worms need the scraps. We have one. Big hit & with visitors. Aimee
- I have always had a dog from before I had kids and all 4 of mine are great animal lovers my 21 month can walk up and cuddle the dogs that are her size and they love it! I would recommend a dog from a young age as I have seen it when kids don’t have one then get a puppy and they are scared of it cos it just wants to play and the puppy ends up at the RSPCA! Kristy
- Rabbit, fish, cats are always easy my kids have hermit crabs! Eboni
- I wouldn’t recommend hermit crabs as they are quite a lot of work n smell a fair bit if u doesn’t keep on them. I’d say a fish or even a guinea pig isn’t so bad. Sheena
- If you get fish look at something like Rosie barbs (or sometimes know as feeder fish). Very cheap to buy and quite indestructible. They don’t like we’ll with any other fish, which is why they are used as live good. I have had them in my fish pond for 3 years. My 2 year old daughter loves to feed them and puts her hands in the water and they have a nibble. The laughter is fantastic. Makeisha
- Hermit crabs smell if you don’t completely clean out their tank regularly, and that’s hard work so they are pretty high maintenance I reckon. We have a guinea pig and my 3 year old loves helping me feed him carrots and things. I don’t let him play with it though because he might accidentally be too rough and that wouldn’t be fun for Picard. Fish are easy maintenance but pretty boring for kiddies- my son would constantly try and “catch” ours… It didn’t last very long… Chloe
- If you want something for the kids to interact with a cat or kitten is great, low maintenance easy to train and there’s always so many in the rspca looking for homes! Nicole
- An Ant farm is amazingly cool to watch because it’s always active… Or a Turtle, or a Tadpole he can watch change into a frog?? Nikki
- Hermit crabs are NOT easy maintenance! We have a rabbit and it is very easy maintenance, my 2yr son loves helping to feed him. Carmen
- My 2 yo loves our turtle, only need feeding twice a week, really low maintenance. Jess
- Stick insect you can buy them online you can hold the kinda cool. Genelle
- Hermit crabs r very fragile and they will rip off limbs too easy.
Guinea pigs are great or a bird or fish. Lisa
- Our ds (2.5) love his budgie “nut” Kerry
- I wouldn’t recommend a cat or dog at that age as they lose interest to fast! And cats live 20yrs and dogs 10-15. Lisa
- Pet rock? What about a plant instead you could grow from seed, then we he gets bored you have less work to do. Rebecca
