Classroom pet

[Brizzl]

My mother has just become a 6th grade science teacher after a long job search (win!) so she wants to decorate the classroom with various oddities, i.e. my hobbies. I'm giving her a couple of my carnivorous plants and a tarantula. My problem is, which one should she have?

Contestant #1, Java
This my P. regalis ventrally sexed male, 2 inch leg span. I believe he's currently in pre-molt, though I'm still kinda new at this hobby. Super skittish, though very handsome. I'm just a little concerned because if he is actually male I definitely don't want him spending his last moments in a class room, I would want to sell him to a breeder or something of the sorts. I heard Pokies don't take nearly as long as other Ts do to mature.

Contestant #2, Red
B. vagans female, 2.5 inch legspan. Very defensive, has flicked hairs and a couple of threat postures recently. I am certainly more attached to this girl than the regalis. Such a looker and I love the attitude.

The T will be rehoused into a bigger more display oriented case, whether it be arboreal or terrestrial. I trust my mom the Ts will be well cared for, I'm just not sure which one would be better for her.

The 3rd and final option is that we buy something else. All recommendations are welcome. Thank you!

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

My mother has just become a 6th grade science teacher after a long job search (win!) so she wants to decorate the classroom with various oddities, i.e. my hobbies. I'm giving her a couple of my carnivorous plants and a tarantula. My problem is, which one should she have?

Contestant #1, Java
This my P. regalis ventrally sexed male, 2 inch leg span. I believe he's currently in pre-molt, though I'm still kinda new at this hobby. Super skittish, though very handsome. I'm just a little concerned because if he is actually male I definitely don't want him spending his last moments in a class room, I would want to sell him to a breeder or something of the sorts. I heard Pokies don't take nearly as long as other Ts do to mature.

Contestant #2, Red
B. vagans female, 2.5 inch legspan. Very defensive, has flicked hairs and a couple of threat postures recently. I am certainly more attached to this girl than the regalis. Such a looker and I love the attitude.

The T will be rehoused into a bigger more display oriented case, whether it be arboreal or terrestrial. I trust my mom the Ts will be well cared for, I'm just not sure which one would be better for her.

The 3rd and final option is that we buy something else. All recommendations are welcome. Thank you!

P. regalis no B. vagans maybe...


Jose
www.exoskeletoninverts.com
support@exoskeletoninverts.com

 

[JZC]

Option 3. A potential pokie bite would be really, really, REALLY bad. IMHO, a rather large, showy T that is rather docile would be the best. Maybe an a.geniculata, a.veriscolor, l.parahybana, or a GBB.

 

[Keith B]

I agree with JZC. In a classroom you can trust your mom, but you can't always trust the T, and you can NEVER trust the kids lol. In the event there's contact you want as little damage as possible. A pokie bite is a liability, and the vagans, while pretty, has an attitude. The last thing we want to do is get people more horrified of spiders at an impressionable age.

 

[Brizzl]

So new spider is the only option then? Alright thanks guys

 

[lancej]

I think a nicely set up cage with an Avicularia would be good. She could use plastic plants (or live Pothos), cork bark, a few sanitized branches, etc. I have seen some really nice classroom set-ups with Avicularia metallica and Avicularia avicularia. They are calm and can make good displays. If you have a good LPS, you can talk to them about what you want to do, and a lot of stores give discounts to teachers. One of the local shops here will loan teachers classroom pets for the school year.

 

[BioTeach]

Grammostola species are pretty good classroom display specimens IMO. Rosehair, Chaco, or Brazilian black are all pretty laid back (not big on flicking hairs), predictable, out a lot, and hardy. Geniculata and LP are more feisty and tend to flick hairs, but not as bad as Brachypelmas (curly hair might work though). Aphonopelma chalcodes aren't a bad choice for a smaller species.

 

[Dark Nexus]

I'd say a g.rosea. fit the most part they are always out (at least mine was) terrestrial so kids don't have to try and find the spider through the web. And if teacher ever want to handle it is one I would trust more.

 

[SuzukiSwift]

Children are smaller than fully grown adults, therefore a T bite is more dangerous to them. You need something that has weaker venom but is still a looker. I know kids because im a teacher, there is a high chance they’ll try something stupid so your mum should have a look dont open the tank policy.

I recommend something like a rosea (non crazy variety) B.smithi, LP etc. Wouldnt recommend genic cause they can be a bit scary, b.smithi would be best in my opinion, staple classroom pet lol An avic would be nice also!

 

[Poec54]

Never take a Poec to a school. Probably shouldn't take any old world.

 

[DannyH]

Brachypelma or Grammostola sounds like a good choice. I wouldn't let the kids handle it, just because tarantulas and kids are not predictable. If any of the kids get bit your mom would be in trouble.

 

[tjrd83]

I really like the avicularia idea. They are almost always visible, mostly docile(still wouldn't recommend handling), and the enclosure could be set up more dramatically than an enclosure for say a G. rosea.

 

[Poec54]

Brachypelma or Grammostola sounds like a good choice. I wouldn't let the kids handle it, just because tarantulas and kids are not predictable. If any of the kids get bit your mom would be in trouble.

+1. In these days of knee-jerk lawsuits, there shouldn't be any handling. No reason for it to come out of the cage.

 

[JZC]

+1. In these days of knee-jerk lawsuits, there shouldn't be any handling. No reason for it to come out of the cage.

These days parents will sue if the tarantula looks at their kid funny and causes the kid to comment about the scary spider that wants to suck their blood one time at dinner. I once saw a meme type thing that went along the lines of: In 1960, Tommy heads to school with his shotgun in the back of his pickup from a morning of quail hunting. He gets to school, and the principal sees him. They proceed to a conversation about guns and the principal shows Tommy his gun. Fast forward a similar scenario right now: The principal tackles tommy and calls the police. Tommy goes to jail for the rest of his life, and all the kids and teachers are escorted out of the school by SWAT teams and given free therapy for the trauma they suffered. In other words, be careful, OP, but having a T in the classroom is awesome and should be done.


Note: I hope that post doesn't offend anyone. It was meant to build on Poecs point and encourage the OP to be careful, because we are way too sensitive to things these days. This is in no way meant to be insensitive to school shootings and their victims, I myself have the utmost sympathy for those poor people. No I proabably sound cliche ans stupid, bu it's true

 

[jthorntonwillis]

Try a E.Campestratus.Mine is always out,and if she was any more laid back,she'd be comatose.

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

When in high school, my biology teacher had a tarantula in her class. I cannot remember for the life of me which species though. I believe it was a B smithi, but I could be mistakrn.

 

[viper69]

Def. NOT a Poki, if you can only choose from those two T's, the vagans. If you can find a Grammastola genus, that would be good. Rose Hair, Chaco's are really good too. Slow growers they are and can get quite large but docile

 

[Taranto1989]

+1 on the LP once its 6"+ I doubt any 6th grader would want to mess with it. Plus its out all the time and very easy to care for.

 

[Brizzl]

I think we're heading towards getting a Chaco. Thanks for all the advice, guys, I really appreciate it!

 

[rob0t]

If I were going to have any tarantula I've been around in the vicinity of a classroom it would be Euathlus sp Red/Yellow/Orange. The most docile tarantulas I've encountered, extremely easy to care for, don't need to eat often and out in the open most of the time.