I've never owned a rabbit before. Yesturday, a kindergarten teacher said that her friend has 9 rabbits that she's giving away. I said that I would like one but need to think about it. What would it be like to have a rabbit as a class pet. I was thinking that it would be neat for the kids to have a rabbit science journal and write reports and stories about the rabbit, but... I'm worried about all of the maintanence, food, diet, grooming, noisy classroom..... Actually, I don't mind taking care of the rabbit, I'm mainly worried about the rabbit being in a kinder classroom. I'm really quite clueless. I've only had hamsters and birds, never a rabbit before. Any thought would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
There is a teacher here at my school that has one. She has had him for about 7 years now and the children love him. He is very good and each summer children from the class get to take him for a week to take care of him. He is easy to maintain and a lot more active than fish are!! Good luck!!
I'm very allergic to rabbits.......better check on allergies before you decide. My son would have an asthma attack if a rabbit was in the room.
I have a house bunny now and let me just warn you that they are a lot of work. They HAVE to be spayed or neutered, or they will make terrible pets. They will then be litterbox trainable so that is a plus. They can be messy though, despite going in litter boxes. If they aren't clean, they will go outside the box. They also let loose a lot of hair- even if you brush them daily which you should. Also, will you bring him home on weekends and breaks? They need a lot of care. They need to eat free-fed hay all day and all night. They cannot go for 24 hours without food in them. I would think a rabbit would be frightened in a kinder room. There is lots of noise and too many fingers. The worst part would be the bringing back and forth on weekends. They also need lots of room, can you privide him with a big cage? They need their nails trimmed. They need toys. They make noise (biting cage, throwing toys), especially if they aren't given daily exercise. I really do not think rabbits make good classroom pets. Here is an article and a website on rabbit care: http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-10/classroom.html http://www.rabbit.org/
They will make your room stink. They are alot of extra work. They need rabbit pellets and balance diet which will cost extra money.
Well they won't make your room stink if you keep their cage clean (and get them fixed- which costs just as much as a dog or cat). I have a bunny in my living room and he never stinks. But I clean his cage every other day. I do not think a bunny in the room is a good idea because it is soo much work and teachers have enough to do! Plus it is a lot of money. Cage, toys, vet bills (neutering plus check-ups plus if he gets sick), food, hay, litter, cleaning supplies (trash bags, cleaning solution). I think it is only for die-hard bunny lovers. I don't think you would be happy if you did it and then you might end up giving him away which is unfair to the bunny. Frankly I am saddened that a teacher at your school has NINE rabbits to give away and they will probably bounce around homes. Her rabbits should be altered so they don't keep having babies.
I don't have an opinion, just a funny story. When I was student teaching the 1st grade teacher down the hall had two rabbits kept in separate cages. No one knows how but they both wound up in the same cage one day and...well...lets just say they were being rabbits. They started making screaming noises. The kids were concerned they were fighting! I don't know what the teacher used as an explanation, but we all had a good laugh over it.
Thank you for that article and thank you everyone for you opinons. I've decided that I will get a rabbit, but keep it at home.
That's pretty funny. I have a similar story. I remember when I had dwarf hamsters, we had a girls cage and a boy's cage. There were four boys and I belive three or four girls. Well, one day I went to play with my boys when I noticed that there were five of them. I first sat back and thought, "Am I going crazy??" I thought there were only four. Then I noticed one of the hamster's a bit smaller. I took this hamster out and found out it was one of the girls. Boy, I have no idea of how this dwarf hammie got into the boy's cage. They were not that near each other. I really think she flew.
Great! Rabbits make wonderful pets. But only if they are fixed. Otherwise they spray (which SMELLS) and won't use a litter box, they will be hostile and unfriendly and they will be unhealthy and probably die in a few years. If you do get them fixed, they are much calmer and social and they can live for 8-12 years! Make sure you find a good bunny vet to do the altering and then for yearly check-ups. I buy my hay from www.oxbowhay.com. I get the 50 lb big box of Timothy hay and it lasts about a year if stored properly. It is a really good quality hay that is sweet smelling. You can also buy hay from a farm. It should be green (not yellow/tan), fresh, and free of mites and dirt. I have never found a farm or feed store that had good quality hay and my bunnies won't eat it. Don't buy the tiny bags they sell in Walmart/Petsmart. They are very expensive when you calculate the cost per weight (ounce or pound). It will be cheaper to buy one big box for $50. They need hay EVERY day, all day, so those tiny bags could really add up. I know some local pet stores and vets sell Oxbow Hay so you may look for that because then you will save on shipping. That is what I do. I feed my bunnies Purina rabbit Chow. It is a good quality and cheap. The stuff they sell in tiny bags at grocery stores is also no good and more expensive in the end. You can get baby toys (rattles, plastic keychains, links) and bird and cat toys for your bunny. Mine also love tp rolls and balled up paper. For a litter box you can use a one of those small rubbermaid containers that I am sure you have tons of in your classroom! You know those clear ones with white lids? Just toss the lid. For litter I use wood stove pellets. You can get them this time of year at Walmart and Lowes. Stock up in case you can't get them in the summer. We have a store that sells only wood stoves so I can get them year round but some people can't. They are SO cheap! Like $4 for 40 pounds! It will last you months if you only use a couple scoops at a time. Line the bottom of the box with newspaper. Pet stores sell litter pellets but they are the same thing as wood stove pellets but cost sooo much more. Some people keep their bunnies loose in the house! Usually in one room like a kitchen. Mine hates slippery floor though. She he only comes out to play in the living room. We have it bunny proofed and watch him of course but he loves coming out to play! He "binkys" all over the place! A binky is when they jump in the air and twist around. So cute! I hope all this is helpful to you. Read on the www.rabbit.org site for lots more information!
We borrowed the science teacher's rabbit for a week. The kids loved it, I hated it. It smelled. But I'm not too fond of animals that live in cages in the first place.................. Kelly
I had one that we got at the fair. It never did get used to people, so it wasn't easy to catch. That was a problem. It was beautiful, though not right for school. Yeah, I don't like cages, either.
Now that's a cute idea! Don't have to deal with the mess, feeding, smell, clean up, noise, cage, and they can take them home! I love that idea.
I would go with a guinea pig. They must be neutered. They need exercise but they are much more gentle than rabbits. They are much smaller and they are not as much trouble to clean. Also they sare very gentle and do not bite much.
I never thought of a guinea pig as a classroom pet. They are very cute looking. I think, for right now, I'm just going to focus on my new rabbit. I'm getting my baby this afternoon. I'm very excited!
Baby rabbits are incredibly cute. I loved my guinea pigs. I thought their cages smelled far better than those of hamsters or rabbits. They are very communicative pets, too.
Ah, well that's good to know. I had tons of hamster and as long as we cleaned their home everyother day, it was fine. I LOVED having hamsters. I know I'll feel the same about my rabbit. But now, you guys got me thinking about guinea pigs. I've had hamsters, dwarf hamsters, birds (parrot, cocketeils, and parakeets), a cat, and two chickens. Can you tell I love animals? But, I am not a dog person. It's very funny. I like dogs, but have no desire whatsoever to have one.
That is unusual, Peachyness. I have my hamster at home now because I love her so much that I don't want her to be alone at night! But, I only clean her cage once a week. Now I feel like a neglectful hamster mommy...
I just adopted two guinea pigs for my class room and they are great! I would highly recommend them over rabbits!
I got my rabbit! I'm so excited. I've been reading rabbit.org all afternoon. I want to learn as much as I can about them. Right now, she's getting used to her new home. I did take her outside for a little bit and I couldn't help cuddling her. I rubbed the top of her head, she dropped her head down and closed her eyes. I honestly don't know if she liked it, though. Still haven't come up with a name. She's also taken a liking to running back and forth behind the couch and my guitars.
Well, we used to only clean their cage, I believe, every other week. But we also had about 6-7 hammies in one large cage. Then, we realized that we needed to clean much more often. So, that's why we cleaned everyday.
One of my students wrote a cute story about how their female hamster escaped her cage and found the male hamsters cage. This happened shortly before vacation. Sure enough, on the day they were to leave on vacation, she had babies. All during vacation, the kids worried about the baby hamsters. When they got home, the babies had definitely matured. And had babies of their own!
Awww. Well, I remember when our two, supposedly female hamsters, had their babies. We had dwarf hamsters and these baby hamsters were so absolutely adorable. What kind of hamsters do you have? We had dwarf hamsters and syrian hamsters (if I remember correctly)
Mine is black and white. There is some kind of special name for that coloring but I can't remember what it is.
I used to have a class rabbit in Pre-Primary! We used to chase it around at recess outside but eventually it ran-away and we never saw it again about a week after we got it. Don't think she liked us very much... As for a class rabbit, I think it's a good idea. But, you just need to be prepared to spend that little bit extra for it.
Once our cleaning guy had to chase my rabbit around the building in the middle of the night. He was not happy (cleaning guy, that is; the rabbit probably had a blast).
Aw, that's too bad. I think getting a class pet would be great. I think I will do guiniea pig. But, now that I have my new pet rabbit, I think I will wait to do the class pet. I am so glad that I asked you guys wheather it would be okay or not to have a class pet.
I laughed soooo hard! Once our superintendent walked in (rare visit) while we had 3 teachers trying to chase a rabbit down. He brought visitors (prospective parents). He actually was a good sport about it and the visitors and the Super helped. Too funny!
Ok, not trying to be a downer on the class pet idea......but as one who suffers with terrible allergies, and having an asthmatic son who can't be by any animals like that........please check with your families about allergies/asthma.
Yeah, if I do get a guinea pig, then I will let parents know about it. I do have kids this year with asthma, so I very much understand what you mean.
And the allergies can pop up at any time, too. You do have to watch for that. I have been thinking about having a rabbit cage outside my classroom. How do you think that would work?
