What is the ideal low-maintenance classroom pet?
August 14, 2016 12:35 PM Subscribe
I teach high school science and I like to keep organisms in the class to make it a dynamic space. Constraints - needs to be hearty, relatively low-maintenance, preferably able to easily withstand periods of non-care (3-day weekends or more). Bonus if it is unusual or has exciting behavior or developmental changes that students can observe.
Previous successes included:
- axolotl - very hearty, beloved by students, but also pretty good at making poop to clean up. This is not ideal though because it is hard to control the temperature in my classroom - last year our axolotl died because the school turned the heater on over the weekend on a day that was already very hot.
- mantis shrimp - I had one of these for two years and the students loved it. They really loved getting to feed it and watching it clobber and subsume it's prey. Ours died a natural death, but they have a pretty short lifespan. I however found it difficult to maintain a saltwater tank, and when I added a protein skimmer things seemed to get worse.
I have two 10-gallon glass aquariums and one 3-gallon plastic aquarium as housing, all currently without inhabitants. I have pumps/filters for all 3 of these, but would also like to hear ideas for things that live in the air.
I am also very interested in hearing ideas for populations of organisms that I could culture in these tanks - some people have mentioned isopods as a possibility.
Previous successes included:
- axolotl - very hearty, beloved by students, but also pretty good at making poop to clean up. This is not ideal though because it is hard to control the temperature in my classroom - last year our axolotl died because the school turned the heater on over the weekend on a day that was already very hot.
- mantis shrimp - I had one of these for two years and the students loved it. They really loved getting to feed it and watching it clobber and subsume it's prey. Ours died a natural death, but they have a pretty short lifespan. I however found it difficult to maintain a saltwater tank, and when I added a protein skimmer things seemed to get worse.
I have two 10-gallon glass aquariums and one 3-gallon plastic aquarium as housing, all currently without inhabitants. I have pumps/filters for all 3 of these, but would also like to hear ideas for things that live in the air.
I am also very interested in hearing ideas for populations of organisms that I could culture in these tanks - some people have mentioned isopods as a possibility.
Stick insects are very low maintenance. Basically you sweep out the bottom of the tank, replace the leafy twigs they dine on a couple of times a week, spray a little water around to keep the humidity up, and that's about it. It's usually possible to find suitable food plants for free - brambles, privet, hawthorn etc.
The standard green 'laboratory' stick insect is the one a lot of people are familiar with, but there are lots of different types, exhibiting many different kinds of mimicry. Most species have a preferred temperature and humidity range, but the common ones tend to be fairly tolerant of normal indoor temperatures.
They're not the most exciting creatures to watch, but they're fun and safe to handle, and they lay interesting little eggs with a built-in escape hatch. The baby stick insects, which hatch many months later, are quite cute. They're also a good demonstration of parthenogenesis.
posted by pipeski at 1:34 PM on August 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
The standard green 'laboratory' stick insect is the one a lot of people are familiar with, but there are lots of different types, exhibiting many different kinds of mimicry. Most species have a preferred temperature and humidity range, but the common ones tend to be fairly tolerant of normal indoor temperatures.
They're not the most exciting creatures to watch, but they're fun and safe to handle, and they lay interesting little eggs with a built-in escape hatch. The baby stick insects, which hatch many months later, are quite cute. They're also a good demonstration of parthenogenesis.
posted by pipeski at 1:34 PM on August 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
Best answer: (Non-mantis) shrimp! My co-worker kept some saltwater shrimp at work and they reproduced without much effort on his part, but if you don't want the hassle of a saltwater aquarium, there are also several freshwater varieties that are easier to care for.
Some other creatures that I've seen in classrooms:
Anoles: Pretty cool, but they require live feeding crickets once or twice a week. You could culture crickets, too, but they're pretty noisy.
Hermit crabs: Not as cool, but pretty easy to to care for.
Painted lady butterflies: Starting with caterpillars, they take a few months to turn into butterflies, then you get to release them! Great if you want a solution to the "what do I do with the classroom pet over the summer?" problem.
African clawed frogs: They're pretty cool and not too hard to take care of, and you could raise them from tadpoles. They're cannibalistic and ours shipped at a cold time of the year, so we started with about 60 tadpoles and ended with 7 females after about 6 months . The longest living of the frogs lasted about 3 years, but if they're better cared for, they can live 10-15 years.
posted by asphericalcow at 1:38 PM on August 14, 2016
Some other creatures that I've seen in classrooms:
Anoles: Pretty cool, but they require live feeding crickets once or twice a week. You could culture crickets, too, but they're pretty noisy.
Hermit crabs: Not as cool, but pretty easy to to care for.
Painted lady butterflies: Starting with caterpillars, they take a few months to turn into butterflies, then you get to release them! Great if you want a solution to the "what do I do with the classroom pet over the summer?" problem.
African clawed frogs: They're pretty cool and not too hard to take care of, and you could raise them from tadpoles. They're cannibalistic and ours shipped at a cold time of the year, so we started with about 60 tadpoles and ended with 7 females after about 6 months . The longest living of the frogs lasted about 3 years, but if they're better cared for, they can live 10-15 years.
posted by asphericalcow at 1:38 PM on August 14, 2016
We had gerbils and mice in high school, so apparently rodents fit the bill reasonably well. The gerbils did go insane on by one and start attacking each other, though, and had to be separated. They'd been around for a few years before that happened though.
The problem with mice is that they smell a bit and, if anyone catches a mouse anywhere in the school, they'll try to return it to you. Also, it seems mice are sometimes hard to sex and you dont want to be accidentally breeding mice. (There was a group in my class intentionally breeding mice, which shockingly did allow them to distinguish at least one dominant and recessive trait.)
posted by hoyland at 1:40 PM on August 14, 2016
The problem with mice is that they smell a bit and, if anyone catches a mouse anywhere in the school, they'll try to return it to you. Also, it seems mice are sometimes hard to sex and you dont want to be accidentally breeding mice. (There was a group in my class intentionally breeding mice, which shockingly did allow them to distinguish at least one dominant and recessive trait.)
posted by hoyland at 1:40 PM on August 14, 2016
Giant African Land Snail
posted by intensitymultiply at 2:00 PM on August 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by intensitymultiply at 2:00 PM on August 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Worms (in the form of an indoor worm composter).
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:07 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:07 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Hermit crabs? They're low-maintenance, and while their behavior isn't exactly exciting, they do shed their skin and change shells as they grow.
posted by come_back_breathing at 2:13 PM on August 14, 2016
posted by come_back_breathing at 2:13 PM on August 14, 2016
Jumping on to urge against hermit crabs as they are actually really fussy on their exact requirements for temperature and humidity, as I learned after reluctantly inheriting some from a family member and ended up spending tons of money getting the proper setup for them.
posted by whistle pig at 2:26 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by whistle pig at 2:26 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
My 6th grade class had a red-tailed boa constrictor, which was awesome! We did feed it live mice, so I wouldn't have one for younger kids, but for high schoolers, it would be really cool. And I'm pretty sure she was fine over long weekends; she only ate about once a week.
posted by Weeping_angel at 2:37 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Weeping_angel at 2:37 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Tarantulas! I kept them as a kid. Three weeks without food, no prob. Leave a water dish and you're good to go. Change the litter once a month, do weekly debris cleanup. It's super exciting to watch them eat crickets, molt and lay web trails. Best pet ever!
Some species are gentler than others. If you want one you can hold, I recommend a captive-bred Mexican Red-Knee, Curly Hair or Chilean Rose. Test the temperament before you buy. If you get an adult, make sure it's been handled consistently!
posted by fritillary at 2:43 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Some species are gentler than others. If you want one you can hold, I recommend a captive-bred Mexican Red-Knee, Curly Hair or Chilean Rose. Test the temperament before you buy. If you get an adult, make sure it's been handled consistently!
posted by fritillary at 2:43 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Red earred slider turtles. Fully grown you would only be able to house one in a ten gallon tank, and that might be a bit cramped. But if you start with a young one it will take several years before it's outgrown the tank.
posted by mikecable at 2:59 PM on August 14, 2016
posted by mikecable at 2:59 PM on August 14, 2016
Turtles and gerbils. The turtle has a fairly cool habitat made out of two kiddy swimming pools. It took alot of space though.
Middle school one of my teachers had a chinchilla, which seemed to do okay.
However, I cannot tell you as a child how many times I was recruited to my father's classroom to find gerbils and hamsters.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:11 PM on August 14, 2016
Middle school one of my teachers had a chinchilla, which seemed to do okay.
However, I cannot tell you as a child how many times I was recruited to my father's classroom to find gerbils and hamsters.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:11 PM on August 14, 2016
If anyone describes rodents as low-maintenance, they're probably not cleaning out their cage nearly often enough to prevent respiratory issues (need to do it at least once a week), or they mean "low maintenance" compared to larger, more common pets like cats or dogs.
posted by Aleyn at 3:49 PM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Aleyn at 3:49 PM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Depending on where you are, could you turn one of your aquariums into a local habitat? I grew up on the coast and for several years we had a saltwater tank that my brother and I filled up by turning over rocks and netting minnows. It's brutal - every two months or so there would only be one crab left - but it's fascinating. An afternoon at any local body of water with a net and bucket could start you off and then you could let students add to the mix.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:11 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:11 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
How about:
Praying Mantis
http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?/topic/31349-tenodera-sinensis-chinese-mantis/
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/G-portentosa.html
Corn Snake
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Snakes/Corn-Snake/
I like the tarantula idea too. Fun times!
posted by It'sANewDawn at 4:15 PM on August 14, 2016
Praying Mantis
http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?/topic/31349-tenodera-sinensis-chinese-mantis/
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/G-portentosa.html
Corn Snake
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Snakes/Corn-Snake/
I like the tarantula idea too. Fun times!
posted by It'sANewDawn at 4:15 PM on August 14, 2016
Following up on mygothlaundry',s suggestion of capturing a bucket or two of the local ecosystem, one of my son's classrooms had two tanks that started out the nearly the same but which progressed differently due to z bit of diversity between the two.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:32 PM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by SemiSalt at 4:32 PM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
+1 for the tarantula. My Chilean rose hair lived almost 20 years! I didn't handle mine though. She was super cool to watch though. Molting is super cool.
posted by DarthDuckie at 4:35 PM on August 14, 2016
posted by DarthDuckie at 4:35 PM on August 14, 2016
As someone with minor arachnophobic tendencies, which I know are not rare, I'd vote against the tarantula. It would have terrified me as a kid and I wouldn't want to have to contribute to the care of such a creature in any way even now.
I had a friend who kept anole lizards for awhile – they seemed pretty low-maintenance. And then you can keep a cage of crickets to keep them fed.
posted by zadcat at 5:24 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
I had a friend who kept anole lizards for awhile – they seemed pretty low-maintenance. And then you can keep a cage of crickets to keep them fed.
posted by zadcat at 5:24 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would suggest not having snakes or spiders, because they can introduce a level of anxiety for some students that isn't fair. Some students internalize and might not be able to even express their discomfort. With all the input that comes at students, the classroom doesn't seem like the right place for exposure therapy like that. Kids who get bullied might have other people threaten them with these classroom pets.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:26 PM on August 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:26 PM on August 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
Guppies have live births and are easy to maintain and fun to watch.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:48 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:48 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
My mom taught pre-K for many years and always kept a few common garden snails as classroom pets. She cut the top 1/4 off of a clear, 1 gallon apple juice jug, filled it with dirt and some rocks, caught and tossed in a couple garden snails, and then re-attached the top of the jug with tape. Maintenance is dead simple - toss in a lettuce leaf and some carrots every other day, splash some water on the dirt, and that's it. Kid-friendly features of garden snails include:
- basically free, you can give a handout of how to make your own snail jug
- they love to climb, and you can watch how they move with their slimy bodies through the side of the plastic jug
- they get pretty big in a predator-free environment and you can track their growth
- every so often a snail will disappear for a week, and then reappear - a few weeks later, BABY SNAIL EXPLOSION, NOW THERE'S 30 TINY SNAILS CLIMBING ALL OVER THE JUG, WOW! Sometimes momma snail will even lay the eggs on the side of the jug and you can watch them
posted by slagheap at 5:50 PM on August 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
- basically free, you can give a handout of how to make your own snail jug
- they love to climb, and you can watch how they move with their slimy bodies through the side of the plastic jug
- they get pretty big in a predator-free environment and you can track their growth
- every so often a snail will disappear for a week, and then reappear - a few weeks later, BABY SNAIL EXPLOSION, NOW THERE'S 30 TINY SNAILS CLIMBING ALL OVER THE JUG, WOW! Sometimes momma snail will even lay the eggs on the side of the jug and you can watch them
posted by slagheap at 5:50 PM on August 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
Don't put a red eared slider in a 10 gallon tank. They will quickly outgrow that size tank and a full grown one really needs a 100+ gallon.
That being said, turtles are awesome and kids generally love them. You will need to give them adequate room and proper conditions to thrive.
posted by nolnacs at 6:16 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
That being said, turtles are awesome and kids generally love them. You will need to give them adequate room and proper conditions to thrive.
posted by nolnacs at 6:16 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sadly too small for a pair of boy rats (females are smart and get bored) and they would need checking in over weekends - although are so friendly you can get students to petsit them. You can get a tank topper to convert the aquariums into decent rat cages. My high school chemistry teacher had two pet rats and they were beloved - friendly and frequently taken out and a lot of fun to observe. I don't think we did experiments as such with them, we mostly cuddled them and sometimes raced them with treats. My teenage son has two pet rats now and they're pretty low maintenance pets, easier than gerbils.
Do not get turtles, they live forever and grow huge.
Can you do an ant farm? We had one in a science class once and I loved feeding it and watching it.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:25 PM on August 14, 2016
Do not get turtles, they live forever and grow huge.
Can you do an ant farm? We had one in a science class once and I loved feeding it and watching it.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:25 PM on August 14, 2016
No snakes, please. If you can't control the heat, you'll end up cooking them. Same for any other reptile or amphibian.
Also, snakes should not be fed live prey. This is very old, very poor advice.
posted by Nyx at 7:05 PM on August 14, 2016
Also, snakes should not be fed live prey. This is very old, very poor advice.
posted by Nyx at 7:05 PM on August 14, 2016
Nthing don't get a turtle. They live 30+ years and are hard to take care of when they get big. You don't want the classroom pet to outlast your teaching career!
I had an African clawed frog as a pet, they are kind of cool and would do fine in a 3 gallon tank -- you can watch them swim, and they go ribbit. They also live too long (mine lived to be 7, despite the fact that ~5-10 year old me was the only person taking care of it -- and it would have lasted longer if the cat hadn't killed it) but unlike turtles they stay small and are easy to take home and care for if you can't keep them in the classroom any more.
posted by phoenixy at 10:26 PM on August 14, 2016
I had an African clawed frog as a pet, they are kind of cool and would do fine in a 3 gallon tank -- you can watch them swim, and they go ribbit. They also live too long (mine lived to be 7, despite the fact that ~5-10 year old me was the only person taking care of it -- and it would have lasted longer if the cat hadn't killed it) but unlike turtles they stay small and are easy to take home and care for if you can't keep them in the classroom any more.
posted by phoenixy at 10:26 PM on August 14, 2016
Oh and +1 to shrimp. We raised sea monkeys (brine shrimp) from eggs in our classroom -- they're very easy, and reproduce in the tank. The downside is, well, they're just tiny shrimp. Not too exciting.
posted by phoenixy at 10:29 PM on August 14, 2016
posted by phoenixy at 10:29 PM on August 14, 2016
When I taught special ed/biology in a residential high school for kids with emotional disabilities, I had two guinea pigs, Beyonce and Jay Z. They liked being handled and the kids would groom them and feed them carrots and they'd make soothing little chuffy noises. They had a gigantic 3-room cage area and I got them as rescues.
They lived for about three years but seemed to hit a sweet spot of cuddly, could be left alone and didn't freak anyone out. Sometimes they'd squeak in happiness when kids were quietly working which was a pretty cute sound.
A bio teacher friend incubates eggs and raises baby chicks for a local farm in the spring. Her students love that.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:08 AM on August 15, 2016
They lived for about three years but seemed to hit a sweet spot of cuddly, could be left alone and didn't freak anyone out. Sometimes they'd squeak in happiness when kids were quietly working which was a pretty cute sound.
A bio teacher friend incubates eggs and raises baby chicks for a local farm in the spring. Her students love that.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:08 AM on August 15, 2016
Avoid reptiles & amphibians & hermit crabs none of them are low maintenance if kept correctly. Hermit crabs for example need to have all uneaten food removed immediately & water changes daily (fresh & salt) & humidity & temp levels kept exactly right & kept immaculately clean. People think of these sorts of animals as short lived animals but actually they just die a LOT in captivity as they are super fussy and rarely kept correctly.
Fish would work, but avoid gold fish they poop too much to be easy care. Tropical fish need at least weekly water changes, a bit of washing off/replacing of the filter media every so often & a few minutes monitoring of water conditions, but can be left alone for a few days as most processes can be easily automated, if you buy an auto feeder. A betta in a large heated tank would be low maintenance (a small bowl besides being cruel is a lot more work with regular water changes & temp fluctuations). Despite their reputation they can get along with select other fish & can be kept with Cherrry Shrimp & Apple snails or if you want more fish cories & White clouds though the odd fish will eat it's companions most get along fine. They are eye catching & love to pootle around their tank doing interesting things.
posted by wwax at 8:10 AM on August 15, 2016
Fish would work, but avoid gold fish they poop too much to be easy care. Tropical fish need at least weekly water changes, a bit of washing off/replacing of the filter media every so often & a few minutes monitoring of water conditions, but can be left alone for a few days as most processes can be easily automated, if you buy an auto feeder. A betta in a large heated tank would be low maintenance (a small bowl besides being cruel is a lot more work with regular water changes & temp fluctuations). Despite their reputation they can get along with select other fish & can be kept with Cherrry Shrimp & Apple snails or if you want more fish cories & White clouds though the odd fish will eat it's companions most get along fine. They are eye catching & love to pootle around their tank doing interesting things.
posted by wwax at 8:10 AM on August 15, 2016
Not sure if this is available to you, but in 4th grade the class went on a trip to a local salmon hatchery (this was in North Vancouver, BC) and got to learn about salmon reproduction.
Came away with a bucket of fertilized eggs (female salmon was "milked" of eggs, male salmon was "milked" of sperm, into the bucket they were mixed).
Once back in the classroom, the eggs were sown into a large aquarium with pebbles and stuff (the hatchery can tell you how to set it up).
Over the course of a few months, we got to see eggs mature into alevins, then fry, and once they got to a certain developmental stage, we released them into a local spawning river.
Caveat; it smelled a little since some of eggs didn't grow and there was a lot of attrition among even the ones that were fertilized. So, a bunch of dead baby fishes, but that's the nature of nature for you. The success rate in the wild is even less good so ethically it was defensible.
posted by porpoise at 9:52 AM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Came away with a bucket of fertilized eggs (female salmon was "milked" of eggs, male salmon was "milked" of sperm, into the bucket they were mixed).
Once back in the classroom, the eggs were sown into a large aquarium with pebbles and stuff (the hatchery can tell you how to set it up).
Over the course of a few months, we got to see eggs mature into alevins, then fry, and once they got to a certain developmental stage, we released them into a local spawning river.
Caveat; it smelled a little since some of eggs didn't grow and there was a lot of attrition among even the ones that were fertilized. So, a bunch of dead baby fishes, but that's the nature of nature for you. The success rate in the wild is even less good so ethically it was defensible.
posted by porpoise at 9:52 AM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
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Kalanchoe is easy to care for and a classic example of plants reproducing via plantlets
Monstera deliciosa (swiss cheese plant, split leaf philodendron) has distinctly different sun and shade leaves.
A shiitake / oyster mushroom block if you have a shady space. You can tent them with plastic to keep humidity up / not make your whole room a bit damp.
(You are the coolest teacher ever for having a mantis shrimp !)
posted by momus_window at 1:09 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]