Waiver or no waiver?

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Originally Posted by tcutting

also make sure that if you bring the rats you bring them out last so there is as little of their sent in the air as possible.

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I missed the rat in your original post. Seems kind of like a bad idea to bring it along with all the animals that exclusively eat rats. Might be a risk that's just not worth it.

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Originally Posted by Dabonus

I missed the rat in your original post. Seems kind of like a bad idea to bring it along with all the animals that exclusively eat rats. Might be a risk that's just not worth it.

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I was hoping to be able to bring him and save him for last, but I guess if it is really a bad idea I probably should leave him at home....

ehh... In the end, most of us on this forum are just hobbyists with opinions based on info we've gained from other hobbyists. You've gotten some opinions, but I wouldn't let the words of any on individual on an internet forum sway your thoughts too much.

You know your animals better than anyone on here, and that should be the bases for your decision.

Don't take the rat.

Something like the below may suffice.

Animals will be available for touching but only if permission slips have been signed by a parent. Parents assume ALL responsibility for any child choosing to participate. No liability for anything in any way will be assumed by or assigned to XXXXXXXX, whatever you legal name is.

Short and sweet and plain and simple.

I say definitely yes to the waiver. I have one already for my friends, and whoever comes to the house.

In my opinion I wouldn't take the rat, BUT it is your decision (obviously) and you know your animals. I just feel its better to keep as many controllable factors controlled in situations where there are potentially easily harmed children are around.

Yes on the waiver, and keep it short, but cover your tush! Easier it is to read and comprehend, the better, but definitely make sure that everything is covered.

I would also keep the rat home. I had to think long and hard about what I wanted to bring as well. I decided to keep things as brutally simple as possible. Even with doing that the whole thing was insane.


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I agree 100% with everyone who said you need a waiver. Kids tend to get very excited about new things (as I'm sure you know), and their nervousness, fear, uncertainty, or general excitedness at that level with so many people around is a recipe for something to potentially go wrong. And of course, you don't want any of the negative repercussions that not having a waiver could bring when and if something were to happen. In this instance I'd err on the side of caution and get the waiver written up.

If you're going to write it yourself I would suggest looking up some similar waivers, and be as detailed and specific as possible. However, having a lawyer draft one for you would be ideal. That way if you ever chose to do it again, you would have one already written up and you could just make more copies and change dates where applicable.

On a different note, I'm not sure if taking your pets to a scout meeting qualifies as an "educational setting". But I would be careful with that and try to find out because there is some extremely strict rule that one of my professors was telling us about today that is being heavily enforced which basically requires that you seek approval to do anything with animals. That even goes so far as squirrel watching in my Animal Behavior class. We would have to get prior approval before being allowed to even watch them. So definitely look into that. :gj:

Get A Waiver, as a past Cub Master and Cub Leader. All it takes is one over reactive parent or a kid that does not follow the rules and you are on the the ropes.. You do not need to be there. Make sure the WAIVER COVERS YOU TOTALY. It is great to let the kids see and learn about these great things but the parents are always the problem.

Protect yourself, family, first.

I'm going to add my two cents by agreeing with everyone else. I waiver is definitely the way to go.

I would also consider bringing as few animals as possible. And I would leave the rat home. I would bring maybe your boa, a ball, the tortoise, and the spider. They are the ones that (in my opinion) would be the most interesting to kids and still easily manageable. I guess if you brought the lizards though, they could see them through the cage, so maybe they'd be OK too.

And I don't know if I'd totally let the kids handle them. Maybe have them sit down and set your boa or the ball on their lap while you control the head (this would be easier with the boa). Then they can run their hands down his back and feel his weight without you totally turning over the business end of the snake to them (unless of course he produces one of his gigantic boa poops, then you're in for it!).

And I'd state somewhere in the waiver that they are non-venomous, non-lethal snakes, just to reiterate it to the parents.

I, like you, get super excited about sharing my hobby with the younger generation who are total sponges for good info. And I'd be the one to want to bring my entire collection just so I can point out to a 6 year old the subtleties between two normals. But remember that most kids see "a snake" and probably won't be able to tell you the difference between the boa and the ball at the end of it because they'll just be so excited to interact with these creatures.

Here's a reference for you.
http://www.sae.org/students/waiver-liability.pdf