How long can a rabbit be alone? or other class pet suggestions?

[2LaZ2race]

I’d like to get a class pet this year. A few teachers at my school have them and have had great success with teaching students responsibility, compassion and using it as an incentive (“if you end your day on green you get to sit next to the bunny tomorrow!”).

My issue however is: I don’t want to send it home with a student but I also don’t really want to take it home every weekend. I’d have no issue taking it home on long weeks or breaks, but every weekend lugging a cage back and forth seems a bit much. I also sometimes have to go straight to my part time job on Fridays.

Could I leave pellets and some sort of slow hay feeder for the weekend?

[CrowneDragon]

I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave any pet without supervision for that long. If they get sick or injured or their water bottle breaks on Friday night they are stuck until Monday morning.

I’d get something easily portable. Maybe a rat? They can be very tame if handled well and are smaller and easier to move around.

[Tab]

Bunnies like their freedom and socializing.

Goldfish? The kids get to feed them, etc…

[Emily_amp_Jake]

If you went ahead and got a rabbit, could you have a cage/exercise pen for it in the classroom and then another at your home? Then you would just have to transport the bunny back and forth in a carrier.
The only thing I’d worry about is stressing it out from so much traveling.

Fish could easily go two days without being fed. Just feed them Friday afternoon/evening before you leave the school, and then Monday morning when you get back.

[Simkie]

Goldfish are cold water, dirty fish that require a much larger tank than tropicals. But perhaps one of the very personable Cichlids? Oscars can be trained to ring bells and other tricks, are happy being the only fish and are large enough to be interesting. They CAN get quite big–might be problematic to easily transport the tank home during breaks–but fish do fine if not fed or really checked on over the weekend, as long as the tank is stable and the equipment in it is reliable.

Another nice pocket pet would be a single male mouse or three females. Either would do fine in a 10 gallon tank and they can be very, very sweet if handled regularly. But I wouldn’t leave mice over the weekend–they would have to go home.

[ladyj79]

Ok, from experience, this day and age it is simply not a good plan.

My mother raised and showed rabbits, and she was an elementary school teacher who had a rabbit in her classroom for years. Wait, decades. And then around 2006, when a particularly…unpleasant child was told not to remove the rabbit from the cage, of course that’s what happened. And this aggressive, nasty child got bit. And my 60 year old mother with 30+ years in the classroom was nearly fired (actually was, that day, until the union stepped in and told the new principal, who was very interested in covering his behind, that that was simply not going to happen–but she spent a year dealing with the situation, and this kid’s parents hadn’t even sued).

Of course, then my mom started bringing her dog. Sigh. Because she is Pollyanna.

My insane mother aside, with the litigious climate in this country, I wouldn’t have an animal in my classroom…except fish.

[MsM]

Stressful for most animals.
Liability for the school.
In many districts no longer allowed.

Kind of a pity, but I know that a number of teachers who had class pets in my youth (1960s!) went through several “class pets” in a school year.

I have seen it done well in a therapeutic kind of setting such as Green Chimneys. Very cool to see these tough, troubled kids doing math problems so the hamster can sit on their desk!

[toady123]

In one of my elementary classes we had a gerbil, and we earned the right to take it home on weekends. It survived just fine. I do suppose there are broader issues now, around liability and such. My one thought is allergies?!

[GoForAGallop]

Fish sound like a great idea.

Bunnies, particularly when solo, are social animals who need regular out-of-the-cage time. They would not be an acceptable animal to leave alone for a weekend, every weekend.

They also bite and scratch, for the most part, and many don’t like to be held. If I already owned a bunny that was a big mush, I’d consider bringing it in. Would I go out and intentionally buy a bunny for a classroom, knowing that 99% of them are not going to do well in such an environment? Nope.

I love, love love bunnies and have had one as a litter-box trained, free-range house pet. I’d never want to keep one in the type of cage I’m picturing for a classroom, with limited free range time, left alone on the weekends.

[Preposterous_Ponies]

Rabbits do not really make good pets for children. They are extremely fragile and they have very sharp teeth. Some rabbits love to be handled, but others, like my Spock, not so much. He has had tons of socialization but definitely has a “only mummy can do it” attitude about most things - and NOBODY picks him up.

Case in point: https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/q86/p417x417/1601735_10201114812866839_409906444_o.jpg

They also need a MINIMUM of 4 hours out of their (large) cage per day. Spock has free run of the house 99% of the time. We do leave him alone in his cage if we go away for the weekend, but make sure he has a 3 water sources, and hay and pellets to last for days. And he is GROUCHY when we come back.

Maybe a lizard or snake would be an okay pet?

[S1969]

Personally, I’m entirely against the “class pet” idea. While I don’t disagree that it could be used as an incentive, I don’t really believe that being in the presence of someone else’s animal “teaches” compassion or responsibility, or at least not any better than showing compassion for other human beings and/or responsibility for non-living things.

Having been on the flip side of this – the parent that is expected to take the class pet for a weekend and/or vacation – it really kind of sucks. Of course the 2nd grade child thinks it’s a fabulous idea, but the parent knows that bringing the gerbil home to two cats and 3 dogs is likely to be a problem. So you either spend time/resources making sure someone else’s gerbil doesn’t get eaten, or have to make the kid sad by saying no.

Unless the teacher is prepared to be 100% responsible for weekend and vacation care, then there should be no class pet. Maybe fish…but still – winter and summer vacation responsibility need to be the teachers. It’s unfair to get the animal and the hope that the parents of the students can/want to provide care for this “pet”.

[Roxyllsk]

Maybe a pair of parakeets or finches ?

They could easily be left alone for the weekend. Especially if you get a tube feeder. You fill that up and the feed cup is continously being filled from the reserve seed in the tube. They do need fresh food but it won’t hurt them to do without for a day or 2. I give mine steamed rice and frozen mixed veggies, along with cheerios, rice crispies, and chex cereal. They like plain spaghetti too.

They will get noisy from time to time, but if the children need quiet (ie, they are taking a test or something) the birds can be covered.

They can be messy but that is easily taken care of with quick sweep or use of a dustbuster.

[Roxyllsk]

As far as rabbits - they shed. And their super fine hair is more irritating than dog or cat hair. And they really do need a lot of room to roam around. Mine live in a large xpen that is attached to a multi-level bunny condo, and I still give them time to run around loose.

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=Roxyllsk;7711245]
Maybe a pair of parakeets or finches ?

They could easily be left alone for the weekend. [/QUOTE]

Maybe, but that depends on the OP’s school. The poor school district that my mother works in turns their heat down to 40* on the weekends in the winter, just warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing.

That would be much, much too cold for most birds.

[Guin]

Definitely way too cold for birds. And I’ll just add my vote to the concensus that any sort of “class pet” is a bad idea. Unfair to the animal, and what about a kid who’s allergic? And you are talking about weekends. What about week-long vacations? What about the summer or Christmas?

[Epona142]

What about a reptile?

Ball Pythons are extremely easy to keep, can easily go all weekend without a meal…heck all week. No smell when properly cared for. Less chance of allergens. Slow moving, gentle, very disinclined to bite. An under the tank heater keeps the enclosure warm.

No snakes?

Leopard geckos fall into the same category.

Don’t like lizards?

What about a Pacman frog.

There’s a whole world of awesome beginner level reptiles and amphibians out there.

[emipou]

I would suggest getting two young female rats. They are very social and need to have that companionship. They will love and bond and cuddle with the children. They will learn tricks. They are very clean animals- they will have one corner of the cage where they poop. They will thrive on interaction. But they can be left for a few days together with food and water and be fine.

Don’t go to PetCo for a rat. Ever. Ever.
Try to find a local rescue or breeder of pet fancy rats. There are so many cute varieties. I adore the dumbos and the rexes a lot.

[Calvincrowe]

Rats! They are easy to handle, social, cuddly and can be left over the weekend easily. Girls are more aesthetically pleasing ( no dangling bits), just make sure you have two of the same sex, otherwise you’ll be teaching a whole other set of lessons. Rabbits just aren’t super kid/handling friendly…and man, their nails are sharp!

[Luseride]

We have rabbits at school and I feed on Friday right before I leave and as long as it is not hot or really cold they are fine until Monday morning.

If they were inside I would not even worry about that.

I am an ag teacher so we are raising them as meat rabbits so I may be a bit more practical about it all than some.

[enjoytheride]

A rabbit will be just fine left over the weekend with plenty of food, water, and hay. If you had a bigger pen that he could hang out in attached to his cage that would be ideal. Millions of rabbits have spent their entire lives in cages and while I firmly believe in the house rabbit way I am not going to judge breeders of rabbits. I will have to say that many breeds of rabbits are unsuitable for frequent handling by small children due to their tendency to kick when held. I would suggest a larger rabbit such as a lop, they are bred to be easier to handle and kick less. The tiny rabbits are more fragile and more aggressive just like those tiny evil hamsters.