Parents should always be able to manage the animals in the house. No matter who owns them, they have to be able to manage an emergency vet visit & replacement UVB lights, as they're expensive. When their son/daughter is working part-time, they can take on some of the costs, but an 8 yr old wouldn't be able to raise that kind of $. So any parent who's thinking a reptile of any sort would be a good idea for a pet, just please look into set up costs & replacement costs for lights, set up, etc. It doesn't teach your youngster how to be responsible if you can't take on the responsibility of making sure the pet is well looked after. As a parent of a 27 year old, who at 20 decided an exotic pet would be a good idea, got Sweetie, then couldn't take care of her & we adopted her. Best decision we ever made, now we have 5 beardies & a gecko & my son thinks I'm a dragonlady!