Help me pick a good class pet...

t316

t316

Active Member

Originally Posted by nina&noah
http:///forum/post/2708000
No snakes. I don't want to keep anything that requires live food. Too much trouble and there is no way I could watch an animal eat another animal. I know it is the circle of life, but I don't want to watch it.
Plus, after reading the post about snake bites and infections, I don't think I could handle a snake.
nina&noah, you are badly misinformed (I love saying that to a teacher
)
Snakes are really the easiest to take care of. In fact, here's an offer for you:
I have a 3' ball python that I keep at my office (rescued/took from someone else who had no idea) that I will give you for free. I'll even give you the approx. 55 gal glass tank, extra bedding shavings, plug in heat pad, water bowl, and rock cave that she hides in 99.99999% of the time. If I knew that she was going to you, for this cause, it's all free. And yes, it's a she, I can prove it. But sorry, no, I'm not shipping, so unless you are ever up here in my area, I don't know how to get her to you.
Her name is Gretchin, and no, I'm not a big snake lover (I'll leave the details of how I obtained her out), but once my kid's school found out I had her, they call me non-stop. I think I have carried her up to the school at least 10 times to show. This has been from Kindergarten classes up to 5th graders, so you see the interest. There have been so many requests. That's why I don't mind giving her up for free for the same cause. She has always been so gentle, let's all the kids hold her, and (unlike some of those misinformed) has never bitten or even come close.
If this is unfeasable for you, at the very least, reconsider a snake. For a classroom setting/feeding/housing/ect...there is not a better choice.
 
keri

keri

Active Member
we have 4 snakes, and not one of them eats live food. You buy the mice (or rats) frozen and feed them 2 or 4 times a month, depending on size, no special lighting required, just a heat pat on one side of the tank, clean-up's a snap. I've Brought my oldest ball python to my MUXH YOUNGER sister's school through many classrooms (grade 1-6) and he was pulled, poked, prodded and even had one of his spurs pinched of by one little SOB child and Never tried to bite.
That being said, expect a revolt from at least one parent for keeping an "evil" creature like a snake...depending on what state your in it may be better or worse :)
I like rats as small classroom pets, get a pair of females in a decent sized cage and they are active, inquisitive and a LOT less likely to bite than a hamster if startled. (They come in a hairless variety as well which is fun!)
edit: I agree with bearded dragons being one of the coolest and "interesting" herps out there but if cost is an issue they do require quite a large cage and special lighting to do well. If you do come up with some extra cash I'd go with that, you could try fund-raising with the kids or something? make it a class project, come up with 2 or 3 possibilities and let the kids vote on what they buy with the money they earn?
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by nacl freak
http:///forum/post/2708034
Certain turtles carry samonella.
A hand raised parakeet from a breeder not a pet store would make a good pet.
parakeets are very noisy and would be extremly disruptive in a class.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by Keri
http:///forum/post/2708216
edit: I agree with bearded dragons being one of the coolest and "interesting" herps out there but if cost is an issue they do require quite a large cage and special lighting to do well. If you do come up with some extra cash I'd go with that, you could try fund-raising with the kids or something? make it a class project, come up with 2 or 3 possibilities and let the kids vote on what they buy with the money they earn?
set up cost is definatly the most expensive part of bearded dragons they require UVBlight , a relativly large enclosure. and a hot basking zone and sand.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2708772
parakeets are very noisy and would be extremly disruptive in a class.
i think my 5th grade teacher had a cockatiel as a class pet. He was soooo cool! he was pretty quiet and we could take him out and hold him and stuff or just leave him out. But there were i think 2-3 times throughout the year that someone would catch him walking down the hall a couple classrooms down. It was cute though!
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
A snake. When I used to be in third grade my teacher had a snake. It was pretty cool. She fed the snake every week with live mice, but she would feed it on Saturdays so no one really seen the snake eat the mice. One time, the snake never ate one of its (live) mice and it lived with the snake for about a week and the snake never ate the mouse! So, the next day, the teacher brings in a 10 gallon tank and sets up the tank for the mouse and the class named the mouse Lucky! lol Just a thought. Oh, the teacher never really let anyone hold the snake, she would take the snake out once in a while and we would pet it, but never hold it because she feared someone could drop or hurt the snake, or the snake can bite them.
 
jacknjill

jacknjill

Active Member
Originally Posted by nina&noah
http:///forum/post/2707992
I thought about a chinchilla just because I've always wanted one, but you can't find them in Miami. I've called around and most pet stores don't even know what they are!
no chinchilla, theyre very delicate. they need a quiet calm dark and cool stable environment. and they need to be somewhere they can relax and get to know and be comfortable with their owner. they dont do well being poked and prodded all day
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by JacknJill
http:///forum/post/2708959
no chinchilla, theyre very delicate. they need a quiet calm dark and cool stable environment. and they need to be somewhere they can relax and get to know and be comfortable with their owner. they dont do well being poked and prodded all day
I agree the constant stress would drive it insane, it would get nippy and start spraying urine at students. (yes they can spray urine several feet when offended)
 
nina&noah

nina&noah

Member
Originally Posted by FishyGurl
http:///forum/post/2708792
i think my 5th grade teacher had a cockatiel as a class pet. He was soooo cool! he was pretty quiet and we could take him out and hold him and stuff or just leave him out. But there were i think 2-3 times throughout the year that someone would catch him walking down the hall a couple classrooms down. It was cute though!
I had a cockateil a few years ago and he was by far my favorite class pet. The kids even taught it to talk. I had it for a year and a half, and then I let a kid take it home for the winter vacation. The parent agreed to let it come home, but then once it got there she stuck it in the garage. We had our one cold front of the year that week and the poor bird died. I didn't handle that one very well. It's not the kids you can't trust, its the parents!!! The worst part is that she tried to buy another bird and pass it off as my hand fed, talking bird! Like I wouldn't notice!
 
nina&noah

nina&noah

Member

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2708121
nina&noah, you are badly misinformed (I love saying that to a teacher
)
Snakes are really the easiest to take care of. In fact, here's an offer for you:
I have a 3' ball python that I keep at my office (rescued/took from someone else who had no idea) that I will give you for free. I'll even give you the approx. 55 gal glass tank, extra bedding shavings, plug in heat pad, water bowl, and rock cave that she hides in 99.99999% of the time. If I knew that she was going to you, for this cause, it's all free. And yes, it's a she, I can prove it. But sorry, no, I'm not shipping, so unless you are ever up here in my area, I don't know how to get her to you.
Her name is Gretchin, and no, I'm not a big snake lover (I'll leave the details of how I obtained her out), but once my kid's school found out I had her, they call me non-stop. I think I have carried her up to the school at least 10 times to show. This has been from Kindergarten classes up to 5th graders, so you see the interest. There have been so many requests. That's why I don't mind giving her up for free for the same cause. She has always been so gentle, let's all the kids hold her, and (unlike some of those misinformed) has never bitten or even come close.
If this is unfeasable for you, at the very least, reconsider a snake. For a classroom setting/feeding/housing/ect...there is not a better choice.

I appreciate the offer, but I won't be making a trip to North Carolina.
 
rebelprettyboy

rebelprettyboy

Active Member
My friend teaches and she has a hairless rat and the kids LOVE it! She has an autistic kid in the class too that just loves the thing... He is really attached to it. I don't know anything about it, but I know the kids love it. hamsters are fairly easy and they sleep during the day so they're generally quiet unless they get on their little wheel lol. Good luck finding something!
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
despite the common perception that hamsters are good pets for kids they really arent. they tend to be nippy when woken and have very sharp teeth and can easily draw blood. unfortunatly somehow the hamsters are cute so they must be great pets is a common misconception (I have 1 I used to have 2) if yoiu do choose a hamster avoid siberian dwarf hamsters as they tend to be more aggressive and psychotic (yes I said a pshychotic hamster)
 
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