I'd suggest a rat, but 5 is a bit young for any mammal, due to the care level required.

How about something a bit sedentary, not that I have any experience, but how about Land Snails?

+1 on the giant land snails. although annoying to keep doing egg checks, they are easily taken out and frozen in a tied up plastic bag to ensure no babies. i never even thought about 1 of these. my girls used to love the 2 we had

Now that sounds interesting - he loves worms/snails in the garden etc and will watch them for hours. Will look into them a bit more !

2 foot tank, vivarium lid with half mesh half glass, a layer of compost, a cuttlefish bone and fresh veggies-happy giant snail in no time

cheap pets, easy to handle, live long lives, im tempted to let my 2 girls have 1 as a pet we shall see though, i like the look of the albino snails

molliepops, my grandaugter has snails

Here are some pics of her favourite - Gary

pic 1

pic 2

They just make me squirm and I've only seen them in pictures, but grandaughter loves them.

If your sister wants a pet and is using the 5 year old as a reason then any pet will do. If not, no pet will do.

What pet does your sister want? Whatever that is (to an extent) the boy can be involved in care giving. I waited until Youngest Child was 5 before getting another dog - my pet but Child is a major care giver three years later.


Re the snails - don't forget that they are hermaphrodites so one snail could already be impregnated and produce a massive number of babies. And they smell if you don't keep on top of the cleaning regime. Thus it has to be sister not nephew's choice.

maybe a worm farm/ant farm or a stick insect?

i always wanted stick insects when i was a kid, but my mum is scared to heck of them!

That's a bit unkind, my sister is happy to provide what her son needs and has got excited about having a pet. Left to her own devices I doubt a pet would be highest on her list of priorities but she is willing to help her son have one and is prepared to do what is necessary to make sure the pet and her son enjoy the experience.

I have now spoken to her and snails are off the list as his therapist had suggested something he can stroke and will respond to him.

He will never be a major carer IMO and she is well aware of that, because unless there is a cure for aspergers he will always be unaware of danger etc

Oh they are brilliant - and huge !

I didn't mean it to be unkind mollie and I'm sorry I upset you.

It's just that pets are such a major responsibility as you yourself know. What happens to the pet if he loses interest as many a five year old (regardless of any other issues) does? What if he is into something entirely different next year? Or the year after? As mature as he seems, he is only five.

If your sister actually wants a pet then it her pet isn't going to be a problem. If she doesn't then the poor bunny/rat/guinea pig isn't going to get the attention it needs. It's just going to be one more job for her.

By 'major carer' I meant the grooming, feeding, cleaning etc - under close supervision! Some children enjoy the responsibility.

I never found our Guineas 'interacted' much with us (my siblings and I) - much prefered doing their own thing. They were fun to watch and easily handled. Just never gave back. But that might have just been us - we had three and they had free run of the conservatory plus the patio in good weather so maybe didn't 'need' us.

The rat was far more interactive - he even gave 'kisses'. He seemed to actually enjoy human company.

Don't know about rabbits. We were never allowed one as mother still has a scar on her chest from her childhood bunny!! And my Nan's one dropped our Cocker Spaniel with one kick Kind of put me off

The breed like wildfire - my sister bought 'a few' home from a friend at school... Within weeks there were tons of them and they managed to escape

Internet - easy to take things the wrong way sorry.

She is very aware as I am how much time and effort pets take - if it all goes wrong (although I doubt it will) we have plans in place that we will take over the animal - so it needs to be something we can cope with too. Rabbits we have had before but now in a flat could be a problem, Guinneas may be easier, but Rats are my choice really as I believe they can be housed in a tall but slightly narrower cage and are small enough to get enough exercise in one room set aside for him/her. My husband has always been keen on getting one so he would be very happy to take one on.
So I think we are prepared to commit long term as a family - we have never turned out a creature we have committed to, always see it through to the grim end no matter what !

Back in the 70's when I was at school I was selected to bring home the class pets during the holidays and found stick insects don't like paraffin fumes - managed to kill the lot as our only heating was several paraffin stoves at the time !

rats are great, we used to have 1 called roly, years ago now, he was so interactive, would race around the sofa as we watched tv in the evening, we even taught him to jump through our hands onto something the other side. he was fantastic. they can be housed in tall bird cages with lots of toys and things to climb on, so wouldnt take up much floor space. just make sure you dont used woodshavings, we found this out too late for poor roly, when he developed a respiritory infection we were told to put him on wood based cat litter pellets. it cleared it up somewhat but he was never the same again, we had to have him PTS when he was bleeding from his nose and couldnt catch his breath

just make sure you dont give them treats through the bars, my friends rat bit straight through her neighbours finger nail and finger when she put her finger to the bars as he thought it was a treat so much blood! he had never bitten before, and never did after either.

i would love another rat, but im allergic to them now, so i cant

A few tips if you're thinking of guinea pigs.

Firstly, if you want to do the best for the piggies your sister is going to need to build a CC cage for them. The cages sold in pet shops are not nearly large enough to house them, can't believe they can actually sell the bloody things. I originally got my two piggies one from a pet shop and they kept fighting until I made them a bigger cage. For two guinea pigs you need 2x4 grids (I'll mention grids in a minute) The cages are simple to make though (and cheaper!), so don't worry. I popped down to my B&Q and bought the cube mesh grids from there, they are slightly tricky to find here in the UK so here is some more information on where to get them, they can be found online it seems. I got some cheap lino for the flooring along with the grids and that's all you need. It makes moving the piggies easy and cleaning is far easier with these than pet shop cages. All the information you need is on this website, including how to make your own!: http://guineapigcages.com/index.htm

Another tip I recommend is reusable bedding. I stock up on cheap fleece and towels from Primark and it's great. On the bottom layer you have newspaper, then a towel and then the fleece goes on top. This bedding lasts a good week or so, so you don't have to change them so much. To clean up I just grab the fleece and towels, shake it off into a bin bag and then they go in the washing machine without fabric softener as that makes the fleece waterproof. The idea is that the piggies wee and it soaks through the fleece and towels and into the newspaper. The biggest plus to this bedding is that it barely smells, I found that all the sawdust made their first cage set up stink.

If you're thinking of getting guinea pigs then I suggest that you look into rehoming a pair. I was surprised at how many places there were with unwanted piggies. The good thing about adopting is that they've usually been neutered and treated for lice, something that is definitely not guaranteed at pet shops. I have a male and female from a shelter, they've both been neutered and they both get along great.

Bear in mind that piggies last to around 7-8 years, so they are not a responsibility to take on lightly. They are cheap to keep if they're fit and healthy, but my two both had a bad spell of getting ill at the same time. Tantor formed an abscess that went from really small on a Saturday evening to fully blown and burst the next Sunday. On top of an awful smelly bus ride covered in abscess pus I ended up paying nearly £200 in vet bills because it was a Sunday, for a relatively small clean up. Soon after he got another lump that I paid to be removed. It was definitely worth it, but just a warning that those kinds of costs can happen. He's been fine ever since though and no problems at all now!


Quite a few pet food has also said on the back that piggies only need fresh veg once a week or so. Really, they should be having something fresh everyday. Terk and Tantor here love carrots, cucumber, dill, spinach, beetroot (although be warned they look like they're bleeding from the mouth when they eat it!) and especially the lovely green carrot tops.

Something else I've noticed and always warn people about...Pets at Home have been selling those massive ferret exercise balls that say 'suitable for guinea pigs' on them. I've gone in and told them countless times, they are not suitable for piggies at all. Their spines are just not made to use them. So if you're looking for toys, do not get them one of these!

Hope this helps!

Just a couple of things I wanted to add...


Mine are in a pet shop cage and have never fought - they get plenty of floor time.


Woodshavings? Because AFAIK you shouldn't use sawdust.


It's often not advised as necessary to neuter guinea pigs. Makes little difference to their behaviour and is dangerous for such small mammals.

I love my pet rats, and I probably wouldn't get another kind of rodent as rats are just better all round . They must be kept in pairs (minimum) though, and they do need a good sized cage. Boy rats can be a bit slower than girls and so might be better than speedy girls for a child. You'd have to talk your sister round though; if she met some well-behaved rats at a rat show or some owned by a good breeder I'm sure she'd be convinced. These websites might be a good start: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community/ http://www.nfrs.org/index.html.

However if I would consider guinea pigs if it was a pet for a child and not for me. Guinea pigs are so gentle and docile that they do make a good first pet. You definitely get more interaction from rats though.

Whatever pet she gets, I would encourage your sister to either get them from a good breeder or from a rescue centre. That way you can get a better idea of the temperament of the individual animals, as both good breeders and good rescue centres will have handled the animal and will know its history, whereas it is a LOT more hit and miss with a pet shop, and you could end up with an animal that bites or is too scared to be handled.

Use shredded cardboard for rats, rather than wood shaving or dust for the reasons stated above.

I'd imagine the same problems (phenols) must exist for all small mammals.

And back on subject if it's going to be a mammal then a rat is far more interactive, and happy to be around people.

I'll pass those websites on to her thank you.

I personally don't feel happy with keeping piggies in pet shop cages, they're far too small. If they are the same size as the minimum requirements for guinea pigs then I don't mind, but I've yet to see one.


Yeah sorry, I got the names mixed up.



Well a lot of male and females were housed together where I adopted, so it was best they were neutered.

I prefer to adopt neutered guinea pigs than take the word of pet shops who have been known to lie about the sex of guinea pigs when selling and housing them.

With the exception of sligorox everyone keeps saying A rat, no no no no no, it must be AT LEAST two rats! Sorry it was jsut really starting to bug me. I've had experience of all the small furrys and rats are by far the best. They are the easiest to handle by miles and they give loads back, unlike any of the others. You really feel they want to spend time with you and enjoy interacting with you, never felt like any of the others wanted to do anything but get fed and get away, with the exception of my rabbit who would tolerate being stroked for a while.

If you do manage to persuade ur sis on the rat front, definately get the rats from a breeder. I got mine form bohemian rats and they are so tame and have been form the first day I brought them home, none of this leave em only to settle in stuff they were at the front of the cage wanting me to pick them up from the minute i put them in there!

I think a pet would be a good idea with your nephew having asbergers. My older son has it and we have always had animals.
Small animals are nice eg. rabbits and guinea pigs are nice but can bite if freightend at all. When the get too the hormonal stage they would have to be neutered. Like others say i would get a rescue pair that you know can be friendly
Dogs are good but not practical if because they need walking and when you go away they would have to go in a kennel. But they can be so loyal too you and it might help your nephew.
Cats can be friendly but not always and some dont like being picked up. If you do decide on a cat i would get a male they are more loving and dont get a tortie as they are hyper.
What ever your sister decides i am sure your nephew will love it. Good look in finding the perfect pet as well

I think cats are great pets for children if the parents are responsible enough to teach kids how to look after a cat.

My children have grown up with cats from birth and have never harmed a pet, nor has a pet harmed them.

Cats are wonderful loving animals and for the most instant entertainment for anyone just by sitting back and watching them or even throwing catnipped toy mice about. And they make wonderful cuddle companions full of purrs and love.

Of course, you do need a lot of equipment for a cat initially, but they are the perfect pet for just about anyone.

Mind, some children can be frightened of cats.

last post missing type bump

Has your nephew said what sort of pet he would like