Does your program have a classroom pet? Post a pic if you like. How to the children like it? I had a fish tank with feeder goldfish. They went from 10 gal, 20 long, 40 gal, 55 gal in 4 yrs. I removed the tank 2 yrs ago because they needed a larger tank. They are now 6yrs old in a 125 gal in my basement.

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My camera is having issues but yes, we have a fish tank. We only have a few fish left (danios) but we used to also have a Betta and some frogs (I think they were called African Frogs - can't remember - but they were really fun to watch). We are debating whether or not to replenish the tank or not.

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We have a hamster in the classroom and a Pekinese in the house. Even though they're technically my daughter's the kids love our 4 ducks and 3 silkies in the backyard.

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We have a beta fish who hangs on the wall. The kids love him

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How does he hang on the wall? I love the idea of having a fish down here (daycare is in basement) but counter/table space is very limited.

This is Bradley. He usually isn't allowed in the daycare room, but he was scared during a thunder storm. The kids love seeing him upstairs while I make lunch and they love playing with him outside


*I have permission to share pics of children etc.

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Where did you find fish that swim upside down?? Too cool.

We have a spotted newt. She looks like this...

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You have a newfy?!?! Best cuddlers EVER!!

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I have two guinea pigs, and I let the kids pick out names for them. Emmett is the brown/black/white one, and Hiro Hamada is the white one. They didn't like my suggestions of Hoggle and Jareth.

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He is in a betta bubble I purchased at Petco. It comes with a stand so the bowl can sit on a counter or you can hang it on the wall. I hung him on the wall so the kids can watch and care for him but it reduced the risk of him getting bumped into.

http://www.petco.com/product/125605/...B&kpid=2257256

Here is ours:

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This is Dexter. He is a great little dog except for the fact that he takes off as soon as he sees an opportunity. If I were to do a class pet I would get rats. I worry about how parents would react to that though!

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True! He is such good boy!

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We have 2 rats! This is our 3rd time having pet rats. Sadly, they only live about 2 years. But they are such incredible animals - sweet, affectionate, fun, friendly, CLEAN, inexpensive, amusing, and smart! I can't say enough nice things about them!

We also have a classroom fish tank, and our family dog is always within 3 feet of me.

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We have a bunny! The kids love him and he gets attention and hand-fed hay everyday from them. Sometimes we get him out and love on him, but my current group is a little unpredictable so I haven't ventured that yet. When preschoolers are not here, he gets to run around the preschool room and spend time with my daughter (she's 6).

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I would love to have rats again! The kids and the parents LOVED them with the exception of 1 grandma who wouldn't come into my house after she saw them. When I first opened I took the DCKs to the pet store and let them choose the room pet and they chose rats. My wife was beyond mad but learned to like them PDQ. We had the 2 we bought from the store and ended up adopting a pair of dumbos. When I went to relicense my regular rep was assigned to another area for a while and the temp wouldn't give me my license till I got rid of them. I should have just put them downstairs till she was gone, but like an idiot I found them homes. Still steamed about it and it's been years.

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Do rats smell? I wanted to get a couple but dd volunteers at an animal shelter and says they REEK, despite their cages being cleaned daily.

Snake
Lizard
Spider
Frog
Fish tank
Snails
Ant Farm
Worm Farm

It's a zoo in here!

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No more than a hamster. Mice actually are worse from my experience. Rats are like little dogs. They come when called, are very friendly and intelligent.

I would be so mad if my license was denied for having pet rats. They are no more diseased than any other small pet.

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Lizard? What kind? Frog? Snake? Interested to hear more

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nothing too fancy!

lizard- gecko
snake- ball python
spider- lasiadora parybana(spelling may be off a bit)
Frog-African




The kids take turns caring for our pets. The lizard and spider eat crickets and meal worms. I clean up their cages, change water once a week. Very low maintenance. The kids lovveeee watching them eat, molt, make webs. Cricket allows tail pets, and the kids think he is a baby alligator/crocodile. Spider is SO COOL. She can't be touched by the kids (recticulating? hairs) but she's friendly and tolerates holding. Very fun to watch her dig/climb/eat/make webs/molt.

Snake is SUPER friendly, the kids love to hold and pet him. Their favorite thing ever is to see how many kids long he is, they each line up to put their arms under him. He's almost 4 whole kids long now!

This is all in my expanding science area- magnifying glasses, microscopes, life cycle toys and cards, anything from nature that strikes their fancy/is outside.

Lots of discussion about diets- insectivore, carnivore.... sleep cycles- nocturnal, climates-desert, tropical/rainforest. Animal classification- arachnid vs insect was a topic, etc.

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I have personal (in my main residence) 2 Chinese water dragons in 150 & 55 gal, 1 American toad, 8 gerbils across 4 tanks, 4 dogs (Jack Russell, 2 Italian Greyhounds, a Saluki), freshwater 125 gal and saltwater 55 gal. We attend local reptile shows and my son was interested in a ball python.

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We have 2 dogs 2 cats 2 bearded dragons and 4 chickens

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Neighbor's chickens come over for visits.

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What type of chickens? We LOVE our Silkies- we have one each black, grey, and white. They are so much fun to watch.

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The boys love our Boston Terrier Oreo

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Rats are great! I grew up with rats and the females are much less smelly than males. They are fantastic pets especially if they were handled since birth. Just if tip if you're picking rats, get them from someone who LOVES rats and get them when they are really young. You can tell the males from the females when they are just born because the females have nipples =)

The home daycare my son went to had 3 dogs (2 large and a small). The small dog was almost always inside with the kids, the large dogs were usually outside. I liked that my kid got to be with the dogs because we don't have dogs...but I think when they added the 3rd dog, it got to be too much.

The kids couldn't play outside because dog poo was out there, my kid was terrified of the puppy because it would "eat" him him, he had sharp little teeth and never bit hard, but left scratches and my son would come home and tell me he didn't like the puppy. It made me a little uneasy, but I was never uneasy about him being with the other two dogs.

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Our ball is SOOO awesome. He's handled daily, so when he sees the cage door being open he crawls right out into your arms. He also NEVER curls into a ball unless I put in live food (mice/rats scare him) The kids call him a 'fraidy snake.

He has never, not once bit. Despite that, we teach the kids snake safety, don't allow them to touch his head (even though he loves chin rubs) and we don't allow the kids to have him draped around their shoulders- he's insanely strong and I have a hard time unwrapping him from ME sometimes.

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I love finding people who love their pets and make an effort to give them the attention they need to make them good pets! Snakes are cool.

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