pet rodent for 6 yr. old daughter

Question
We think our daughter is ready for a small pet--either a hampster, mouse, or gerbil. Which is best for a child? Should we make sure and get a young animal? Do any do better with a pair instead of just one? Are those interesting plastic cages a good idea or just an aquarium/plain cage? Can we keep it in her room? I saw one answer that said gerbils are too fast for children...what do you think? any other advice appreciated!! :)

Answer
Well, hello! A pet is always wonderful for a child who is ready. At work I always tell people you should be aware that all the pets may bite a child and sometimes it can hurt, so if you don't mind your child being bitten by one and you don't mind having a little smell or odor and cleaning the cage once a week at least than one of the three is right for you. Mice have a very weird odor. It's like a musky odor and to me mice just smell horrible. Plus they are nippier than other rodents in my opinion. They should be kept alone in their cage and can have an interesting plastic cage. Well, hamsters are nippy and mostly sleep during the day and run on the wheel most of the time. Siberian hamsters, the long-haired, short-haired, and the more nicer black bear, dalmation and a few other cute named hamsters can get 6-8in. long. So eventually you wouldn't be able to use a cool plastic cage, you would have to buy a wire cage for him because they could get stuck in the plastic ones. These hamsters should only be kept alone as they will fight other hamsters. Now the dwarf hamsters only get 3-4in. long and they can be kept in the cute plastic cages and they are not as nippy as the other hamsters. They are cute and like to burrow. Sometimes if you buy more than one dwarf hamster of the same sex at the same time and from the same habitat they may be able to live together. Gerbils are generally much nicer than hamsters and mice. Gerbils are social animals and can be kept in the interesting plastic cages. Gerbils can be in groups together if they are from the same cage and have already been introduced to each other. I've never seen the gerbils really fight at the store I work. They seem to like to cuddle with each other and be together. Generally they are still young when you buy them from a pet store. If they grow up together generally they don't fight. There is always a chance of them fighting though, but if she would like more than one pet in her room a gerbil would be the best bet. They also don't have as much odor as the other two. They produce a less ammonia smell. As far as being too fast if she wants something to play with a lot and interact with gerbils, mice and hamsters can do that but they generally don't have a long attention span and are all very fast. Now if she wanted a rodent to interact with and play with and hold and carry around a lot a rat is actually the best bet. Rats are one of the smartest rodents and they are extremely social. They need love and interaction from their owners and they like to be with other rats. They can recognize their names and do tricks as well. They have also been known to morn the loss of their rat partners. They need a much bigger cage than the rest and generally their cages are much bigger. Like two feet long and one foot wide. They love to be around people and generally do not bite. All the animals i've listed can be kept in her room. If she just wants something cute and small to look at a hamster or gerbil is the way to go. Good luck and keep me posted on what you decide. If you have any questions feel free to ask. :-)