Little kids: Avoid hamsters, chicks, turtles

Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.

That’s according to the nation’s leading pediatricians group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw — putting children younger than 5 particularly at risk, the report says.

Click here for the full article.

Tagged as: Cats, Chicks, Children, Disease, Dogs, Exotic Animals, Germs, Hamsters, Hedgehogs, Lizards, Pediatricians, Pets, Turtles

• Exotic pets risky for young kids?
• Don’t let Rover on the bed, warns leading vet
• Owners of exotic pets are a lot like owners of cats and dogs