Looking for info on a classroom pet.

[pnyklr3]

I have a 55 gallon tank that doesn't hold water, and I want to put it to good use. I would like to use it as a classroom tank for reptiles, and I was considering leopard geckos. I say geckos, because I would like a few. Could I have 1 male and 3 females in the same enclosure? Would this be enough room? I would also like to purchase very small ones so that I could "hand raise" them and get them used to being handled by me. Is there a good place to buy them so young? Anyone know of any breeders who ship? I am NOT looking for anything that is of "show" quality. I am on a budget (teacher's salary is not very large in your first years) and can not spend too much.

I guess another question could be: DO they breed often? If this is the case (and it's not too difficult) I suppose I could buy 2 and hatch the eggs to get the rest.

Any suggestions?

 

[Earthgirl]

Leopard Geckos are a good pet.
They are easy in care (in comparison to some lizards) but if you get a male with females they might be a chance that they might wanna breed.
Do not get more than one male, they will fight.
They are Nocturnal, so the most the kids will see in the day is them sleeping.
How old are these kids, cause they eat meal worms and crickets, and some parents might feel that they don't want their kids to see that. I know a couple of parents that think I am mean having my son know that the lizard and the tree frogs I have eat living things. I figure that he has to learn that animals eat other animals (the circle of life).
Ah, maybe I am a bad parent.
Anyways, they are easy care and good queit pets, and if you are really interested, I can give you a couple of really good gecko sites that have some good tips and forums to ask questions, just Pm me
If you wanna buy from a breeder, which sometimes is less expensive and you are guartanteed the sex, just look up your local reptile group, and they might be able to help u.
You will probably never find 2 eggs and hatch them youselves, unless you breed and get some that way. They need specific things and moving them might destroy the babies.
Buying babies is a good way of having them accustomed to you handling them.
They can live to be 20 years old, so keep that in mind.
You will have to bring them home in the summer months to care for them.

 

[pnyklr3]

This will be going into a fourth grade classroom, and I'm sure that they know the "way of the world" by now! I actually look forward to bringing them home during breaks from school and the like. I just happened upon some crested geckos and now I'm smitten with them as well!

The only problem I'm running into is this: I would like to raise them from babies (as young as I could while still maintaining their health) so that they will be used to being handled. I want to have about 4 in one tank, but since babies can't be sexed, I may have more than 1 male. In this case, I need to find someone willing to "trade" me a male for a female should the time arise.

The next problem is cost. A local place wants to charge me A LOT (apparently they are a beautiful color; but I don't care about colors, just the gecko!) for one, so I might not be able to afford more than 1 at a time. Would I be able to introduce more to the habitat as time goes one? Will they fight about someone new, or get along well?

 

[Earthgirl]

Babies can be sexed, esp when purchasing from a breeder. When the eggs are being incubated, the temp will distguinsh whether it is female or male. Sorry, I should have said that earlier.
I got my gal as a baby (no bigger than the length of my pointer finger) and that was in the summer. She is now rather large, about the size of my hand, length from tail to head (I should weigh her soon, to find out how big she really is).
I got mine from a breeder for $30 CDN, while the pet store was selling the for about $100. Look for a breeder, paper (maybe someone is getting ride or breeding them), and like I said earlier, I can lead you to a reptile site if you want. Just Pm me, and I know MAM knows some stuff about reptiles and geckos. She might know more sites that can lead you to a breeder.
The problem with introducing them as you go along, is that they are territoral animals and might fight.
You also might want to look at some lights (UV, which are not cheap, Heating lamps, under the tank heaters, hides, etc)
PLEASE do not use a heating rock, they are not recomended for them, they will burn them.

 

[OohFeeshy]

You are not a bad parent Earthgirl! Surely since they will probably be meat eaters they ought to know what they're eating (even if they don't?) If parents complain, tell them, well what do you expect them to eat? and ask their child if you should get rid of them I can imagne, no mummy, no! I don't mind them eating insects! just don't take them away!

 

[Earthgirl]

What you said OOhfreshy, is exactly what I say to people that say that I should not let my son witness that......
And he thinks it is funny and says the yummy yum while the gecko eats mealworms

 

[pnyklr3]

Wierd, because at first I toyed with the idea of a class snake, but decided it wasn't worth the headache I might get from parents.

 

[Never2Bknown]

My fifth/sixth grade teacher had a snake; it was a rosy boa. As far as I know, he never got hassled by any of the parents, even when he let the students crowd around to watch it eat a dead pinkie mouse.

He wasn't the greatest snake owner, though . I remember once when he tried to thaw a dead pinkie in the staff room microwave and it BLEW UP! And then another time, the boa got away and he didn't find for almost the entire year. They had long given up the snake for dead when, to his shock, he found it in a cabinet drawer in his science room--alive and well!!

 

[Leigh1316]

I bought a baby gecko at Petco for $19.99 on sale(reg $29.99), Reko was about 3 inches long when we got him. My nephews are 5 and 7, they handle him all the time and they are great with him. We had to put more heat in the tank as it didn't stay warm enough for him to eat and digest his food, we just put a regular heating pad on low under the tank and he went back to normal. The temp needs to stay at 85 or they can't digest food. They should have a day like they do in the wild with equal parts day/night.
I recommend them as pets(if you want a reptile) they are hardy and easy to care for. All you do is keep plenty of water, they need humidity to help when they shed their skin. Make sure when it sheds its skin that it sheds the skin completely(look at its toes, if the skin stays on its toes they will fall off). It also need a place where it feels safe like it is hiding from the predators. Feed them cricketts no bigger than their head, you can also feed them millworm(ours won't eat the millworm). Ours eat 4-5 small cricketts every day and they cost 9-10 cents apiece at your local pet store.