Hamster or Fish?

NO, this is not a perverse dinner menu, just a pet commentary. We recently babysat our friends fish for about 2 weeks. If you are considering a pet for your family of young children - consider our experiences.

I've had fish as pets before, but they just are not all that much fun. They can't be cuddled or held, and they really don't do much. The kids loved having "her" here, but she wasn't at all interactive (unless you consider Jacob throwing Cheerios, a pencil, a few toys, etc into the bowl saying "Fish eat this?") Emily made various works of art to hang by the bowl for her to look at, so she wouldn't get bored - the picture above is of a bat.

Our neighbors had had 3 other fish die in the few weeks immediately prior to our taking over this remaining one - and I was super anxious the whole time. Rick brought me orange roses for my birthday, and Jacob pulled a petal off one and tossed it in the fish bowl. When I walked in the kitchen and saw something orange floating on the water I just about died.

Then there's the cleaning. Given, Mrs Nibbles had come with a newly cleaned cage & we didn't have to clean her out during her stay, but still I'm thinking it's not too hard, and something Rebekah (& maybe even Emily) could do without my help. The fish? No way. Fish are pretty sensitive to water changes. I cleaned it out 4 times while it was here, and each time I was on tender hooks that the change of water would be the thing that killed it. Then there was the actual cleaning process - where to pour the old water? In our sink (where we prepare our food?), the tub maybe (where the kids bathe?) Eventually I settled on down the toilet - but was SUPER careful not to let any of the gravel from the bottom go down. The rinsing water went down the toilet too - this is not a task I would trust to my kids.

I had tons of pets growing up (hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, a horse, a goat, a duck, chickens, a tortoise ....) I always thought that when I was an adult and calling the shots I'd have a menagerie. Yet here I am debating about a hamster! The thing is, I really love animals and don't want to get a pet and not give it the utmost of care. I know that the final responsibility for this will rest with me (no matter how many promises I hear from my kids.) However, I also think having a pet teaches kids responsibility and a great way to observe & learn about the life cycle. Rebekah had guinea pigs and a rabbit before we moved to NY - but we haven't had a pet since then. When Jane is older I'm all for a dog - but am not up for that much work right now.

So, on Saturday we made a stop at the pet store and looked at hamsters. I'm going to get them one in the fall. I don't want to have to worry about getting people to watch it while we travel (we're about to take a big trip, and always go away for a while in the summer) and Jane will be 18 months old by then. Rebekah and Emily will be able to clean it out, and I think it will work out well. Of course, it's going to have to rotate who's bedroom is stays in - they all want it in theirs.

I'd love to get them guinea pigs again (one of the BEST pets I've ever had), but they can get pretty smelly. Our Guinea pigs when we lived in Utah lived outside during the summer, and in the garage in winter. Our garage here is not attached to the house, and has no electricity - the poor things would freeze. So no guineas for us here. Yes, I think a hamster is the perfect solution for us. I have a few months to plan for it - I'm actually pretty excited about the idea!