My son had smeone come in a give a talk about unusal insects and some other more usal creatures,

He brought in a giant milipede and some hissing cockroaches, well my son held them and is completely taken by then,, he has always liked bugs stick insects, caterpillars, butterflys you know,,,


so my question is, his birthday is coming up and he would like either a milipede or some cockroaches, I have tried to do some research on it to help make a decision bu i would like help from a someone not a something(computer) LOL..

can anyone give me some advice please.

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Pets:

6 Chickens....
1 cat Alvin
1 dog Tilly

Cockroaches are fine, but be Millipedes when frightened or angry secrete hydrogen cyanide as a defense mechanism which although pretty harmless can cause a minor rash and irritation to skin. Another great insect for children is the Macleay's Spectre. A large harmless prickly looking stick insect.

Here's a website for stick insects; http://www.pets-classifieds.co.uk/pe...50-Eggs-1.html

I used to have some Macleays Spectres they are really great pets although you need to spray the leaves they eat twice a day. I miss mine.

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gsds (Henrick and Bella), the cats (Syd, Lilly, Elvis and Dizzy), the gerbils (Honey, Lisa, crusty, Millhouse, Flanders, Bart and Homer), the rats (Valentine, Flower, Petal, Blossom, Koda, Cava, George), the mice (Minnie, Pop, Seudag, Caraid, Silver, Trouble, Athena, Pandora, Aphrodite, Meep, and Springtime)

Crikey this sounds familiar! The amount of emails I get from parents saying their child enjoyed my roadshow and now wants one of my animals as a pet!

Both make good pets for children, I keep both but I would recommend a Millipede over a Cockroach. But I am biased, they are my favourites!

They are easy to house, easy to look after, live for 5-7 years and are low maintenance.
Paul mentioned about the fluid they can secrete, but it is quite rare they will do this. After some gentle handling they soon come around. As with all animals, children should wash their hands after handling them.

yes we have had that insect and enjoyed them, but alas graft have not stocked them for ages ,, and i do prefer to pick up live animals instead of recieving in the post.

I have had some good answers but I am really in a rut i just don't kow which one to get,l he has sensative skin, but the thought of cockroaches (shiver).......

__________________
Pets:

6 Chickens....
1 cat Alvin
1 dog Tilly

Another vote for Macleays Spectre here, I loved mine dearly and hope to get some more soon!

Out of millies or roaches? I keep both and can honestly say I find the cockroaches to be a far more interesting and enjoyable pet (and a lot easier to keep happy!)

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Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will p*ss on your computer.

The Story So Far:
Spock (2010-2011), who began our love affair with kitties but whose grasp on the green cross code was sadly lacking.
Icarus (2011-...?), who loves noses more than anything else.
Mildred (2010-...?), who sings to the birds.

The twisted brainwrong of a one-off man mental.

well the decision has been made, we are not getting any,,
it is an amazing long story and a very parental boring one LOL

I think I will sick to my orignal plan and get the quails, as these are wanted, and the work load will fall in with the chicken routine perfectly, and we all pich in with the chickens so,, cool beans


Thanks for all the advice.

Emma

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Pets:

6 Chickens....
1 cat Alvin
1 dog Tilly