re: What’s a good “starter pet” for a 7 year old?

Rock

GDCK

Golden retreiver. Seriously. Whatever pet you get a 7 year old will end up falling under your care. Kids are stupid. They forget to do stuff like feed the poor creature. So, you might as well get the golden. That will be a loyal and loving dog, and when your kid fails to take care of it, because kids are stupid (not their fault), you won’t mind taking care of it because goldens are awesome.

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My niece had one. It ran away. I shite you not. A fricking tortoise. They lost a tortoise

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Was it one of those giant ones that little kids can ride or some little Pet Smart type one?

Good suggestions mentioned are rat, corn snake, gerbil, box turtle, beard dragon. All easy to care for.

suggestions I would not follow
iguana: mean and destroy furniture
tortoise: actually not too bad but research, these guys live forever and some get F'ing huge
hedgehog: not very friendly

A new dad that can make decisions on his own

Guinea pigs are a ton of maintenance. They piss and crap all day long. Most are water junkies and if you hang a water bottle in their cage, they will empty it by thumping it just for the hell of it, and do this mostly at night since they are nocturnal.

The wood shavings and other cage liner material is not super expensive, but you go through it with changing the cage at least 3 times a week if you stay on top of it and don't want your house to smell like a well used horse stall.