Hey everyone!🐍

[classpetcaretaker]

I’m fairly new here, and I’ve been lurking around a bit and checking out everyone’s beautiful reptiles. I don’t personally own any reptiles, but at my high school I care for three turtles and a baby snake, who live in my biology teacher’s classroom. At home I have two dogs, three cats and three guinea pigs.

(Sorry for the poor photos, I’m usually pretty low on time when I get to see these guys)

Here are the turtles, who are all named after plastics. Straw is swimming behind her dock in this picture so you can only barely see one of her legs.

Straw, female red eared slider. Almost 4 inches
She’s the smallest of all the turtles so also has the smallest claws and is therefore most fun to hold.

Balloon, female red eared slider. 4.5 inches
Balloon’s ‘ears’ are more orange than red compared to straw, although you can’t tell from this photo. She’s the shyest of the turtles, and likes to chill in her shell for a bit when she’s being handled.

Six-pack or Sixxie, male western painted turtle. 5 inches
My personal favorite! He’s fiesy and the largest of all. He was a really picky eater when we first got him, only accepting mealworms. I was able to get him eating pellets by feeding them with the mealworm tongs.

And here’s Twig, a baby bullsnake! He’s growing really slow, so definitely drop a comment if you’ve got experience with this species.

Also at my high school, another science and biology teacher owns a bearded dragon named Queso, who I thought I’d share as well.

In the future I’d like to own crested geckos, leopard geckos, leachies, blue tongue skinks, bearded dragons, ball pythons, corn snakes, California kingsnakes, boa constrictors, Russian tortoises, and musk turtles, as well as more “traditional” pets including dogs and cats, as well as smaller mammals like guinea pigs, rats, etc. Plus I like frogs, snails. hissing cockroaches and isopods. Since researching pets is one of my favorite things to do, I’ve got quite a list going.
Anyway, it’s 4 am here so I’m bouta sleep

[eaglereptiles]

I love how enthusiastic you are while still being in high school .

Keep us posted on them guys.
And you never know, your teachers might see how much you care for these guys and let you take then when you leave

[meerkatlyndz]

My advice for the bullsnake, feed several small food items at a time more often if you are unhappy with growth. I keep corns and they usually pound 2 mouse pinks every 5 days when they are really little.

But you got a nice little dude of a snake so far and doesn’t look skinny or anything to me. Good luck and welcome to the community!!

[halina]

That bullsnake is sooo beautiful i’ve had bearded dragon before, got it for our 9 year old. It passed away cause of the illnes. And girl still never stopped loving reptiles. I am so thinking how to get some reptiles in my work to take care of children’s mental issues, so I really hope that you have least one animal to go when you leave welcome, I have been here just for few months and got so much new information and help.

[thebeardedherper]

Hey there, always happy to see another young person with a passion for animals and their care. It’s pretty cool that you have access to them in school. When I was a kid none of my teachers ever had any class pets, but I would bring my own on occasion. I have a question about the turtles though. I can’t see all of the tank, but do they have a basking platform with a heat lamp and a UVB light? If they dont please let the teacher know they need those asap. Your snake looks okay. Bull snakes have notorious appetites and because they’re pretty active they have a high metabolism which means they burn through food pretty quickly. They do great with feeding on a food item about the same girth as the largest part of their body a couple about every 5-6 days as babies and juveniles like @meerkatlyndz suggested. If they start getting overly round you can let them skip a week or two at a time or spread the meals out to every 10 days until they thin back down a bit. I really hope you get to keep your own one day as they’re so much fun.

[classpetcaretaker]

Thank you! I definitely hope I get to take one of them, I really love these guys and I’ll miss them when I graduate

[classpetcaretaker]

Thank you for the advice! Good to know he looks ok to more experienced snake keepers

[meerkatlyndz]

Colubrids can look like freaking strings for a while and seeing snakes like boas and such it can be concerning to look at your bull and not see the same thickness. But many of my young snakes look the exact same way despite being fed constantly. Like this little girl when I first got her. See how skinny Minnie she is? Yet healthy as can be.

Eventually once your bull gets to eating something besides pinky mice, or pinky rats, he will bulk up. Just don’t be afraid to keep throwing food at him. You really can’t give these guys to much (within reason) as babies.

[classpetcaretaker]

The turtles do have uvb and heat lamps and I’m buying them a new dock soon, as theirs is too small. Thanks so much!

[thebeardedherper]

glad to hear it. cork bark makes a great basking dock if you’re looking for ideas.

[thebeardedherper]

Two more questions for ya.

1. What are the reasons you don’t currently have a reptile of your own?
2. Are you in the U.S. or somewhere else?

[classpetcaretaker]

I don’t have my own reptile because as a high school student I’m living with my family and let’s just say, my mom is not about to let me have mice in the freezer or any kind of feeder insects. Even if I could, I’m not sure I could provide a stable home for a pet as I go through college.

And yes, I’m in the US

[thebeardedherper]

Okay I can understand that. I was mostly just curious. I hope you keep up with it and stay in touch with us all through the rest of your school career. Maybe when you get settled in after all that one of us here can hook you up with your first pet reptile.

[classpetcaretaker]

I certainly intend to stick around here, you are all so friendly and helpful. Thank you so much!

[alpinereptiles]

Welcome to the family! I wish resources like this group had been around when I was in school. Glad to have you

[akmorphs]

Welcome to the community @classpetcaretaker!

I had read your intial post, and thought I had commented >.<
It’s super cool that your school allows animals like that. None of mine ever did ANYTHING like that.
Plus the teacher with Queso is just a total badass, ha-ha.