Fun Daycare Pets?

[TwinMama]

I have a dog and fish. The kids love them. I was wondering what kind of daycare pets you all have and how does it work out with daycare.

I was considering something like a hermit crab that they can watch.

[dolores]

Just recently I was thinking of a pet for my daycare...something low maintenance.

What kind of fish do you have, for how long, and how do the kids help with it?

[DaveA]

I’m a big fan of small & furry- mice, rats, or hamsters. I let the DCKs pick out the classroom pets and they always went with one of those.

[TwinMama]

Just recently I was thinking of a pet for my daycare...something low maintenance.

What kind of fish do you have, for how long, and how do the kids help with it?

I have tetras nothing crazy, and a snail. We have had them over a year. Right before Covid hit. The snail helps keep the tank clean. Every morning the kids play "find the snail". It likes to hide. They get so excited when they find it.

[TwinMama]

I’m a big fan of small & furry- mice, rats, or hamsters. I let the DCKs pick out the classroom pets and they always went with one of those.

I really want to be as fun as you are, but I can't do rodents. ::

[Pestle]

I've had mice in a terrarium. The kids loved them! They were fun to watch and easy to care for. Cleaning the bedding and sanitizing their environment just got to be one more chore I hated doing, though, so after the last pair passed on (with processionals, Amazing Grace, and tiny cardstock coffin), I put the terrarium out in the shed.

[kendallina]

I have a bunny. I really love him. He's 8 years old and started as a family pet, so he got handled a lot in the beginning which made him a pretty nice bunny for the kiddos. We'll occasionally get him out in a gated area with 1-2 children and they can spend time with him. And once a week he gets out with the family and runs all around the preschool room. The preschoolers can feed him hay and clovers through his cage, too. Everyone loves Bun Bun!

We also have a hamster. She's an a-hole. She bites and we don't pay attention to her like we should .

And two cats and a dog and fish and a snail. My daughter wants guinea pigs, so I imagine someday we'll have guinea pigs.

[Unregistered]

We have a 20 gallon in our 2 year old room with ballon mollys (there rather enteraining and ours fallow fingers (cause fingers mean food)) and some cory cat fish (that are kinda boring). In the 1 year old room, we just got a 5 gallon and batman the catfish... Gatta find batboy some friends soon

[Pandaluver21]

We started out as a summer camp with the acronym "GEKOS" (stood for getting every kid out for summer) So of course, we got Geckos. We still have them 13+ years later! The kids love seeing them, holding them, and watching them eat bugs :P
We have had fish, hermit crabs, rats, and a chinchilla that were all specifically class pets. I also have a dog (He is a service dog though, so not around the kids a ton) and two cats.

I’m a big fan of small & furry- mice, rats, or hamsters. I let the DCKs pick out the classroom pets and they always went with one of those.

Rats make AMAZING pets, and are super kid friendly! We actually bred rats for several years until my allergies got so bad we had to stop

[Josiegirl]

During my daycare years, we had cats, dogs, hamsters and bunnies.

Dogs can be high maintenance but were much loved by dcks(not to mention parents were glad for the exposure at dc so they didn't have to get one Lol), cats never liked to be handled much , bunnies were wonderful pets as long as they tolerated being held because that's what kids want to do, and hamsters were a lot of fun to watch but mine used to bite when I'd try to hold them so dcks never got that opportunity. The dcks especially loved things like hamster wheels, and balls(the kind you put them in and they can roll all over the house) and all the fancy tubing/connections you can buy.

I know a former dcm had a hermit crab for her dd and they really enjoyed it but said it took some care. I remember giving her some bigger seashells for it so they could watch it try on new houses.

I always fantasized about getting a mini horse for our backyard.

[TwinMama]

I've had mice in a terrarium. The kids loved them! They were fun to watch and easy to care for. Cleaning the bedding and sanitizing their environment just got to be one more chore I hated doing, though, so after the last pair passed on (with processionals, Amazing Grace, and tiny cardstock coffin), I put the terrarium out in the shed.

Love this.

[TwinMama]

I have a bunny. I really love him. He's 8 years old and started as a family pet, so he got handled a lot in the beginning which made him a pretty nice bunny for the kiddos. We'll occasionally get him out in a gated area with 1-2 children and they can spend time with him. And once a week he gets out with the family and runs all around the preschool room. The preschoolers can feed him hay and clovers through his cage, too. Everyone loves Bun Bun!

We also have a hamster. She's an a-hole. She bites and we don't pay attention to her like we should .

And two cats and a dog and fish and a snail. My daughter wants guinea pigs, so I imagine someday we'll have guinea pigs.

I laughed out loud about your hamster being an a-hole. I just picture getting a pet like that and it living for freaking ever.

[TwinMama]

During my daycare years, we had cats, dogs, hamsters and bunnies.

Dogs can be high maintenance but were much loved by dcks(not to mention parents were glad for the exposure at dc so they didn't have to get one Lol), cats never liked to be handled much , bunnies were wonderful pets as long as they tolerated being held because that's what kids want to do, and hamsters were a lot of fun to watch but mine used to bite when I'd try to hold them so dcks never got that opportunity. The dcks especially loved things like hamster wheels, and balls(the kind you put them in and they can roll all over the house) and all the fancy tubing/connections you can buy.

I know a former dcm had a hermit crab for her dd and they really enjoyed it but said it took some care. I remember giving her some bigger seashells for it so they could watch it try on new houses.

I always fantasized about getting a mini horse for our backyard.

I've been thinking about a hermit crab, but I'm not sure whats all involved with it.

I have also always wanted a mini horse too!! Or llamas....or a donkey. We would have wild kingdom here if it wasn't for my dh.

[Josiegirl]

I think it needs a consistent temperature; can't really remember for sure.

When I was a kid, we got a duckling. Cutest little thing, how we all loved it. They grow fast and we had to give it to a farm before it got too cold. I remember my heart breaking when we all went back to the car and it followed us.

[Cat Herder]

My state says I can't have ferrets, rats, bully or shepherd breed dogs or snakes. :dislike: They also have a 500 feet rule from "livestock" but don't specify what that means.

I love rats. Yep, I said it. I babysat one once for a family and that little dude stole my heart. I did not want to send him back, but they were also smitten.

I love snakes. Same deal, college friend's snake got sick, I nursed her while she was in boot camp and we bonded. She was 6 foot (suriname) and terrifying at first, but just a big lap snake in the end. Personally, I'd love to have a small green snake, but they are too shy and don't live well with children. They are really sweet for teens, though.

I love, love, love bearded dragons and iguana's. Beardies are snuggle bugs and will follow you everywhere you go if you let them. Their derpy perma-grins will make your day. Iguanas can get a little moody and slappy if they don't get their way, it can really hurt and leave marks, so probably not best for kids. I have always wanted a savannah monitor but they are not for kids and I am too old, now. Unless, I find a senior looking for a home.... hmmm...

I currently have dogs, a cat, and thirteen geckos of two species.

I won't do birds, tropical reptiles, sliders or fish again due to amount of labor, resource's, expensive illness's and temperature/electricity sensitivity issues. Plus, it is really frustrating to clean up after something that shoots poop 5 feet across the room at will or tries to die at every power outage. :dislike: Hamsters were fun, but smelly and rough on kids with asthma. IME, Rabbits bite and hated everyone, equally (I rehomed to rabbit people super fast).

We had a crawfish for a year or so, he was pretty cool and easy to maintain. I accidently disturbed his den clearing brush in winter, so owed him a safe home until he reached maturity. We had a "Bon Voyage" party for him when he returned to the river.