Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have never kept a snake before, but the biology teacher at the high school where I teach math said he would be interested in keeping some snakes in the classroom. The school is about 15 min from the place I go to find them, so I would be looking to take one in there for about 2-3 days, and then return it back to it's home. I'm not interested in long term care, breeding, or feeding (necessarily). I just want the kids to see it. I am looking for the cheapest possible habitat to keep in the classroom. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them - and I would really love to know if I would doing any harm to the snakes!

thanks,

Jake

Penn Plexx makes some ok small animal housing for short term and small species. They're called critter keepers, and they'll run you $11-20 depending on the size.

I'm assuming you're looking to take something from the wild and keep it for a few weeks and release it? While there will be mixed feelings on that subject, I think you need to take a good look at your location. If you're in the north, or any area where snakes will hibernate/brumate, this is a bad time to take them out of the wild with plans to release anytime before the spring.

If you live in a warmer climate, that's not such a big concern.

Of course, you must keep in mind that whatever you buy will have to have good strong locks on it, a 10 gal aquarium will run you $15 at my petshop, and $12 for the lid. We're typically priced a bit lower than other petshops, so the critter keeper, or one of it's clones is your best bet, just make sure the cover fits tight and the "door" on the top closes tight, and the animal has room for water and to move around a bit.

I live in Southern California and I've been told that snakes are seen in my area every month of the year and only missing on the coldest days of winter. I don't think I'll mess up any hibernating plans and I'm actually only looking to keep them for a few days. I'll check out thise citter keepers right now - thank you!

that is just my opinion, extra credit for the ones who can "freehand" a HELLERI! Ha Ha j/k
But, I really think it is better to just observe them in the wild, I mean I have kept snakes I have found, but I KEPT them. Not to say for sure wheter it matters that much to the snake but why put more stress on the animal despite everything they are going thru right now, especially in southern california (where I live as well). A video camera would be a great addition to show the class as well. Of course this all my opinion, but why don't you guys just get a class pet i.e. rosy boa? That would probably be the best thing in order to get people, especially kids, aware of snakes and there habits and start to thing more positive about them, thats what we really need. ROOTROK. Dread out
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1.1 Oregon rubber boas (02')

1.2 Hypo Borrego rosy boas (99')
1.2 Whitewater rosy boas (00')
1.1 Bay of L.A. rosy boas (98')
1.1 San Felipe rosy boas (97')
1.1 Ensanada Unicolor rosy boas (99')
1.0 Joshua Tree rosy boas (01')
1.1 Yorba linda rosy boas (03')

1.1 Desert Banded geckos

1.0 Holland lop "Pete" (rabbit)

Without knowing the age of the kids, I'd have to say I disagree.

Kids should not be encouraged to find and interact with wild animals until they have learned to be respectful of the land and the animals on it. This typically doesn't happen to most kids until they're in college or beyond.

In a classroom environment, those interested can interact with the animal in a controlled situation, those who aren't interested, won't be forced into it. Also, encouraging younger kids to catch/handle/look for wild snakes can be dangerous in areas with a moderate population of venemous animals.

I'm not typically one for catch/release herping, but in this situation, I do feel if it's not going to be a CB or long term pet, this is the best situation.

Kids should not be encouraged to find and interact with wild animals until they have learned to be respectful of the land and the animals on it. This typically doesn't happen to most kids until they're in college or beyond.

That has to be one of the most backwards thinking statements I have ever read. Most people don't fully understand love and relationships until they are older. Does that mean that they should not experience that until then? Certainly people will have a better appreciation of nature as they get older, but unless you spark that interest early and have them get out and experience nature, that time may not come at all. Having someone tell you about nature or reading about it is a very poor substitute for actually interacting with it. Maybe a field trip might not be the best option in this particular case, depending on the number of students, knowledgeable chaperons, area to be visited, etc. But, IMO definitely not for the reason you stated.

In an ideal society I'd agree with you 100% We do not live in an ideal society. By my statement i meant 12-18 range. I've seen far too many animals tortured, etc by people who do not understand or respect them. Have you ever seen an animal cornered by a group of kids? Seen it kicked or beaten to death while it tries desperately to get away?

Earlier this year in Oklahoma, 5 puppies and their mother were found severly burned, and most dead, by kids who shot them with roman candles, some even had roman candles placed into their mouth. If someone is interested in herptology, that's one thing, to bring a group of uninterested kids to the animal's habitat, is another.

I do agree kids should be introduced to a wide spectrum of things, animals included, but need to be guided a little more thoroughly than a field trip could do.

Your situation is definately not the norm. I've given many presentations to kids who had an interest in the topic and those who were not. You can always pick out one or 2 that have that mean streak but the majority have a 'built in' respect that needs to be nurtured.

I'm sure that some of the teachers on this list haven't found your response yet because I know they will have something to say.

I heavily suggest you rethink your idea on exposing kids to and encouraging kids to experience the great outdoors and wildlife in general. That is were the respect of life actually begins. In todays society I think that is a much needed trait.

You're idea is such a weird train of thought that I really don't know how to respond... actually I do but I think I have made my point.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I think you skipped over the "until a sense of respect has been developed" part and only read the "shouldn't be encouraged" part.

I fully agree that interest in the environment and the animals in it should be sparked at an early age, just not before respect for both has been established.

You keyed on to the one thing that drives me nuts.
I'm reading that you seem to be deciding when the time is right.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I fully agree that interest in the environment and the animals in it should be sparked at an early age, just not before respect for both has been established.

A couple of points. One, you already said most don't develop that respect until college or later. So how do you spark it at an early age, but not until college? Two, how do you teach them how to interact with nature respectfully without letting them interact with it? To me that is like saying you can't go near water until after you know how to swim. You can't learn how to swim without the water. I know it has been a while since I've been on a field trip, but I don't think they have gone so far as to drive the kids to some location and set them out unsupervised.

Ok, I'm gonna opt out of furthering this discussion. My point of "give the lesson before the hands on lab" has apparently been taken wrong, or even as offensive, and I don't really feel like adding gasoline to the fire, so I quit

Let's not lose sight of the fact we are talking about a TEACHER taking the kids on a trip. I agree with you that kids do stupid things, but that's why we have teachers. I wasn't planning on going to the trails, handing the kids gasoline and matches, and then telling them to meet me in 2 hours.

I have a lot of passion for all the things I teach about. Sometimes I can spread that passion to my students and sometimes I can't, but I wouldn't take a bunch of kids up to the snake's habitat, and then feel no responsibility to "finish the lesson." Most of the kids I work with have never seen a snake with their own eyes, and would run like heck if they did. I promise I would have them leave the trip with the idea that snakes should be observed and enjoyed instead of feared and killed.

I guess I was just a little surprized at the intensity of your examples - I have no doubt that they are true, but I would give the educational process a little more credit than assuming those results. I hope that the situations you described were not part of a school sponsored field trip!

I really do appreciate the input - getting snakes hurt is the last thing I would want to do.

Jake

>>I have never kept a snake before, but the biology teacher at the high school where I teach math said he would be interested in keeping some snakes in the classroom. The school is about 15 min from the place I go to find them, so I would be looking to take one in there for about 2-3 days, and then return it back to it's home. I'm not interested in long term care, breeding, or feeding (necessarily). I just want the kids to see it. I am looking for the cheapest possible habitat to keep in the classroom. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them - and I would really love to know if I would doing any harm to the snakes!
>>
>>thanks,
>>
>>Jake

Jake,

I would first say it depends to some degree on which species you want to keep and how large of a snake it is. I'm an elementary teacher in n. MI. I often take a ten gal. aquarium into the classroom. I use a 1 gal. plastic jar to transport the speciman. You can use a top that fits over the aquarium, like kinds you can get in a pet store, but be sure it is held down tight, or you'll have a snake roaming free, which my school really frowns on. You can use a gal. milk jug w/top cut off to hold water. You can use any plastic container as a hide spot. And you can use paper as substrate. I also put aspen shavings/chips on it about 3/4 inch thick.

If your speciman is small, about 20 in, or less, you can keep it in a gallon jar, especially if it is only temporary...

I often take in a garter snake, or one of my pet ratsnakes. In your case you might find a young gopher snake. If it is small enough, like 3 ft, or less, it would probably do well in a setup like this...

There was some good info in the other posts and I don't mean to argue any points, but I don't see too much of a problem about keeping a snake for a few days and then releasing it back in the area you got it. Meeting a few basic requirements of snake keeping won't harm your snake, if you don't keep it long. Remember, also, that wild animals can have parasites, or diseases, too. I would keep the w/c snake quarantined from other animals, and make your kids wash after, if they free handle the animal. I use wild animals a lot to teach science, but usually I use snakes from my collection. Good luck and I hope you all learn valuable lessons from your endeavor.

TC

That helps me a lot - you're right, I will probably end up with a small gopher snake. I actually looked today, but only found baby rattle snakes. They were incredible to see, but I just left them where they were. We actually found some old aquariums in a science closet - I think they are around 30 gal. The science teacher is going to have his classes do some research about creating a good environment for the three kinds of snakes we see, and he will have them set up on tank for each snake. Then all we have to do is find one. Thanks again for the tips!

Jake