thoughts on class pets?

[distaff]

I can see bringing the snake to class, I can't see leaving it there, even over night.

The cleaning crew has been on my mind too. Heck, I've been in buildings when they decided to poison the place DURING work hours. "We're getting rid of mold!" My eyes started watering, I nearly lost my lunch...

That said, we had an excellent science teacher in elementary school. His special interest was Monarch butterflies. He brought in some branches with the actual chrysalises, and we watched them develop. Very memorable. Back a few years ago, when I raised silk worms, I was gathering mulberry leaves from my neighbor's trees while she was telling me her memories of a science teacher who brought silk worms to class.

It does make a difference.

[Penultimate]

Some of the people here are making excellent points about the cleaning crew. If I'm remembering this right, they tended to mess with the corn snake enclosure once in a while. Not exactly great for the little guy.

Oh, and if you're using an Exo Terra (sounds like you might be, not sure) be wary of the locks. I've had issues with them being faulty. Thought I'd let you know, it can lead to some fun escapes. I've been taking care of that one school's corn snake and he's ended up in a closed cabinet and halfway in a drawer... working on getting him a new cage for obvious reasons...

You know what? I think the suggestion of bringing the snake in once in a while but not keeping it there is an awesome idea. You get the best of two worlds. The students get to see the animal and interact with it, but the snake is still kept in a quiet, stress-free environment. I would try decorating the classroom with pictures of various ball python morphs (and a picture of a normal) with labels and change the morphs a month or more. Start with single genes at the beginning of the year and end with multi-gene masterpieces. Keep a number on the wall of the current number of morphs on WOBP and change it weekly, but don't say what the number means. If a student asks, tell them that it's the number of colors that the species comes in. Everyone who has asked about why I keep snakes is immediately wowed by the number of colors and almost always start asking me questions. Put a list of three ball python fun facts on the wall and change it every few weeks. If you wanted to, you could even put some books on ball pythons out and let students look at them. Combine all of that with bringing in an actual ball python every once in a while, and I think you have the recipe for a curious group of students that will be asking questions about the snakes. It might be even better to only bring the snake in infrequently because it would become more of a novelty for the students that way. I think that's the perfect way to create a classroom of snake-friendly kids while being friendly to your snake.

[Aercadia]

Penultimate makes an excellent point. Maybe you could bring the snek in once a month, on a schedule, and interested parties can set aside time to get some 1:1 interaction with the animal.

Keep a number on the wall of the current number of morphs on WOBP and change it weekly, but don't say what the number means. If a student asks, tell them that it's the number of colors that the species comes in.

This is a great idea - my only suggestion would be to exchange "colors" for "gene-variant patterns and colors", since these are 9th graders (14 yr olds?)... they're old enough get the full explanation, I hope. ;)

I don't know if you cover Punnett Squares in your class, OP, but BPs would be a great way to do it, pics and all! Way more interesting than pea-plants with white and purple flowers, IMO. :| Memories, memories...

[John1982]

My father taught 5th grade and always had class pets. The children did much of the care, under his supervision, and it was overall a very positive and rewarding experience for everyone involved. Animals were only allowed out when a student finished their work for that segment - talk about incentive. I still get messages today, some 20 years later, from folks fondly remembering childhood encounters with the herps and inverts in my dad's class.

Being a high school teacher, your kids are going to have less leisure time as they shuffle from one class to the next. I doubt there will be much opportunity for interactions and caregiving for the students so a class pet will be more of an observational study and less an interactive one.

I suggest going with a local species if you don't mind expanding your collection. The students will learn how to identify at least one animal they might encounter outside of school, possibly saving a harmless species from being needlessly killed. I know around here "the only good snake is a dead snake" mentality was rampant until my pops came along.

[CloudtheBoa]

I am not a fan of classroom pets. I feel it's too stressful for the animal and opens the animal up to too many risks and possible illnesses.

That said, if you're willing to leap through the extra hoops that having a classroom pet has, then go for it. I agree that our youth needs to exposed to these animals to become less vehement towards them.

I also agree that the animal should not be allowed remain on school property once you leave. Preferably, you'd bring it home every afternoon and for the weekend. You cannot provide proper care if you're leaving it unsupervised half the day while you're at home and leaving it alone all weekend, as well as the risks that distaff brought up.

I have known teachers who bring their class pets home every night, so it's feasible although it may be a pain. I'd say either have two enclosures for the snake, one that you can leave permanently there and one at home and just move the snake, or take the snake and all its equipment with you. If you have a class enclosure and home enclosure, I'd take careful steps to clean and sanitize the class enclosure every day when you come into work.

[Penultimate]

I wouldn't be constantly moving the snake. That sounds like an invitation for a hunger strike to me and a lot of added stress, especially for a younger snake like this one. I think there needs to be one permanent home for a ball python to truly be happy.

I mean, when you bring a snake home from an expo, it gets stressed out and sometimes won't eat. I imagine a ball python being moved a lot would behave in a similar way.

[CloudtheBoa]

Then maybe a snake isn't the best sort of permanent classroom pet? It seems to me to be inviting some bad husbandry and chemical risks allowing it to stay overnight.

If I were a teacher, I wouldn't have a snake in the classroom all the time. I'd bring it only on special days, a couple times a semester maybe.

[theoremofgoats]

My seventh grade teacher had a ball python class pet. Her name was Phoebe and she was fantastic with everyone. The one not so fantastic part was that my teacher fed her live rats…during class…so that all the twelve year olds could watch. What happened was a bunch of excitement and awe from the boys and the girls were all scarred for life…and I've loved snakes all my life-I made my dad read me books about king cobras when I was little because I was just that cool (read: weird)-but watching that was pretty traumatic at the time. My older sister and I had a king snake at the time who was fed f/t mice, so I couldn't understand why the teacher was feeding the BP live.

I should also mention that this all took place about twelve years ago, and Phoebe is still alive and well and as chill as ever. I think if you can find a way to keep the snake safe and comfortable, it'll be fine.