Speaking for myself, I have two sets of pets.

My fiancée entered our relationship with two male guinea pigs. I love the chubby little vacuums to bits. They are very polite pets IMHO. They never bite humans (and I mean never, no matter how terrified they are) and they are very calming little cuddle buddies. They are very easy to keep happy and content, and I would absolutely reccomend a pair of males as a little kids first pet. The real fun starts when you have a herd of girls, and you start to see the more complex social behaviors like following each other in a line and actual dominance hierarchies.

My pet is a syrian hamster, and he is a creative and curious little bastard who loves to tunnel and explore. He has a very big cage, so cleaning it out can be a hassle, but that only needs to be done once a month if you keep up with the spot-cleaning and make sure none of the little bastard’s seed stashes start to sprout. I do put him in a hamster ball to let him explore which is considered abuse by some people, but excuse me for living in an apartment full of cables and things he should never be nibbling on. I’ll let him explore in the ball while my friends are over, and they all think he’s adorable. I love watching him do his thing, and I handle him regularly to keep him from being bitey. I would never reccomend a hamster for a first-time pet, since the cuter they are, the less fucks they give about removing your fingers if you dare to try and touch them. (Have you ever tried to convince a four-year-old that their pet does not want to be touched? They just don’t get it! It seriously pisses me off that hamsters are the stereotypical pet for little children.) What most people like about hamsters is making crafty things for them to explore, but I just love watching him eat and explore