There comes a time in the life of all parents when their children start begging them for a pet. Often, the negotiations start with things like ponies and dinosaurs, dwindle rapidly to dogs and snakes, and then settle somewhere in the hamster and gecko range. Indeed, parents can get bombarded by requests for all sorts of pets: dogs, cats, snakes, lizards, turtles, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamster, gerbils, mice, parrots, finches, and everything in between.
Not too many children ask for fish.
However, fish can make an excellent first pet for children. With a few basic rules – no dumping stuff in the tank, no taking the fish out of the tank – and a very small amount of daily and weekly care, keeping fish can be an educational and enjoyable experience.
The following is a comparison between several popular first pet types, and fish.
Dogs vs. Fish
Sure, dogs make great pets. They are cuddly when small and fun to play with. You can even teach them tricks. However, they also stink and need bathing regularly. They bark, harass the mail carrier, and pee on the floor when excited. They need daily food and water, and they need to be walked several times a day. While out on this walk, any excrement will need to be picked up and taken home.
Fish, on the other hand, never need to be walked. They do need to be fed daily, and all of their excrement will be easily taken care of by a filter and once per week water changes. They do not smell or make any noise. If they lunge threateningly at anyone, they will just bump their nose into the glass. They will never pee on the floor.
Cats vs. Fish
Cats are another great cuddly pet. Unlike stinky dogs, cats are quite clean and take care of bathing themselves. They also do not need to be walked, and instead do their business in a convenient litter box. This litter box, however, needs to be cleaned out at least daily, and will have quite a bit of odor. Again, change one quarter of the fish tank water once a week and you are fine.
Reptiles vs. Fish
Reptiles are quite nice as pets and are contained as fish are. They, however, usually eat live food such as crickets. There is the very real possibility of one of these crickets escaping and hiding in the corner of your bedroom chirping all night. This will cause undue stress to the entire family. With reptiles, there is often a very high ‘ick’ or ‘AAHHH!’ factor involved. Reptiles often become unwitting weapons in brother / sister sibling rivalry.
Fish encourage no such animosity. If you have a fish that eats live food, there is still no possibility of that live food escaping the tank and necessitating 2:00 am hunts in bedroom corners.
Small Mammals vs. Fish
Small mammals can also be used in the sibling wars. Things such as mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils often lead to standing on chairs and running around with brooms. These animals, while kept in cages, are excellent escape artists. They also require very frequent cage cleanings, as their smell can become overwhelming quickly.
Small mammals have a propensity for rapid breeding as well. Fish, such as guppies and swordtails, also have this habit. However, ten hamsters can quickly overrun a small cage. Guppy babies will simply provide free food to the other fish in the tank.
As you can see by the above examples, fish make excellent first pets for children, far superior, in fact, to many other types of animals. Not only are they educational, but they are very enjoyable. Best of all, they are low maintenance and can take a bit of forgetfulness on the part of the child pet owner. In general, fish will be much less trouble for the busy parent who will undoubtedly end up taking over their care.
