I have kept hamsters, mice and Guinea Pigs and the Guinea pig would be my first choice. A little more maintenance, but more of a pet that you can handle. We use to take them outside in the yard to eat grass and sniff around and they do have a little personality. The cage was a little bulky to handle, but it came apart easily. They are easy to keep and feed, we had 3 of them, all females. Hamsters bite, mice just didn't work for me until I had snakes. I think Bearded Dragons make great pets and they are pretty clean.
