#poor critters

[missarchivistdoodles]

Dammit, Midnight Mass! Leave the animals alone!

[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. ♥

[the-perfect-scientist]

“What happened to you?

Send “What happened to you?” to find my muse in a disheveled state.

"Oh, you know..." Carlos sighed, as if he was slightly dazed. "You dare to even utter the word 'geology' to a marine biologist, and they start accusing you of trying to forcibly convert their professions..."

Carlos didn't look actually hurt, but his clothes were wet and wrinkled and there was a lump fish wriggling in the pocket of his labcoat as well as a stray octopus hopelessly tangled in his wet hair.

[holligenet]

If you run over or hit animals with your vehicle on purpose, there's a good 100% chance I hate you.

[professorfangirl]

They unhappy few

Me: Off to give a midterm. I daresay there will be tears.

Him: Girl, your exams are too hard. It's like, "Hey kids, I'm Lear, this is the heath, and you're the Fools."

Me: No way man, it's "I'm Henry, this is Agincourt, and YOU'RE THE FRENCH."

[mongrelmutt]

my dogs hate when I watch any of those Animal Cops shows

Because I get all weird like I have to groom y'all beasties STAT -- brush, clip nails, clean ears, bathe, clean teeth -- and then take you for a long run because I keep y'all cooped up too much and I'm a horrible pet owner and I should know better because I'm an LVT!!! D: And my poor dogs are like "wtf woman?!? This isn't our usual routine!" O.o