Small Animals and Children

Small Animals and Children
Their birthday is coming up and your child may want a small friend to call their own. Small animals are a good idea for a first pet. Their size is not intimidating and they do not need quite as much room as your other family pets. They can teach your child time management and responsibility.
There are things you can do to insure your child properly cares for their new small friend.

Age-Appropriate Tasks
Do not let younger children clean the cage as chemicals used to clean it can be very caustic and dangerous. Instead, allow your child to feed the animal, handle it, provide it with water, and you can let them help you set the cage back up once it has been properly cleaned. Be sure you show your child the appropriate amount of food to feed it as small children are very likely to over feed their animals.

Handle With Care
Young children don’t quite know their own strength so they can easily squeeze an animal too hard resulting in either harm to their friend or an angry bite to the fingers. Show your child the appropriate way to hold and handle their small pet. Let them know the importance of not just setting the animal free and they must keep an eye on it at all times when it is out of the cage.

Responsibility
Research small animals with your child and start telling them the importance of animal ownership responsibility. Get a pet that would suit you and your child’s lifestyle. For example, if your child is very tactile, fish may not work as they would be inclined to hold them. Make a checklist for supplies and responsibilities and hang it somewhere so your child can keep an eye on things.
A small animal can be a joy to a child but make sure it is not an impulse buy and explain to our child the responsibilities that come with it. As long as you and your child know the direction you need to be heading in, pet ownership will be a wonderful experience.

By Staff Writer Trish Harding
http://dallas-plano-richardson.fetchpetcare.com