Hey guys! I'm a biology teacher at an at-risk type high school in Texas. My husband and I have been keeping various species of dart frogs (purely as a hobby)for about 5 years now. I have been DYING to keep a couple frogs in my classroom for about 2 years now, but have been hesitant because:
1) my classroom is a little cold about (low to mid 60s if I had to guess) so I'd need reliable heat control/temp monitoring for both the frogs and the fly cultures.
2) 9th graders, as a whole, are VERY immature and destructive. If I had a substitute in my classroom, something might happen to my "babies". Whatever enclosure they'd be housed in, has to be portable enough for a teacher neighbor to move the whole tank to another room.
3) as most of you know, teachers aren't rich. Having pinhead crickets and other live supplies shipped is very expensive. Luckily I have a few tanks and tank construction supplies available just from previous use at my house.
4) in order for my students to learn from the frogs (which is my ultimate goal) they have to be interested and the frogs have to be social enough to not hide every time somebody walks by.
I really think I can make this work, but I need help from all of you wonderful people at Dendroboard. If it does work, I think it would be an amazing opportunity to spread some knowledge about these GORGEOUS creatures and their struggles. Please help with suggestions about tank size/setups, feeding, which species to keep, etc. Whatever you can think of to help in my classroom. Thanks in advance!!!
Jamie
1) my classroom is a little cold about (low to mid 60s if I had to guess) so I'd need reliable heat control/temp monitoring for both the frogs and the fly cultures.
2) 9th graders, as a whole, are VERY immature and destructive. If I had a substitute in my classroom, something might happen to my "babies". Whatever enclosure they'd be housed in, has to be portable enough for a teacher neighbor to move the whole tank to another room.
3) as most of you know, teachers aren't rich. Having pinhead crickets and other live supplies shipped is very expensive. Luckily I have a few tanks and tank construction supplies available just from previous use at my house.
4) in order for my students to learn from the frogs (which is my ultimate goal) they have to be interested and the frogs have to be social enough to not hide every time somebody walks by.
I really think I can make this work, but I need help from all of you wonderful people at Dendroboard. If it does work, I think it would be an amazing opportunity to spread some knowledge about these GORGEOUS creatures and their struggles. Please help with suggestions about tank size/setups, feeding, which species to keep, etc. Whatever you can think of to help in my classroom. Thanks in advance!!!
Jamie