# Little Cousin



## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

My little cousin is 5 and she wants to get a betta.Her mom ask me if she would be able to take care of it by herself i think no shes too young but what do you think?

thanks:betta:,Kayla


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

no one is ever too young! she can just by an AGA 2.5 gal kit, heater, a bottle of prime, and voila! for water changes, all she will need is just a cup!


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

ok thx for the info


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

believe me she can do it-just tell her mom to keep a constant shedule on water changes. i had trouble doing this with my jack dempsey in a 15 long...yet amazingly he lived for 8 years.


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

ok thats what i will tell her mom thx sooo much


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Uhm.. before you do anything else unless I'm too late...

Is your little cousin very "rough" on animals or anything around the house doesn't matter if it is furniture or drops anything??

If yes then she can get one... just on a spot where she can't reach it so then she doesn't make an attempt to tip it over. If she is gentle with things, it's definitely okay!! just get her mom or your aunt to watch her for a little bit when your little cousin is going to watch over it. Because you never know when your cousin might accidentally tip the bowl or do something bad..

Constant reminders are best for children  just not too much reminding. Like every single second, minute, or hr xD Probably once every few days so then your cousin won't forget.


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

well my cousin is rough with some things but gentle with others


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> well my cousin is rough with some things but gentle with others


Oh so what is she rough on?


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

well she is mostly rough on bowls becouse she drops them ans with her toys


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> well she is mostly rough on bowls becouse she drops them ans with her toys


Oh Okay. So what is she gentle with?? fishes and animals?

If she is rough on bowls, it's probably better getting a 5 or 10 gallon tank.. if you get a 10 gallon tank it would be 100 pounds, so it's going to be hard for her to knock it down. And people say that bettas like to be in open spaces sometimes, or shallow waters too. So you don't have to fill up the water to the top all the time. Since they are like puddle fishes or they do reside in rice patties, and there must be a lot of plankton or something there... but they do like to jump a lot.

a Betta bowl might not be good.. unless if the conditions are right, I'm pretty sure they won't jump out because people say that when the fishes don't like their tank condition they jump out to their deaths 

That's why I keep a lid on top of all my tanks, and do water changes all the time to keep the nitrites and ammonia from trying to rise...


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

umm well she was pretty rough with my dachund molly


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> umm well she was pretty rough with my dachund molly


Oh. So that might not be a good idea to get her the Betta. My English teacher from SO long ago had a young girl and she said that she won't get her fishes or any other animals until she is 9 or 10. Or whenever she is responsible enough


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

ok thats a good idea thanks alot


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> ok thats a good idea thanks alot


No problem  but if you ever do get a Betta for her, just be very careful because if she does break the bowl or do something bad to it... then you should wait a few months or a few years until she knows more about them 

Oh, try and tell her some information about Betta's like make some story about them  Children like stories about how Betta's like to be treated with care and very gentle.

I got experience xD


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

wow that's a neat idea. Inever thought of that. Well thanks soo much!


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> wow that's a neat idea. Inever thought of that. Well thanks soo much!


No problem  I take care of children a lot on my spare time, and they all have aquariums, but the tanks are big like 100 gallons + so they just leave finger prints all over the tank ha ha  and some aren't very nice kids, but parenting tips always work especially when I have to use time out and break up sibling fights 

Good thing I do my part on helping to clean the tanks when I have to when they need me to babysit their children. Or dog xD some people ask me to take care of their dogs for a while when the family goes out for dinner or to some place hahaahahaha.


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

nice job ha ha


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> nice job ha ha


Yehp  I'm pretty well known on my street really since I don't charge so much xD

I don't know how much people charge per person or pet, or per hr but I just put in a flat fee of 5 dollars an hr per child and 2 dollars per pet  

I don't like to make people pay so much for just babysitting people or animals 

how much would you charge if someone asked you to take care of someone else child?


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

umm i would probally charch 5.00 or 10.00 depending on how many children


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Ummmm. While I think a fish for a young child is a good idea I do not think the unsupervised idea is a good one. I think a 5 year old will need help. They need to have gravel maintenance and some help with things. It is too hard to miss signs of disease and there are simple rules of safety involved like not putting your hands in the tank without a good wash first and do not have any cuts or sores on your hands and put them in the water. There also needs to be some supervision on the feeding due to the fact that the worst thing you can do to a betta is overfeed and a 5 year old is very tempted to keep feeding because the fish will keep eating. 

No I do not think they can be unsupervised at that age but the idea of the pet is a good one, but a parent still needs to be in charge of the water changes and watch the feeding and then remove the food until the next feeding. Fish are living things and not toys and at that age there is the tendency to think of them as a pretty toy.

Rose


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## COBettaCouple (Mar 24, 2009)

I think it's a good idea, but a little help from an adult would be great, especially at first. Some things could make it easier as well, like some flat, glass marbles for substrate (shiny, perfect for betta fins) and a good turkey baster to clean up poo and debris can make the cleaning easier for a little one.


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

oooo thats a great idea for the turkey baster


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> umm i would probally charch 5.00 or 10.00 depending on how many children


Oh okay


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

how r u doing today dark


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> how r u doing today dark


Oh good 

I'm always at work in the lab, offices, or outdoors in those "archaeological" sites. That's why i'm always traveling  Like I'm in England right now  

And, no I'm not babysitting  sadly I don't get to see my fishes either  I'll be leaving to China later


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

oo you must travel alot do you ever bring your fish with?


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## faye_arv (Apr 29, 2009)

My son is 4 1/2 and I have a 26 lt fish tank now just with 1 calico gold fish and a 120 lt tank with 2 res turtles. My son is very careful (I hounded him in the beginning a lot). He knows not to put his hands in the tank and he feeds "his" pets only the amount of food I give him.

A friend of my son's, on the other hand, came over one day and when I had my back turned put his hand in the fish tank and tried to catch one of my gold fish. He was younger than my son and I should have known better! Needless to say the fish died.

It depends on how mature the child is. Children can not be trusted to tend for animals on their own, not even kids as old as 10. They don't know the value of life and can easily forget to feed them or clean their habitat. It is the parents obligation to care for the animal.

Does your aunt want a pet? In the end, it will be her pet, your niece will get bored with it very quickly. I know from personal experience. I have lost pets due to unavoidable or inexplainable reasons and my son didn't even realize it till much later. That's kids for you


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

well my aunt does not like fish very much but my little cousin does. So i do not think my aunt would like to care for a fish but she said she would


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

faye_arv said:


> My son is 4 1/2 and I have a 26 lt fish tank now just with 1 calico gold fish and a 120 lt tank with 2 res turtles. My son is very careful (I hounded him in the beginning a lot). He knows not to put his hands in the tank and he feeds "his" pets only the amount of food I give him.
> 
> A friend of my son's, on the other hand, came over one day and when I had my back turned put his hand in the fish tank and tried to catch one of my gold fish. He was younger than my son and I should have known better! Needless to say the fish died.
> 
> ...


no ofense, but thats a slight insult...i have a number of pets and take care of them, and im only 11!


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

petlover516 said:


> no ofense, but thats a slight insult...i have a number of pets and take care of them, and im only 11!


Well I bet someone helps with your fish,no offence


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## faye_arv (Apr 29, 2009)

I don't know if you take care of your pets all by yourself or not...but if you do, consider yourself an exception and not the standard. Most 11 yr olds get bored very easily within a few days.


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## cottoncandy946 (Apr 2, 2009)

I agree with you on that


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

cottoncandy946 said:


> Well I bet someone helps with your fish,no offence


good thing u really didn't bet anything! no one helps me with mine!


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## Dintlow (May 8, 2009)

Kids have to learn to be responsible sooner or later. A betta fish seems like a good idea to me.


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## faye_arv (Apr 29, 2009)

I don't disagree with you...what I'm saying is that a parent should always be prepared to take over if their child isn't willing or able to care for his/her pet anymore.

You are now 11 and take excellent care of your fish, I've seen some photos, they are lovely. When you become 15 and your school work becomes more challenging are you still going to be able to take care of our aquarium as you like? What about when you start preparing for college?

That's the reason that adults are more suited to having pets...they've been through all that, they know the responsibility that awaits them for the next 5-20 years depending on the pet and are willing to make the sacrifice. Or at least they should be willing or shouldn't get a pet at all.

With that in mind, if the mother is willing to take on responsibility if her kid decides to give up, then yes they should get a pet, if not, there are some lovely stuffed animals at the stores that talk and everything LOL!


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