[trippincherri]

All such good information guys.
I worked in a pet store, so here's what I learned:

Hamsters I don't think would be a wise choice for a small child.
They are very fragile and hard to hold for small kids (without squishing them)
plus they get very smelly cages very quickly, and they run in their blasted wheel ALL night long and keep you awake. I had one lol. She was cute but a lot of work. And gerbils are basically the same.

Guinea Pigs are awesome, we had one for awhile but gave him away due to the fact I felt we didn't give him enough attention. He lived with our dwarf rabbit in a huge cage in our office and they LOVED each other. Piggys are very smart little critters, they make adorable noises and are relatively cheap to own.
Bad side is they smell, they don't always like to be held, and they can be biters. (which can be unlearnt) And they should be housed in pairs so they don't feel lonely and they require a fair amount of space.

Chinchillas are soooo cute and lots of people buy them because of that fact without learning about them, and then don't want them anymore.
They have special diet needs, need plenty of space to run and play, dust baths can be messy and result in a large area around the cage becoming covered in it. Plus for a small child you would want something social and that would want to be cuddled and chins are definitley not all that cuddly, plus they squirm a lot and tend to jump.

I have NO experience with rats, so I'm out on that one.

Maybe a bunny? But then again they can be smelly...require lots of space and attention. Very smart and social though, can also be litter trained and my aunt and uncles lop LuLu used to "fetch" their slippers for them lol, so that was pretty cool.
Why can't she be like all other little girls and want a kitty or a puppy? Lol just kidding.

May I also add for everyone reading this:

Guinea Pigs and Ferrets should not be allowed to run in those oversized hamster balls.
I researched them for my own guinea pig and found out that because of the lengths of their spines those balls can actually cause them to hyper extend the discs in their backs and lead to SEVERE complications.
I mentioned this to my vet and she agreed that they were not a wise decision for pigs and ferrets.
Same thing with giant wheels for their cages...DON'T DO IT!!