Houston 4th Grade Teacher

[Trogdorpheus]

I don't really know how much those UTH's run, but you might be able to find a human heating pad (one WITHOUT the auto-shutoff) and use that also. Might be cheaper. Plus, if you keep the roach bin close enough to the Beardie enclosure(maybe underneath? if you have a stand for it), it may get enough ambient heat just from that...

Something else to consider... if your school is heated via radiators or something of the sort where heat is concentrated somewhere in the room, then diffuses through the room... just turn off your roach bin heater and move it closer to the heat source. Granted you're in Texas, so I dunno how often any heat would be on. I originally wanted to keep my roaches in the room where the hot water heater was... but parents didn't bite on that- something about "If they escape... they're crawling in YOUR bed, not MY house) so now they're in my closet.

Side note: escapees are extremely rare, only one I've had out of the bin was one that I dropped. Found him 2 minutes later in a dark corner... he was fed to my dragon immediately as punishment for running away.

 

[MissT]

O I am so jealous of u guys who can have beardies in the classroom! I wish I lived over there! Iv only been ae totaled one in for a few hours and even then if a board official had walked in I probably would have been sacked on the spot! Anyway don't know if anyone mentioned this but thought I would (I'm on my phone n it's pretty difficult to follow posts!) anyway a classroom project I would do if I could would be to have the children research beardies before bringing it in- I'm not sure how old 4th grade is but this would give good opportunities to explore topics such as materials and even healthy eAting. It could also lead into topics on countries around the world and homes. If I had a beardie in my classroom I'm pretty sure I could link just about every topic to it in some way! Good luck wth ur new addition! T

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Be prepared, some parents may end up sending you rather frustrated emails about their kids now wanting exotic lizards as pets since they "know everything about them, we have one in class". Not saying it would happen, or that it should deter you from doing it (I'm actually for the idea, I like it) but it's just being prepared for the worst and hoping for the best type deal.

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Ric, I looked at craigslist for Houston and did find some that were very nice and affordable. Yet, most of them were grown, and I really want to start with a juvenile to be able to study the growth and development. Also, TnD Dragons has graciously offered to work a deal with me. I'm very thankful to him.

Trogdorpheus (sorry, I don't know your real name), I've read that a lot of people choose to use the human heating pads, so I'll probably look into those first. Also, as you pointed out, being in Texas doesn't leave much time for the heat to be on. In fact, I'm not even sure if the heat was ever turned on last year (and we even got like 2 cms of snow!! )! It is also great to hear that roaches are very rare to escape! That seemed to be what everyone was saying. My partner will be very happy to know that since the roaches will be housed at our apartment during the summer and during long school breaks! It was fairly easy to get her on board for the beardie...a bit harder on the insects! And, you mentioned the parents...I will definitely be sure I'm prepared for that, however, considering the school I'm at, I doubt that will be a problem. It is very rare for parents to contact me. In fact, most of them avoid my phone calls and letters like the plague!

T, why are you not allowed to have a beardie in your classroom? My administrator told me that as long as the pet isn't venomous and is housed in a cage, then I'd be allowed to have it. I also have two little frogs that were given to me by two friends that were relocating 4 hours away and didn't think transporting the frogs would be good. I remember having all kinds of pets in my classes growing up, and the school I taught at in Florida had a science lab that was overflowing with pets...python, hissing cockroaches, scorpion, tarantula, etc! The animals really do get students attention and gives them a reason to pay attention! I'm also going to tie it into my behavior management, which will be FABULOUS!

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Perhaps I'll add a signature with my name in it or something

It's Matt btw...

The roaches are great if you get the right kind. I know Dubia are pretty common among people here, and I personally have a colony of Discoids. Both of which are non-climbing, non-flying (even though adults have wings) species. They don't smell like death (crickets... ugh) and they are fairly hardy. I have yet to find one dead in the bin, whereas the one time I thought I'd snag crickets just to change things up for a day I found 3 dead in the bag by the time I got home (I only bought a dozen, so a 25% fatality rate... and it was pretty clear that it was death via other crickets attacking it).

Aside from all the benefits of using roaches... they're just way cooler than crickets. I think cricket and I think pest at camping, but when I think discoid or dubia I think exotic beetle (its easier saying that around my parents to avoid the stigma of the word "roach").

I tell you what... your 4th grade class is gonna love this thing.


PS - my sister was watching Harry Potter : The Chamber of Secrets today... and as I'm walking through the room (they're in some class turning the animals into cups or w/e) I see that one of the animals on the desk was a bearded dragon! Thought that was kinda cool... (I'm such a loser lol)

 

[Ric]

PS - my sister was watching Harry Potter : The Chamber of Secrets today... and as I'm walking through the room (they're in some class turning the animals into cups or w/e) I see that one of the animals on the desk was a bearded dragon! Thought that was kinda cool... (I'm such a loser lol)

LOL I hit rewind on that part.

 

[MissT]

The education board I work for says that reptiles are unsuitable classroom pets due to salmonella risk. It's ridiculous- if I worked in a school just 2 miles away, I would be in a board area that did not have such silly restrictions!

 

[Ric]

The education board I work for says that reptiles are unsuitable classroom pets due to salmonella risk. It's ridiculous- if I worked in a school just 2 miles away, I would be in a board area that did not have such silly restrictions!

Aren't turtles the main cause for that rule?

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

T - I guess that makes sense but it is stupid. I'm sure that if a teacher brought a pet in that teacher would more than likely be responsible enough to properly care for the animal and ensure proper hand washing and what not was done.

You can live vicariously through my class!

 

[landoflor]

love the fact that you want to bring in a dragon for your class to go though the year with.
i only skimmed most of the posts but i just wanted to bring up you will need calcium powder and multi vitamins for your baby.
you siad you dident want to touch them this will help when powerdering i use it my self
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=98719

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Thanks for linking me to that post! That is great and I will definitely use it!

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

So, I was just doing some more browsing on here and saw that some people prefer to use Phoenix Worms for the daily staple. These seem to be a little easier to care for since (from what I understand, please correct me if I'm wrong) you don't have to feed them or really do anything for them other than dust them with calcium and what not. The price also doesn't seem too bad (600 little ones for $28).

Are these better than the dubias? Or about the same? Should I still do a dubia colony but use these as a staple until my colony is fully self-sustaining?

 

[AndyT]

Yes, phoenix worms are a very good staple. You may still want to start the Dubia colony, since when he gets bigger, small Phoenix worms won't sustain him. By the time he needs them, you could have a thriving colony at your disposal. Of course, you could just buy bigger worms as he grows. I have never used them, so I'm not sure about this, but I don't know if they have to be powdered, since they are so calcium rich to begin with. Though I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.

Andy

 

[Ric]

Can't they get too much calcium?

 

[AndyT]

D3