Hello! I am a high school Biology teacher trying to help expose students to the animal world in a time when many populations simply no longer receive any in an increasingly digital world. It is my hope that by exposing students to the incredible diversity and wonder of the natural world I might inspire future exploration, growth, awareness and stewardship.
I have begun to bring various species into the classroom (fish, invertebrates, plants & snake) but would love to continue down this path. Kids have already begun to start calling our room “The Jungle” and we have been excited by the new sense of enthusiasm and seek to continue to build on this.
I have grown up working with and caring for lots of animals so I have general ideas about what I would love to bring to the classroom but I am also open to suggestions. I am also looking for anyone who might have species they feel might be particularly well suited for a classroom setting. I have already purchased a beautiful Ball Python, Blue Feigning Death Beetles, Isopods and fish but would love to expand our classroom collection.
I would love to hear people’s feedback on this project.
Cherry shrimp are brightly coloured and fairly straightforward care-wise, and can cohabit with some fish.
African house snakes are a slightly less common herp in the hobby, but they tend to be more personable and outgoing than a lot of other small snakes, and their window of tolerance for humidity and temperature are fairly wide. I’d advise boaedon capensis for being good, consistent feeders. Find a breeder and ask for one with an especially calm temperament and you’ll have an all-star classroom pet.
I think a boa would be a good classroom pet. As long as you can take care of it for 20+ years. They are tame and get big enough to be impressive but not overly big to be hard to handle. Maybe able to help you out with a free baby boa come spring time. If your interested next spring.
I have taken my boas and pythons to all my kids classrooms for show and tell days when they where little. Even when they where older for thier biology classes. Even have had other biology teachers ask me to bring my morph boas in for genetics class stuff.
Yay for teachers who include living things in their classroom habitat!!!
I kept a variety of plants in my classroom and also an assortment of animals. It was always such a special treat and a privilege to help those who were fearful of various creatures to get past that. My classroom pets included mice, gerbils, a rabbit, and assorted corn snakes. There were other visitors at times, including a guinea pig, a sugar glider (who belonged to a student), a milk snake, a king snake, hermit crabs, and various insects and arachnids. Before anyone asks, no pets were ever food for other pets. I totally recommend corn snakes as education ambassadors. They’re just fantastic for all sorts of reasons.
An aquarium with native fish, plants and invertebrates is a terrific teaching tool. Other aquaria are great, too.
If you haven’t, it’s a good idea to do a parent/ guardian letter outlining the classroom habitat. Require a signature before their student is permitted to touch any animal. Have plans in place with a colleague for what happens with the animals if you’re unexpectedly absent. Have very specific written instructions in your sub plans including the fact that no student is allowed to handle or touch an animal in your absence. One final thing, it is a good idea to have/carry personal liability insurance. Society has become unfortunately litigious, and if there ever were an incident you’d be protected.
That was meant to be a short reply. Sorry. I get excited about the topic. Yayy!!!
(Edited errors. Typos were mine but I swear a couple of words changes were my phone’s idea. )
Thank you and yes, cherry shrimp are already on the list! House snakes are definitely on the short list. I am currently building several nice enclosures for larger species but have just received several containers that might work nicely for them!
Thank you! I made sure to speak to administration for approval and everyone was excited. I provided students with a waiver and assurances that all enclosures will be locked so students cannot handle animals without my approval.
I have a black water biotope aquarium in progress now so we teach from it. I am also making all enclosures bioactive as well. We are steering away from mammals at this point out of consideration for possible allergies however we shall see. The biggest challenge is that “my eyes are bigger than my stomach”. So far this week I have also arranged for Blue Feigning Death Beetles and Giant African Millipedes.
It’s too fun to watch the kids get excited about what is coming next.!
Okay maybe that is too broad of a question…lol! I just looked at your website. Really impressive! I guess a better question would have been what species might you have available in the future?
Glad to head African house snakes are on the list. They’re picking up a lot of speed as one of species people have slept on for too long.
I always think it’s neat when you can handle something that you can stumble across at home in this sort of learning environment. Experience with them so they can hopefully also expand that knowledge to other friends and family.
But there’s local laws you’ll need to check beforehand.
If hognose are brought up, I would be cautious. They are generally not a bad species, but being rear fang venomous you could end up with a potentially envenomed bite if they just decided to take a nibble. It’s very rare but some people can have a serious reaction. Most will just have a bit of itching and a little swelling.
It all depends on what I produce this spring. But I should be able to get you something you would like for your classroom. I hope to have normal, albino, hypo, sunglow and jungle boas.
Honestly, I think they are all amazing and have no real preference. I tend to think normals are as beautiful as morphs. I am more concerned about good handling snakes around the kids. Mostly dealt with Rat Snakes, Ball Pythons and other small colubrids but research seems to prove what you are saying about Boas being great in this situation. Thank you for even offering.
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pun intended. What kind of Boas do you raise?
Really impressive! I guess a better question would have been what species might you have available in the future?