Brother wants a little critter for his bday.. Any suggestions?

[Shanny]

Hi everyone!
I have a little brother who will be ten this feb and he has shown great interest in my red eye tree frogs and axolotls, and every time he comes to my house he wants to go to the reptile store with me just to look at all the cool lil lizards and frogs.
So I was thinking that maybe I should get him something like this for his birthday. He really thinks pac mans are cool looking, but I don't think that will be a good animal for him just because pac mans aren't very active during the day.

So, here's what I have to work with....
Right now he has a 10 gallon tank, so I'm looking for one single animal that would be fine living in this size tank. This tank was used for fish, so he already has all the aquarium essentials if I were to get him something aquatic or semi-aquatic (I.e. Salamander, axolotl..)

Also suggestions of reptiles or amphibians that are active during the daytime, so that he won't get bored...

If I cannot come up with anything in the amphibian or reptile group then I will just have to decide on a different gift haha
He has 2 big dogs and a cat already, so I'd like to get him something contained in his tank for the majority if not all of the time. He is just like me in the sense that he likes to sit and watch my frogs and axolotls for hours, so I think he would love a gift like this!

Any and all ideas are welcome, thanks for your help :-)

[UncleChester]

A fire-bellied toad perhaps?

He understands frogs are 'look but don't touch any more than necessary' pets? Many kids can't resist manhandling everything.

[ViperJr]

First of all, please note that I do not know your brother or you, therefore please do not take anything personally. This is just my own opinion on this general subject, ok?
Moreover, I'm in a very similar situation. My younger brother (just a few years older than yours) really wants a Rankin's dragon, but I pretty much have the same opinion there as what I'm going to tell you, so I'm not talking totally out of my ***... Only mostly

Before anything else, get your parents onboard, since they are the ones resonsible in the end, no matter how responsible your younger brother is. Until he's an adult, it's their busines just as much (if not more). The next step is getting the little one to actually decide on a specific species that he really likes and want to take care of, not just the concept of taking care of something. When that is settled, get together with him and research-research-research! Of course, this is hard when you are at the age of 10, so you probably will have to help him a lot with this part.
After that, it's the usual "setting up a proper terarrium"-aspect, which is probaly a great deal of fun to do with your brother!

After all of this, it might be time to get him his pet. Now, of course, all of this might be hard to do before February. Animals is a terrible gift, unless all the preperations are done beforehand. You gift could be to pay for all of this and help him.
Lastly, if he is a ten year old kid that wants something "fun to look at", a reptile or amphibian might generally not be the best pet in the first place.

Best of luck and wish Congratualtions from Frog Forum to him on his big day!

[n321]

Many kinds of toads make good pets (firebellied, American, pretty much any species). They are fairly easy to keep, and they are more "holdable" than many frogs. Unfortunately, it's rather hard to find true Bufo toads. You'd have to buy one online most likely.

Red-eyed treefrogs and axolotls I don't think would be good beginner pets. I think red-eyed treefrogs are very delicate and sensitive. Axolotls need very clean water, and you can't hold them AT ALL. For treefrogs, I would recomend a White's Treefrog. I had one for several years. They are pretty lazy though. For salamanders, I'd recomend Tiger Salamanders. Again, I have had two of these for several years. They are really funny. They bite at anything, and race up and down the cage at really random times. I'd definitely recomend those as first-time pets.

[flybyferns]

Hi Shanny,
Like Martin mentioned, he's young? and frogs aren't warm and cuddly. Ha!
At that age ,they really want to touch and hold their pets.
Don't know?
Do you live near-by---- to help with the care?

How about a Teddy Bear Hamster? (not the those dwarf hamsters- they do not like being held)
You could use the tank, a wheel, a plastic hamster hide,a water bottle, and some food-you're set !
And he could hold it! A hammy is a great 1st pet !!!
Lynn

[Shanny]

Yeah I know he's young but he took care of his fish and yep I live pretty close by. I wouldn't get him red eyes or axolotls because I know the care they require, he just enjoys mine
I was thinking to get him a hamster or some small rodent if I couldn't get any feedback on other things, I just wanted to hear what everyone else thought about it.
My mom is fine with him having a small pet for his 10 gallon, he just doesn't have room for anything bigger than that right now.
It's not like any of these would be a surprise to him the day of his bday, I would make sure whatever I chose that he would like it to or show interest in it and make sure he knew the care of it beforehand.

Thanks for all you guys help and input