#classroom pets

[petsincollections]

Student in class, ca. 1970-1980

A student pets a guinea pig in science class. A fish tank and cages holding birds and small mammals can be seen on the counter in the background.

Sherman Indian Museum collection

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I was wondering if you had any resources talking about why classroom pets are a bad idea and detrimental to the health of the animal? I've looked on Google but the main result I keep getting is PETA, who I'm reluctant to trust as a reliable source, for obvious reasons.

This isn't my area of expertise, so I'm not going to unequivocally agree (or disagree) that being a classroom pet is inherently detrimental to the animal. I literally don't have enough information to be able to speak to it authoritatively.

What I will say, though, is that classroom pets are in situations in which are not set up to make prioritizing their husbandry needs and welfare easy. Teachers are responsible for so many things before and after school that it could be difficult to add animal care on to that rota; in addition, with school only in session five days a week, there needs to be a solution for how the animals are cared for over the weekend. There also needs to be a plan for their care over breaks. During the school day, the needs of the animal (privacy, quiet, nocturnal sleep schedules) have to be balanced with the practicality of running a classroom full of kiddos.

As with anything else in the animal world, I'm inclined to say it that the welfare of classroom pets probably exists on a spectrum. I'm sure there are some teachers who really do care for classroom pets well and make sure they're healthy and thriving, just as I'm sure there are situations in which the animals are in sub-par living conditions, and there's probably a bunch in-between.

I think this is a discussion where it would be valuable to hear from vets, who may be able to speak more to what's actually seen in practice w/r/t the health of classroom pets and what medical care they may or may not get.

[nciwch]

Cornelius, our pet snake, had his first meal since school started. Cornelius is an easygoing almost 7ft long corn snake who waits patiently for his monthly meal of 2 live mice!! In our classroom, Cornelius gets fed during school hours. Children who want to observe are able to and those who do not, for whatever reason, do not have to. Children are mostly practical about the process and, over time, begin to understand that Cornelius also needs to be fed just as our turtle and bird pets do.

[fbwzoo]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but, my Biology teacher has several animals that are not being properly taken care of in his classroom and I'm not sure what to do about it. I've pointed out a few issues and he mostly ignores me or states something blatantly false. Some of these animals are another teachers which makes this more difficult. Basically, do you have any suggestions as to how I would go about trying to help these animals? One is a ball python with a cage that is (1/2)

probably too cold, too open, and only had one hide. Another is a crested gecko with no climbing space, there’s also a box turtle with literally nothing but a rock and some water in its tank, there’s also a red eared slider in the giant fish tank with no resting place or basking light, a betta fish in the nastiest bowl I’ve ever seen, and a rosy boa who is probably being housed poorly as well. I don’t know much about them so I can’t say for sure. Thanks in advance! (2/2)

Oh man, that sucks. :( Poor critters!!

Honestly, this is a pretty tricky situation for a couple reasons. First, it’s really going to depend on the teacher’s personality and how willing he will be to accept new information, especially coming from a student. Unfortunately, some adults can be way worse about a younger person trying to correct them about anything.

I guess the best option I can think of is to go to him with hard research, printed out & in your hand, to give to him. In theory, as a teacher & someone clearly interested in science, he should be willing to give some weight to scientific research, studies, etc. & may take that kind of info into consideration to adjust the habitats. Look for websites that have sources, especially any kind of studies, to back up their information. Maybe talk to an exotics vet, if you know any, and ask them for veterinary sources that back up proper care information - they may have info of that type on things like the turtles needing basking lights for calcium absorption, and the RES needing a resting place to avoid shell rot.

For the ball python, @wheremyscalesslither has a ton of resources and information available on her blog, and it’s based on scientific studies. I would try printing out some of the info from there to share, specifically on heating, the necessity of multiple hides for enrichment & security, and also the necessity of cover like fake plants for security.

For the crested gecko (almost forgot about that one!), @followthebluebell can give more advice on care info & maybe how to back up that info so he’ll be more willing to listen. Really, just go for stuff that shows the natural habitat and point out that emulating that environment is going to be healthier for the animal.For the turtles, I would see if @the-awkward-turt or @courtnashe might be able to help with studies & other good information that he may listen to.

For the betta fish, @elemental-kiss has a lot of resources on their blog. And honestly, one of my favorite posts re: betta fish was one that showed what their native habitat looks like because a lot of people imagine dirty little mud puddles and not gigantic rice paddies that are basically huge non-moving or slow-moving river things. So I would totally suggest printing out some pictures of those to show him.

I don’t know much about rosy boas either, unfortunately. I thiiiiink @kaijutegu has one? 

Now for the other big issue here - money. Teachers are paid absolute shit, honestly. Added to that, they often get very little or no help with purchasing classroom supplies, and classroom pets often fall into this. Even if your teacher believes your information & would otherwise be willing to improve things, it may be very difficult for him to actually do anything if there are issues with funds.

This topic may also be really touchy for a student to broach, honestly. Depending on how friendly you are with him, you may be able to ask straight out. Otherwise, you could possibly frame the issue as an offer that you’d like for interested students to help raise money to improve habitats or something. But I”m not sure whether this would be allowed by the school or not, so you’d have to check on that. 

Other ways to help improve things while spending less money - check Craigslist, FB community pages, and thrift stores for supplies that would work. You can usually use plastic plants from dollar stores & craft stores for reptile tanks, so those would be great places to check for decor for the ball python and crested gecko - they’ll also probably be having sales for the holidays, so that’s a bonus!

For the betta fish, Petco is having a Black Friday sale that I think has half off or a $1/gal sale or something, plus sales on their tank kits, so that might be a great way to get the betta fish a new set up if you can convince him in time.

Basking lights & heating equipment are fairly expensive, unfortunately, and the school may have rules about what’s allowed. So that might be another sticking point, unfortunately. If that ends up being a major issue, or if money is a major issue that can’t be worked around, I would try really hard to talk him into rehoming the animals that can’t be provided for correctly. Maybe point out that it’s not educational for the students to see animals that are being cared for incorrectly or that end up suffering (also expensive) health issues due to incorrect care. So no one’s really getting any benefit from the situation in that case, least of all the animals.

I’m sorry you’re facing such a discouraging situation, but I really hope that maybe you’ll be able to talk things over with him & make some changes. I’ll keep fingers crossed, and please keep me updated if you can! Thank you for trying to help these babies. ♥

[fbwzoo]

For my masters project, I wrote a book for teachers about proper care of class pets. I'm thinking of revisiting it in hopes of getting it published, and am working on updating its info. What small animals do you feel are best suited to school life - assuming that the teacher is a proper caretaker (and as a teacher, I know that assumes a great deal - that's what the point of the book is, that teachers who choose to have class pets are obligated to model proper caretaking for the students).

Gah, I find this really hard because I really just…don’t believe in classroom pets. :-/  I’ve had very bad experiences with it personally, and I rarely hear GOOD stories about classroom pets. So the whole thing just seems like a horrible idea to me.

That said…I guess these are the ones I would suggest if the teacher is really willing to put the effort in and make it work out for the animal, not just the classroom & kids, along with my reasoning.

- Invertebrates: I saw a post discussing this recently…I can’t recall if I reblogged it or not. If I remember, I’ll try to find it. There’s a fair number of invertebrates with pretty easy diets, not a lot of special temperature/humidity needs, can be kept in small tanks (5-10g) & are big enough to be interesting to watch. Also generally pretty cheap to buy, set up, & maintain. Bonus of teaching kids the interesting parts of bugs, their important role in various ecosystems, etc. Examples include roaches, other beetles, preying mantids, isopods…I’m sure I’m forgetting some. 

- Mice: NOT to be hands-on for the kids; can keep a couple females together in a small enough tank to be reasonable for classroom - 20-30g; don’t need particularly special temperature/humidity; relatively easy diet to manage in classroom setting. 

- Gerbils: Also not to be hands-on for kids; again, can keep a pair of same sex gerbils in a similar sized tank as mouse; also a relatively easy diet, no special temp/humidity needs. They do need plenty of digging space & care must be taken with enrichment because they’ll chew it. 

These are really the only mammals I’m comfortable even suggesting. I’m still hesitant because both are prey animals that can be easily stressed by noise, so I would consider it necessary for the teacher to watch behavior & health and be willing to remove the animals to their own home if the noise & activity prove to be too stressful. I’m not comfortable listing any other mammals - most need much more space than most classrooms are willing or able to provide, or they need more hands-on socializing, or they have more specific care needs that could get tricky.

- Crested gecko: Similar to above, this is the only reptile I think I’m comfortable with suggesting. I’m not as great on reptiles, so there might be some other potential options. But most reptiles need special heating, lighting, need live prey or frozen rodents for prey, etc. All of that gets a lot more dicey in a classroom setting where heating elements may not be allowed or may get turned off by cleaning staff. Crested geckos don’t really need special heating/lighting (but care does need to be taken that they don’t get too warm, some classrooms can have issues with that), they can be fed a balanced commercial diet that’s easy to prepare, they can be kept in a relatively small tank, they’re fun to watch. 

…That’s all I got. Fish can be more difficult to move since the tank must be drained, it would likely be harder to do water changes in most classrooms, etc. Otherwise I’d suggest possibly a betta fish in a 10g tank. But ehhhhh. Birds are an absolute no, hermit crabs require too elaborate of a set up to really be ideal in a classroom (and are not easy to dismantle for taking home on school breaks). 

I’m sorry, I’m not sure how helpful this was! There just aren’t a lot of animals that really are reasonable to have in a classroom setting for the vast majority of classrooms & teachers. If a teacher is very dedicated & has permission from their superiors, they could check into curriculum-based programs that some places run - I remember my Fisheries & Wildlife courses discussing a fish program of some kind. I know sometimes there are programs with chicks in more rural areas, but I’m also rather skeptical of how good those are - it just depends on who the chicks go home with & the care they get. I’m guessing most just turn into farm hens, but still. 

Another potential alternative idea you could include is doing classroom indoor or outdoor (if possible) gardens. Plants generally need less care, but it’d still be a decent lesson in care and could integrate well with a number of science & environment lessons. 

[fbwzoo]

comicbookmama replied to your post: For my masters project, I wrote a book for...

Thanks for the advice; I’m also not keen on class pets pets the way most are currently treated, which is why I chose the project. The only other book on the subject is - I kid you not - titled THEY DON’T HAVE TO DIE, which is pretty telling. I appreciate your honesty, because really, unless the teacher is really willing to go the extra mile, they shouldn’t have a class pet at all.

...Yikes. It is a very good project to work on & I thank you for taking it on! I hope it goes well. :) It’d be really useful information to be able to spread to teachers and maybe improve the state of the situation. I’d love to get an update on how it’s going once you’re further along! And of course, let me know if I can help out any more.

[biggoldbelt]

Behind the Scenes with Jennifer Oxley from 'Wonder Pets: In the City'

Jennifer Oxley Interview by Big Gold Belt Media with @CamsCollection The 13-episode animated preschool original series premieres globally on Friday, December 13 on Apple TV+.–“Wonder Pets: In the City!” introduces a trio of heroes: Izzy the Guinea Pig, Tate the Snake, and Zuri the Bunny. These heroic classroom pets live in a kindergarten in New York City and travel all around the globe in their…

Behind the Scenes with Jennifer Oxley from 'Wonder Pets: In the City'

[bettas-bitsandbobs]

Not the greatest pictures, since I snapped them with a cellphone yesterday, but my brother’s classroom mudskipper tank.

Everyone survived overnight and seemed active this morning. They’re much better swimmers than I was a lead to believe! And yes, they love to stick on the glass, the filter, the rocks...

(the filter is too large for the set-up and will be swapped out but the animals don’t seem to mind the flow at all)