New Class Pet?

[coura]

Are they arboreal? It seems like with the height of the cage (56") it would be nice to keep something that would enjoy climbing room.

Thanks for the suggestions, I am certainly getting some good ideas to research. I will probably narrow it down to two or three possibilities and then let the kids vote.

Blue tongues are complete sweet hearts and VERY EASY to take care of, they are user friendly and even easy to breed!

 

[rudukai13]

A more highly aquatic snake would be a puff-faced water snake, homalopsis buccata. It'd do well in a more paludarium-esque enclosure (water covering all of the bottom of the tank). With a tank that size you could get a good foot or two of water in the bottom and be able to keep a good number of feeder fish with it, which would provide for some more movement. The snake would spend quite a bit of it's time in the water, and as long as you provided a dry elevated perch for it to bask on it'd be fine. Here's a care sheet:

http://acrochordus.com/homalopsinae/homalopsis/hcaresheet.htm

You can see from the pictures on that site that they are almost totally aquatic, having just a few areas of land to dry off. With this type of setup you could do a really elaborate background as well, with lots of living broms and vining plants.

 

[rudukai13]

In fact here's a member who says his is nearly fully aquatic:

http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369016

He'd probably be willing to discuss them with you. Plus keeping something that lives in a larger body of water will allow you to keep a more diverse population of fish and make the enclosure all the more lively.

 

[Reptilesfishbirdsmammals]

Green Tree Pythons do nip but a Brazilian Rainbow Boa would be a better bet but the best bet would be Corn Snakes or like Ball Pythons..

 

[Dan F]

With the dimensions of that cage you could probably go with a tree monitor, that would certainly be interesting. Can I ask what class this would be for? That may help direct our suggestions for something more topic-appropriate.

It is for my 4th/5th grade classroom, I also teach science to the sixth graders.

As someone with a few classroom pets (including snakes), I would say that taking consideration for the type of food required would be the first thing. Getting live mice is a pain and an expense... raising them is a smelly process... and co-workers may not appreciate frozen ones in a communal freezer... etc...

the next thing to consider would be weather the animal could tolerate the inevitable neglect that may occur due to circumstances beyond your control... sickness... school closings... power outages... helpfull night watchmen unplugging things to save electricity... etc...

after that try to anticipate all the things that could go wrong... escapes... deaths... regurge ... breeding durring school wide testing.... etc...

and finally, I would suggest not keeping anything in the school that would cause you to loose sleep wondering if you will find it dead in the morning...







... now that thats out of the way, my top pics for classroom herps....

small / med tortoises (like redfoots)
box turtles
corn snakes
rat snakes
king snakes
bearded dragons
leopard geckos (if you get them off crickets)
well established captive bred adult ball pythons

Herps I'd avoid
Pretty much all the arborial boids (dang!)
True Chameleons (other than captive well established veileds)
anything requiring high humidity
anything nocturnal (except things that adjust in captivity)
cricket eaters
anything with a septic bite (large monitors)


these are just my personal thoughts... food for thought and all... and I break my own rules all the time LOL

However, It would definatly be cool to have something that utilizes the height of the cage. I know from personal experiance that a large yellow rat snake would be all over the place (especialy when ready to feed) and a pair of bearded dragons would love sunning on a nice perch...

... I have seen alaborate vinewood structures for monkey tail skinks as well, but have never kept them personally


looking forward to updates and pics.

Thanks for all the advice! I need to get to my local reptile store to see what is available/affordable around here.

I will definitely get some pics ASAP, I am going to try and go look at it tomorrow after school.

 

[Dan F]

Well, the water snakes he is talking about are not really aquarium snakes. You keep them just like you would a corn snake or king snake, just with a bigger water dish.

As an alternative to a Natrix or Nerodia, you could keep one of the west coast garter snakes; some of those are large and semiaquatic, very similar in habits to water snakes. I like the idea of native animals in the classroom.

Yes, we have both the semi-aquatic and the terrestrial Garters around here. The only thing I was worried about with a native like a Garter or a rubber Boa is that the classroom may be a bit too warm. The heat never goes below 50F, whereas outside we get some pretty cold temperatures.

Tottally ageed. The set up should have an aquatic part, with a small filter and a couple of fish and plants. The dry part could be set up for the Natrix or Garter.

Being native has, evidently, an educational twist to it.

Thanks, I will look into the Natrix.

 

[rudukai13]

I really think if you're more of an aquarium person the puff faced water snake will be the way to go. It's the most highly aquatic and would work well for your situation.

 

[_Jessica_]

Some type of snake would be cool, I think. There are so many misconceptions and phobias regarding snakes, it would be good to show kids that snakes aren't the man eating monsters they are made out to be. Can't help you with what type though.

 

[A. gigas]

Some type of snake would be cool, I think. There are so many misconceptions and phobias regarding snakes, it would be good to show kids that snakes aren't the man eating monsters they are made out to be.

this^

carpet python!