Acquired: Pet store
Gender: N/A
One of the first pets I was the primary caretaker of was my frog, Michael Jordan (MJ). He was a brown and speckled frog but I cannot remember the exact species name. I used to love feeding him live crickets and watching him in his cage, feeling I was a very good frog owner.
Frogs make wonderful first pets for kids. They are fun, small and low maintenance animals. I learned how to buy an animal food, navigate a pet store, clean an animals cage and care for animals by owning frogs.
If you are considering owning a frog, know that they are somewhat fragile creatures. They can't be "over-handled" which might make them ill suited for very young kids. They also have a tendency to get lost if you do not keep an eye on them. However, they are easy to feed and care for, requiring very little habitat to thrive.
My favorite part of owning a frog was buying crickets at the pet store and feeding them to my frog MJ. It was an interactive and entertaining experience. I think frogs are a great introductory animal for kids 8 and above.