Class pet(s)?????

[BunnyMacDougal]

Family at school want to donate two hamsters to my classroom.


I dig it.  I wouldn't mind taking care of two hamsters and organizing the "take home" schedule over weekends and Spring Break.  I would keep them for sure in the summer, etc etc.

I don't think I'd have to put myself on the hook for buying all the accoutrements - if (like the other teachers tell me) I can motivate other parents to donate:  cages, some chips, some food, tunnels and stuff,  those clear plastic balls.   I guess I wouldn't be overly sad to go drop a few hundred dollars on these hamsters, but would prefer not to.


Any class pet stories you wanna share while I'm mulling this over?  


Note:  7th graders don't usually have a "class" pet I know.  But I've gotten the rap as a wacky science person.  People bring me all kinds of weird stuff; bird wing, deer heart, planaria.  I just end the regularly scheduled lesson early and show/tell/dissect etc.  They get into it.  

I'm guessing the hamsters would be received with enthusiasm.  Check them out, hold them, let them roll around, bring them up when we discuss certain animal science (use their names and refer to their parts or functions...)  idfk.  Maybe?

[joenali]

We had a chinchilla in the class I student taught in. Don't get a chinchilla. Dust baths and lots of pee everywhere but in the cage. Hamsters are a bit easier to take care of. Are the kids cleaning the cage? Or are you? I wouldn't take them unless the students clean it out. What about allergies? Lots of kids can't be around pet dander.

[wrathofkuus]

My mother's seventh grade science class had a pet turtle for about a decade.

[blueballoon]

I'd advise against it. Hamsters are nocturnal. They'd be sleeping the entire day and wouldn't be seen. Also those plastic running balls are garbage.