For those of you who are just tuning in, this is a continuation of the post Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Cats, Dogs, and Fish. In this series of posts, my goal is to help you select the perfect pet for your family. I have literally owned every single pet I’m discussing here at one point or another, so I know firsthand what it takes to care for them. Hopefully some of my experiences will lead you to a pet that your family will love.
Rabbits
Rabbits seem like great family pets because they look so sweet and cuddly. The fact is that you may never get your rabbit to calm down enough to actually cuddle with him or her. Rabbits can be vicious at times, despite their overall look. They also stink because they poop so much, and they are hard to clean up after. You need a large cage to allow your rabbit to properly roam around, and if you let him or her just walk around the house, you’re going to end up with rabbit poo all over the place. You may enjoy the rabbit for a day or two, but eventually, he or she may be a much bigger hassle than what you bargained for.
I will say that rabbits can be charming, and for the most part, they’re cheap to take care of. The cage may be expensive, but you can get a cheap one from Craigslist if you look around enough. You won’t have to worry about the rabbit making a lot of noise either, which could prove beneficial if you have to study for a masters degree online. You just have to keep all this in mind when picking the perfect pet for your family.
Rodents
Rodents are pets like mice, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs. I’ve owner hamsters and mice in my day, and I was always drawn in by the idea of creating this elaborate cage for them to run around in. The picture in this post is of my actual hamster cage. It cost me more than $200 by the time everything was done, and it covered two full shelves. The 
mouse cage I had wasn’t quite as elaborate, but it was still pretty awesome.
Even though these cages looked amazing, hey were incredibly hard to take care of. What you have to remember is that rodents poop everywhere they go. They don’t just go in one general zone. Thus you have to clean all of these cage pieces in detail, and you have to clean them often. Mice in particular like to throw their bedding out of the cage, so you have that crap to pick up on top of everything else. Ugh, it’s a nightmare.
Above all else, most rodents are nocturnal. They move around in the stores because of all the stimulation around them, but in your house, they probably won’t move around until you’re asleep. Then you have the noise from the wheels to deal with, and you have the bedding mess to clean up in the morning. Unless you just love rodents with a passion, they probably won’t be pets for your family.
Reptiles
Most families aren’t drawn towards reptiles because they aren’t cute and cuddly. Nevertheless, you may find yourself being tempted by a turtle at your local Petco because he just looks cool. Reptiles can really go either way for families. They can be entertaining when they’re awake, but many species of reptiles sleep almost all day long. If you get a giant tortoise of some sort, you can actually walk him in your yard like a dog. The only problem is that he won’t do tricks, he won’t move quickly, and he may not even move when you first put him outside.
Reptiles smell, and they have to have a certain temperature and humidity level in their cages at all times. This can be hard to manage, especially if your house has moisture issues like mine did. I had to spray my lizard tank down every few hours to keep up the humidity, and my little pet never looked happy. You don’t want to end up in a similar situation.
There’s More…
I’ve exhausted yet another post without finishing my pet discussion, so feel free to check out Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Birds, Bugs, and Hermit Crabs for even more pet ideas for your family.