Although most families with children in Hong Kong opt for cats or dogs as pets, a growing number are bucking the trend and bringing other pets home to keep their little ones company. If you don’t want to bring a cat or dog as a pet, here are the top 5 options from which you can select the one you prefer:
• Fish – After the most popular category of dogs as pets, fish rank second to cats for most Hong Kong families with children. Hong Kong Aquarium Fish Market offers the largest collection of interesting aquatic pet shops for you to choose from. You can also visit the Goldfish Market, where a number of shops sell fish for pets. Most of the shops here sell goldfish, which are packed in bags filled with water and hung outside the shops.
• Turtles: Children love these slow crawlers and many keep them as pets. You can buy albino turtles in the shops of the Goldfish Market. The Kowloon Street Market is another place where you can find a wide variety of turtles for sale. If you plan to bring home a turtle, keep in mind that it may be small in size (somewhat like a Hong Kong dollar 5 coin), but it can grow to be about the size of a dinner plate. You will need large enclosures with special lighting and heating arrangements, as well as proper filtration systems to help your pet grow and live in a healthy and spacious environment.
• Birds: Yuen Po Street Bird Garden is your destination if you want to buy birds as pets. There are more than 70 bird stands here, housing a wide variety of beautiful birds such as mynahs, macaws, cockatoos, songbirds and starlings. This garden and its wide patios are a pleasure for the eyes, with their fascinating combination of sights and sounds. Although songbirds are the pet of choice for buyers here, other birds sell out fairly quickly as well. You can also shop for pet bird paraphernalia at this location, which could include porcelain water bowls, exquisite wooden and bamboo cages, and bird snacks like special honey drinks, roasted seeds, as well as live grasshoppers and crickets.
• Guinea pigs: The guinea pig family native to South America includes wild guinea pigs, capybaras, and domestic guinea pigs, among other animals. In Hong Kong, guinea pigs are the most common pet that you will find in many families. However, if you want to buy cavies just because you think these small pets need much less maintenance work compared to dogs or cats, think again. These rodent pets are high maintenance. You can buy guinea pigs that are a few months old at pet stores in Hong Kong. The maximum life of these pets is usually 7 years.
• Rabbit: If you are thinking of bringing rabbits home, be mentally prepared to commit to the long term as the life expectancy of these pets is between 7 and 10 years.
So, choose any of these pets to help your kids enjoy precious company and make them learn a lot about their close companions.
