More school suggestions (Hon, you haven't seen long LOL)

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Posted by Iguanamomma on June 29, 1999 at 12:04:52:

In Reply to: Re: More questions from the new guy: Caution long post posted by harry's Dad on June 29, 1999 at 03:47:34:

May I suggest that you run this by your principal/supervisor, whomever gives permission for these sorts of things. I'll explain why. My son's elem. class this past school session had a class corn snake. No problem for us because, hey, we have one, too. But I know from the parental grapevine that there were some parents who were not happy about this snake and even less happier that the teacher allowed the children to watch it eat (thawed mouse).

You'd think they'd be no problem with an iguana because after all they are vegetarians. However, I can almost guarantee you that somebody, somewhere, sometime will start waving the red flag and shouting "salmonella, salmonella." This is why if I were you, I'd make sure I had permission and that I was "armed and ready" with handouts on salmonella (its causes & how proper hygiene will prevent it).

Second thing.....make sure that you are alerted whenever your classroom is going to be fumigated so that you can make arrangements to vacate that iguana! Also, I don't know what your school uses to clean the classrooms but there are products that are deadly to a reptile. (Scroll way, way down and read thru discussions on Lysol products) You may have to take over the cleaning of your classroom to ensure the health of your iguana. (Depending on what age group you teach, the children might actually enjoy it!)

Last thing...yes, it would be nice if there will be time to have him outside catching UVB the natural way. But I certainly WOULD NOT leave him unattended. You'd just be asking for trouble. All sorts of things come to mind that run from some kid letting him out to his becoming overheated & dying before anyone notices. It would be safer to wheel that baby outside only when you are outside (playground duty?).

Sean, I'm sorry if I seem to have put a damper on all your plans. I don't mean it that way. But this forum has a lot of worry warts on it and some of that worrying comes from experiences over the years. Just wanted to give you some things to think over re keeping him at school. A lot of good could come from having him at school and letting children experience & learn from him (as well as showing parents/chn. how big that itty bitty $8 lizard gets in reality. But there are some cautionary factors.

Give a holler if you want to look at some cage plans websites. I think Glenn was working on getting a long list of these together. Also, the Kaplan site should have a section on salmonella and as I recall, there is one for teachers. I haven't read the one for teachers so I'm not sure if it would be useful to you.

Glenda (the long winded with 2 cups of coffee & I didn't use no stinkin' spell checker!)

Follow Ups:

Cage Plans SeanB 6/30/99 (2)
- School--short I promise! Iguanamomma 6/30/99 (0)
- Re: Cage Plans Glenn 6/30/99 (0)

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: May I suggest that you run this by your principal/supervisor, whomever gives permission for these sorts of things. I'll explain why. My son's elem. class this past school session had a class corn snake. No problem for us because, hey, we have one, too. But I know from the parental grapevine that there were some parents who were not happy about this snake and even less happier that the teacher allowed the children to watch it eat (thawed mouse). : You'd think they'd be no problem with an iguana because after all they are vegetarians. However, I can almost guarantee you that somebody, somewhere, sometime will start waving the red flag and shouting "salmonella, salmonella." This is why if I were you, I'd make sure I had permission and that I was "armed and ready" with handouts on salmonella (its causes & how proper hygiene will prevent it). : Second thing.....make sure that you are alerted whenever your classroom is going to be fumigated so that you can make arrangements to vacate that iguana! Also, I don't know what your school uses to clean the classrooms but there are products that are deadly to a reptile. (Scroll way, way down and read thru discussions on Lysol products) You may have to take over the cleaning of your classroom to ensure the health of your iguana. (Depending on what age group you teach, the children might actually enjoy it!) : Last thing...yes, it would be nice if there will be time to have him outside catching UVB the natural way. But I certainly WOULD NOT leave him unattended. You'd just be asking for trouble. All sorts of things come to mind that run from some kid letting him out to his becoming overheated & dying before anyone notices. It would be safer to wheel that baby outside only when you are outside (playground duty?). : Sean, I'm sorry if I seem to have put a damper on all your plans. I don't mean it that way. But this forum has a lot of worry warts on it and some of that worrying comes from experiences over the years. Just wanted to give you some things to think over re keeping him at school. A lot of good could come from having him at school and letting children experience & learn from him (as well as showing parents/chn. how big that itty bitty $8 lizard gets in reality. But there are some cautionary factors. : Give a holler if you want to look at some cage plans websites. I think Glenn was working on getting a long list of these together. Also, the Kaplan site should have a section on salmonella and as I recall, there is one for teachers. I haven't read the one for teachers so I'm not sure if it would be useful to you. : Glenda (the long winded with 2 cups of coffee & I didn't use no stinkin' spell checker!)

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