Do you think a 2 year old is too young for the responsibilty of a pet fish?
by admin on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | 15 Comments
My son will be 2 on Monday and loves fish. His dad and I were considering buying him 1 or 2 goldfish. I think he’ll love the responsibilty of getting to feed them everyday,as well as enjoying watching them. My sister however belives 2 is too young for a pet, I’d like some other opinions.
I think it is just fine for you to buy him 1 fish in a fish bowl. Most 2 year olds know not to pet a fish and to keep them in the bowl. You guys will have to help him care for the fish but that’s not hard. Go ahead and get him the fish. Oh and there is a book about a pet gold fish dying so when the time comes read him the book and flush the fish.
Probably a little to young but better a gold fish than a puppy.
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As long as you moniter how much food he gives to the fish, it would be a great experience for him =]
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Too young to care for the pet by himself, but not too young to have the pet in the household. Make it a family pet, and perhaps he can HELP you with feeding and such if he would like.
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Far too young to have the sole responsibility of the pet. I mean, he’s 2! It would be fun for him to watch them, and help YOU feed them, but too young to have to do it all on his own.
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so long as the fish tank is kept away from reach and wont harm him or the fish, if he finds himself alone with the fish. I think he would enjoy them, as for his responsibility, I dont think he will have any until he’s about 6 or so. He wont know what the true meaning of responsibility is.
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He will probably not be able to take care of the fish by himself. I can envision a situation involving him petting the fish. You will have to supervise his feedings. When the fish die, he will be traumatized. Buying the fish will mean a lot more work for you.
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Too young for 99.999%
but some few people have budding geniuses.
What if he puts soap bar or something more dire in there?
Soap bar deadly enough!
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Yes, I think it is too young. Goldfish are delicate fish. Your child could overfed it or put somethign in the water that shouldn’t it be there. Even a temperature change could kill the fish. You have plenty of time to get him a pet. You don’t have to rush it.
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I DID THE SAME THING I BOUGHT MY SON A BETA FISH (LIVES LONGER) FOR HIS 2ND BIRTHDAY AND IT ENDED UP BEING MY PET … WHILE HE LOVED HIS FISH HE WAS TOO YOUNG TO FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE TO KEEP IT ALIVE
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I think it is just fine for you to buy him 1 fish in a fish bowl. Most 2 year olds know not to pet a fish and to keep them in the bowl. You guys will have to help him care for the fish but that’s not hard. Go ahead and get him the fish. Oh and there is a book about a pet gold fish dying so when the time comes read him the book and flush the fish.
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of course -but that shouldn’t deter your choice of pet.
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My son is going on 3 and we’ve had a fish since he was born and he’s learned to feed the fish. We supervise when he feeds it so he doesn’t give too much, but so far he’s great at it. His little sister is 18 months and she sits there and looks and it and says "fish" LOL so I don’t think it’s too young as long as you teach him what to do and what not to do.
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I think that 2 is a good age to take care of a pet with help from you. As long as you help him feed him and make sure that he doesn’t take him out of the bowl, he’ll love it. I’d get him a beta fish though. They tend to live a lot longer. Goldfish can be known for dying a few days or a week after you buy them and I know that little children can be devastated when animals die.
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at two, hes probably not going to remember to feed that fish everyday, but goldfish are great pets for young kids like that, i suggest putting a chart next to the tank with a calender on it and he can put a dot on each day after he feeds the fish, then if you notice one night that theres no dot, you can throw a couple flakes of fish food in there, they are not exactly high maintenance pets, if it was something like a puppy then id say no cause if your the one ending up taking care of it, its a lot of work, but with a goldfish, it wont really matter, plus it will teach him responsibility at a young age.
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To be honest, yes, it is. My son had a fish at 2 and I ended up feeding it, cleaning the bowl and caring for it. About all my son did was stare at the bowl and drop fruit loops in it- in otherwords, a mess. He didn’t understand that the fish was a pet and needed to be treated carefully. When it died we didn’t replace it. I still have the bowl that I emptied and cleaned out to keep for when he’s older and can handle the responsibility better, but I don’t see getting another fish in our house unitl he’s around 5 or 6.
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