Class pet ideas?

[bhskittykatt]

In my elementary school someone had caught a katydid and so we built a terrarium for it. We gradually added crickets that we had caught. At one point we caught a frog and had it in there, but the crickets started disappearing and we soon made the connection (nice that our teacher said nothing when the frog was brought in and let us find out the hard way...).

In fifth grade we had lab rats we did a nutrition study on. At the end of the year there was a drawing for which student was allowed to take them home.

[Gravekeeper]

In fifth grade we had lab rats we did a nutrition study on. At the end of the year there was a drawing for which student was allowed to take them home.

My girlfriend in high school had a white pet rat that just came to school with her. It would obediently sit on her shoulder all through class. It was cute, if a bit surreal. I can't say all the other girls in class were as accepting of it though.

[Seshat]

Silly idea: contact RSPCA SA and see if they have an animal for your class to foster.

[wolfie]

Silly idea: contact RSPCA SA and see if they have an animal for your class to foster.

But wouldn't the RSPCA consider it animal abuse to feed a critter crap beer? The commercials aired in North America were truncated - italics show what was cut off.

Fosters: Australian for beer that makes Pabst Blue Ribbon look good by comparison

[fireheart]

Silly idea: contact RSPCA SA and see if they have an animal for your class to foster.

Actually that might not be a bad idea. The shelter's also not that far away from the school.

[Seshat]

Which would mean you could use the shelter's vet, too.

[Automan Empire]

Guinea pigs are good pets for OLDER children, but they have stubby legs and are easily injured if dropped; I've seen too many kindergarten age children holding them wrong/squeezing/dropping the poor dears.

If you get chickens for outdoors, I strongly recommend Bantam hens. These are smaller than average but lay almost full size eggs. Look into crested polish hens, they have limited vision and are very docile and don't roam far. White crested black polish are very interesting birds.

Some chickens have poor temprement as pets. White leghorns are big egg producers, but they tend to be very skittish and cackly and not approachable.

Roosters, beware they are very territorial and might attack a child. Mature roosters have sharp spurs on the back of their legs, and will jump at you and kick 5+ times in midair, like the Matrix; they have drawn blood through blue jeans!

Mice make really good pets for children; they are docile and pettable, and tend to be more approachable for the frightened compared to rats. Be sure they have a secure cage; there was a wild mouse that started getting into my pet mouse's cage and beating her up in the night.

[fireheart]

Guinea pigs are good pets for OLDER children, but they have stubby legs and are easily injured if dropped; I've seen too many kindergarten age children holding them wrong/squeezing/dropping the poor dears.

The noise from my kids alone would be enough!

If you get chickens for outdoors, I strongly recommend Bantam hens. These are smaller than average but lay almost full size eggs. Look into crested polish hens, they have limited vision and are very docile and don't roam far. White crested black polish are very interesting birds.

The school has a few chooks as part of our kitchen garden program (translate: teach students that your vegetables come from somewhere other than the supermarket!) although the gardening teacher put the rooster in this morning with the chickens...the damn thing would not shut up and kept crowing loudly this morning during morning play

Mice make really good pets for children; they are docile and pettable, and tend to be more approachable for the frightened compared to rats. Be sure they have a secure cage; there was a wild mouse that started getting into my pet mouse's cage and beating her up in the night.

We're thinking mice or a turtle/tortoise for precisely this reason. Also two of the other classes have pet rats, including one class in our block.

[Joyius]

Well, whatever you choose, you can teach the kids some responsibility by electing a classroom pet cage cleaner or pet helper every week, to give the children more of a chance to each get the option and ability to be affectionate to the pet, preferably during recess.

[Seshat]

We're thinking mice or a turtle/tortoise for precisely this reason. Also two of the other classes have pet rats, including one class in our block.

Are there short-lived turtles/tortoises?

(quick wikipedia check)

Heh. Another 'divided by a common language' event. It seems that 'turtle' in American and British English means different things. In British, it's the aquatic chelonians only, in American it's all (ie, both turtles and tortoises).
'Terrapin' refers (according to wikipedia) to some subspecies of aquatic chelonians.


Hm. No sign of anywhere so far telling me what ages turtle/tortoise species commonly used as pets will live to.

However, there is a zoonotic problem with chelonians and children: I recommend reading up on it. That's a link to a CDC page. It doesn't mention whether or not it applies to Australian native chelonians.


Hm. Owning a Turtle seems to be a helpful article on owning a turtle in Australia; including a recommendation on species.

Here's a link to a page with various Australian reptile societies.

[fireheart]

Thanks seshat.

So the mentor teacher is going to bring it up with the kids and ask them for ideas about a class pet. This is partially based on the fact that the school is trialling the "Reggio Emilia" philosophy for my block and a lot of it is student-led. (Not all of it though!)

[Kit-Ginevra]

Fine.Ask the kids for ideas.Just don't complain when you end up with a majority vote for a class Dalek

[fireheart]

Fine.Ask the kids for ideas.Just don't complain when you end up with a majority vote for a class Dalek

Surprisingly not one of the kids I have in my class is a Dr. Who fan. They're all 4/5/6 year olds :P

[sms001]

...even especially when the rat pooped on the teacher

ftfy.

And Today I Learned: Australia apparently has enough non-poisonous/stingy/stabby/bitey animals to make choosing one difficult. I never would have guessed.

[Kara]

I've had tons of small pets. Turtles are great and easy to care for. Aquatic turtles require a bit more maintenance, but not all that much more than a fish tank (do not mix fish with aquatic turtles, unless they are intentional turtle food). Rabbits are adorable and fun but they STINK. Their urine almost as acidic as the Xenomorphs in Aliens, and even with a strict, regular cage cleaning it will just stink and their droppings tend to mold at an alarmingly quick rate. They're pretty high maintenance. Some breeds are known for biting, like the Netherland Dwarf breed, but all of them have far more dangerous claws than teeth. They kick when they're startled (or just bored with being held) and will scratch the hell out of arms, laps, stomachs, whatever is closest when they start kicking. Rats are awesome. They're smart and cuddly and they aren't as likely to nip at fingers as other rodents. I took my pet rat to school one day in 8th grade for a "show of your pets" thing in my science class, and this other girl fell in love with him and wouldn't let anyone else hold him. Until he left a few presents on her shoulder. Someone mentioned spiders, which are very cool pets and females can live over 20 years. Tarantulas are generally pretty calm and take to being handled well, though I would probably suggest they wouldn't be ideal for kindergarteners because they do startle at sudden movements, and a startled tarantula could bite. Their bodies also aren't all that tough, and I've heard that a drop of only a few feet can cause their abdomens to burst like water balloons.