Well we I got our gerbil's, May of 2000, when my then 10 year old
brought them home from school. To do that he had to bring in a cage
and a note. Now I know he is not old enough to care for them by his
self (some kids are) so I knew that I would be the primary care
giver, but that's fine with me, although I have always had hamsters
before. He handles them great and all, just the cleaning of the
cages falls to me, but it is what I expect.
On Wed, 1 Jan 1997 00:37:59 -0600, you wrote:
>On 15 Jul 2001, at 20:12, Tana and The Little Rascals wrote:
>> What is the appropriate age for a child to have a gerbil? Certainly I
>> think 4 is too young, and 10 is probably fine, but I haven't decided
>> where to draw the line in between.
>> Opinions?
>My opinion is that no child under the age of 16 should have charge
>of any pet without adult supervision. Having so said, my younger
>daughter was diligent about our pets since she was 5 (okay -
>psycho might be more appropriate) :) but I have seen teenagers
>that shouldn't be trusted with any animal.
>
>The child him/herself is the only yardstick one should use. But I
>still stand by my first belief :)
>
>With a smile,
>Deborah DeMaere
>DreamQuest Rodent Ranch
