Advice for school lab pet/s

[Lisa Gayle 713]

I teach here in the US. I have 3 tarantulas in my room. My cages are from tarantulacages.com. They lock. I keep them padlocked, but students are welcome to come after school if they want to interact with them. No problems yet....

 

[kevin91172]

I teach here in the US. I have 3 tarantulas in my room. My cages are from tarantulacages.com. They lock. I keep them padlocked, but students are welcome to come after school if they want to interact with them. No problems yet....

Sweet.. go go gadget teacher!

 

[LeilaNami]

Leeches

No really. They are awesomely easy to care for and fun to watch. I'm not talking about the sanguinivores. There are detritivorous species like the one we own. We got it from our zoology lab and have had it for 4 months now. I just go pick up a dead rosy minnow from PetSmart. There isn't a lot of care info out there but these things are practically bullet proof unless something is in the water. Despite what some people may tell you (because everyone hears leech and thinks of the sanguinivores), leeches have not been shown to spread disease.

 

[ZergFront]

Silk moths or hissing cockroaches. Had them in a class a VERY long time ago. Was very fun watching the different stages of development in the silkworms when I was a child. We even got one mutant that came out of a cocoon with deformed legs and almost no wings. Was puzzling to the teacher and a little sad for the kids.

 

[Scoolman]

I currently keep 11 tarantulas in my middle school classroom; and I am working on a breeding program. I also have a hisser colony. They are all labeled by species (9 Grammostola pulchra and 2 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens).
I have had no issues, complaints, or concerns with the tarantulas. The students know they are an observational specimen only; on occasion I take one out and allow students to get a close look.
On the plus side, my principal refuses to come into my room.

 

[ZephAmp]

Leeches

No really. They are awesomely easy to care for and fun to watch. I'm not talking about the sanguinivores. There are detritivorous species like the one we own. We got it from our zoology lab and have had it for 4 months now. I just go pick up a dead rosy minnow from PetSmart. There isn't a lot of care info out there but these things are practically bullet proof unless something is in the water. Despite what some people may tell you (because everyone hears leech and thinks of the sanguinivores), leeches have not been shown to spread disease.

Amen!
I have two I picked out of Lake Eerie; They're so cool!
I feed them once every... Whenever I feel like it. lol
They do well with very few water changes and are strangely active!

 

[LeilaNami]

Amen!
I have two I picked out of Lake Eerie; They're so cool!
I feed them once every... Whenever I feel like it. lol
They do well with very few water changes and are strangely active!

lol Exactly! I keep mine in a tupperware dish and he is fun to watch. They're great because a lot of schools keep it on the colder side and they thrive in cooler water. Mine is at room temp and is either digging around in the gravel or "ribbon dancing" as I call it around the container. Mine likes to suck eyeballs out of minnows. I'm going to set up a 2.5 gallon so I can see him swim around more.

 

[Obelisk]

I also recommend hissers, especially tiger hissers (G. grandidieri). Speaking of leaches, I was reading about predatory leeches a few weeks back. They're pretty cool, though Im not sure where you'd be able to get one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpv9P1KOVMQ