So I have to vent about this...

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
JennyBug

JennyBug

Sometimes I love too much
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
658
Location
Indiana
I work in a school as a teacher. We are winding down for summer, and we have a work day today. I was sitting in my room, doing some paperwork, and another teacher comes in and asks if I can take care of the chins that the Ag teacher uses as a "project" for his students for the summer. I wasn't sure what the husband would say, so I went down to the room with her and took a look at the chins to see how they were being cared for and whether or not they would be okay staying at the school with feeding and cleaning. Here is a list of what I found:
1. Cage with a plastic bottom (with a small hole already chewed in it) and plastic shelves (held up by a paint stirrer because the girls had chewed through them) that looked like it had never been scrubbed down
2. Food that looked like Trix cereal
3. No timothy hay
4. No wood to chew on (a couple of empty bird toys)
5. A filthy, disgusting water bottle filled with old water with a nasty stopper to drink from (covered in hair, dust, etc.)
6. Two very dirty chins

I spoke with the Ag teacher, but he said that they were the students' responsibility (they feed and water them). I explained to him that they could easily chew out of their cage, and he said that they had already gotten out once and found some motor oil before they were recovered (maybe that's why they're filthy). Needless to say, they are now both sitting on a desk in a cat carrier.

I called the husband, and he said he was cool with bringing them home, but now we face another dilemma. I cannot think of a single good reason to bring them back in the fall. I don't want them to go through this again. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've considered asking him to surrender them to me, then offering to buy him some hamsters or gerbils as class pets, but I don't know if he'd go for that. The other teacher that was with me when I saw them said I should just say they died over the summer and leave it at that.

Any suggestions would be welcome!!
 
I agree with them dying over the summer(well saying that), because if he gets another animal its not fair to that animal either, but definately get those chins outa there
 
wow. honestly............i would print out information about chinchillas and let them know it is not safe for them in a classroom environment. I think the hamster or gerbil idea is good for a classroom. because even a guinea pig needs daily care like a chin.
if you go with the summer death thing they may just get another chin, so i would still recommend at least educating them on chinchillas and other rodent type animals.
so happy that hubby is letting you bring them home! they are going to be SO happy!
 
My thoughts on replacing them with other small animals is that hamsters and gerbils don't require as specialized of care. I was able to take care of them on my own when I was in second grade. I think chins are just require too much care for high school kids to manage...
 
I think chins are just require too much care for high school kids to manage...
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this... It just depends on the maturity of the caretaker. So an immature adult would not be a good owner, but a mature teenager can responsibly take care of a chin. I do agree that a chin doesn't make a good classroom pet especially when the teacher does not take responsibility of it.

I am so glad you can take the chins home with you. I think you should sit down with this teacher and talk her though about rodent care and explain to her that many animals do not make good classroom pets.

I do not agree with the idea of classroom pets because you are putting the animal through a bunch of unnecessary stress with all the different kids, the noise, and no chance to get out and play.
 
I also agree with the second teacher - keep them!
I know if you knew they were down the hall in that condition, you'd have raised the dead getting them straightened out, and worried intil they were!
And once you do that, at your home, and at your expence, you're expected to give them back?? And to that environment??
I DON'T THINK SO!!
This kinda crap really sets me off!! [can you tell??]
And why didn't they come to you sooner?? Maybe knew it was wrong??
Hope they're not sprayers from being traumatized - good luck helping them out!!
 
Oh my!
I agree with many of the others...I'd keep them. But I definitely wouldn't lie about them dying. I'd take them, make sure they were safe, THEN present that other teacher with LOTS of information (on paper so he can see it in plain black and white) that how they were being treated was just plain WRONG-O! I'd take pictures of their condition and environment now, and if any problems arise w/ that teacher wanting them back, just see the principal, school board, whoever and show them the pics and information you have given to that teacher.
It may be the student's responsibility, but IMO the teacher HAS to be willing to provide proper care in the event that the students do not.
 
Last edited:
Here is the thing. Not all classrooms are terrible for chinchillas. This one clearly was but for years My mom kept chinchillas in her special education class. We had AJ trained to sit on a ledge and let her students read to him. I kept a pair (same sex) in my preschool classroom. They did very well.

I still take chinchillas in to her classroom once in a while to visit. The right care and chinchillas can thrive there, but it also has to be the right chinchilla I have several that I would never bring, like none of my possibly pregnant females go. We found that the students behaved much better when the chinchillas were there. They knew any loud behavior would upset AJ.

Now the students should not be allowed to care for the chinchillas unsupervised. and that teacher is obviously not taking care of the chinchillas and therefore chinchillas should not be in that classroom. But to say all classrooms are bad isn't true. There are always exception to everything.

If you choose to keep them saying they died would probably be a good way if you can handle lying to this teacher. I always prefer the truth. you could always point out the rough shape they are in and show them a healthy chinchilla in good shape. point out as an AG teacher he should be showing responsible husbandry and proper care of animals. In any agracultural field it is hard t make money with even properly cared for animals, you won't even break even if they are not cared for properly. Mabe if you approach it like that you can improve the situation. My thought is he will just replace the chinchillas.
 
When I said they were too much responsibility for high schoolers, I meant those that had not bothered to learn how to take care of them. I'm sure there are many school aged kids who could take excellent care of chins (or at least better care than these chins were receiving). I didn't mean to offend.

These chins were kept in a room that is not always climate controlled. They are also surprisingly well-behaved given their conditions. Apparently this teacher got them for free, and he will take any animal offered to him for free so that his students can learn about them by taking care of them. While I was telling him all of the things that needed to be improved, he had absolutely no idea how to take care of them (didn't know plastic was bad, didn't know they need hay). To me, that is willful ignorance - you can look at almost any website and find that info out!

The husband and I will talk about it, and I'll keep you all updated!
 
First I would try talking it over with the teacher. Because I would imagine you could get in some trouble if you lied and just kept them and someone found out somehow.
We had guinea pigs in highschool to learn about genetics. But the teacher took care of them. And we also had snakes lizards and hamsters. But it was up to the teacher to take care of the animals. I don't think it's right to leave it up to the kids for general care of an animal, that really isn't their responsibility in my opinion unless they're taking animal care as a class or something. Because obviously they weren't taking care of them appropriately.
 
You may want to take pictures of the chins now, as they are.

Did the teacher seem receptive of the information offered? Because I see this as a wonderful teaching opportunity--both of the Ag teacher, and of the students. They could all learn the proper needs of a chinchilla. That way, should any of them later choose to have one as a pet, they know how to care for one.

I think you should sit down with this teacher, and offer to help them learn about chins. You have a priceless opportunity, and a captive audience! :D You can show the teacher the before/after pics once these chins have been in your home. I think he'll be impressed by how they look, and be open to you sharing your experience and knowledge with them. I bet they wouldn't mind you dropping by to check on them, either.

That way next year, if he continues to neglect them, you'll have proof (pics) to be able to take to your administrator, and likely have them removed from his care. But I'm betting if the teacher cares for animals, he'll respond well.
 
I think that's what I'm going to do. I will take pics of them as soon as I get home. I didn't even bother to take the cage they were in because it was so nasty and wrong, but looking back, I probably should have. I gave him a couple of books I have on chinchillas and told him to read up. He seems a little receptive, but I think I would be more comfortable if I had "custody" of them and maybe brought them in a couple of times to explain their care. I don't particularly like living beings to be viewed as "projects" for teenagers who are just trying to get credit (I don't think all teens are like that, but it has been my experience that most of these teens are looking into farm animals such as cattle and sheep, so very few care about rodents).
 
Students taking agriculture, in my experience, are typically not the most driven and responsible kids. My mom teaches ag, and holy cow, you would not believe... So putting them in charge was perhaps a bad idea.
It was really wrong for the teacher to not educate himself on the care of chinchillas and make sure that they were properly cared for. Some of the richer agriculture programs in my state (Montana) have school farms, but even then, the teacher is still held responsible for the treatment and care of the animals...if students have animal chores, the teacher is there to supervise. This is just really depressing... I can't see any of the ag teachers I know ever (even unknowingly) mistreating animals like this. :(
 
Ristwaren, I have to agree with you on the responsibility issue in ag students. Although, I'm not sure responsibility is the right word. I think it's the "give a d**n" issue. Chinchillas are an agricultural product. Everybody here is thinking "Aww, those poor furrry little sweethearts!" The students are thinking - yeah, it's a cow. Most kids raised on a farm are not kind to any agricultural product. Ever been to a feed lot? Yaaaaaa - that would certainly open your yes.

I live in a farm community. The entire state of SD is pretty much a farm community, and the reaction to the chinchillas is the same any time I mention them - "How much money do you get for their coats?" You're expecting an ag teacher and ag students to care that it's a fuzzy little pet that everybody loves. They don't. I can't think of a worse place to have pets, and I can't even understand WHY they would have pets, than in an ag class. To them it's not a pet or a part of a family, it's a chore, it's part of class.

I also find it in poor taste to recommend ANY animal be kept in this class. Sure, hamsters and buns don't need quite the specialized care that chins do, but they are still animals deserving of better care than what they will get, even if they aren't chinchillas.

I personally would tell them that they were in such poor shape, that I will not return them. I would take pictures of their cage, their bedding, their condition. I would take pictures of the water bottle with the water in it and with the water poured into a dish so that the nastiness would be there to be clearly seen. Then I would take after pictures once a month until the fall. Show what their cage should look like, what their water bottle should look like, etc. Show the difference in their appearance between the end of the school year and the beginning of the next. Document everything. Document every expense between now and then, feed, bedding, any vet care that they may need. Then tell the teacher you will return them if those standards can be kept, even offering the supplies (paid for of course) that are proper for the chins. If he gives that lame "it's the kids responsibility" answer again, then contact the humane society and and the school board give them copies of everything.
 
I went to college for a degree in veterinary technology and i lent 2 of my chins as classroom chins for a year, i gave them the full chin care lecture and everybody did great. i never worried about them once, but these were college students and my teacher would FLIP OUT if something was done wrong, so i think they were afraid of not taking care the animals right. we had birds, gerbils, rats, mice, guinea pigs, chins, rabbits and 2 office cats that didnt go in the animal room.

these animals were not there for practice, they were only their to teach proper husbandry.

they brought in animals for us to practice on.

i was 16 when i got my first chinchilla after i begged and pleaded and wrote a report on chinchillas and showed my mom that i was able to care for them and know about them she finally let me have one.
 
Don't return them in the fall! You can always say the died from the motor oil incident after you brought them home. That white lie isn't going to land you in heck I'm sure!
 
He got them for free, so I can't see him making a huge stink about my asking to keep them. I gave him a couple of books, and hopefully he will see that his students in particular are not ready to care for a chin.

I'm not saying any animal belongs in this classroom, but rabbits are commonly raised around here and students might actually learn something useful for the future (I don't think there is a chinchilla ranch within 100 miles of here). I know that there have been other "accidents" with animals - a boa left in the room during the winter when the heat was off and freezing to death, cockatiels escaping then dying, etc. One of the administrators saw me with the chins, saw the shape they were in, and even commented on it. Like I said, I didn't even bother to take the cage because it was so disgusting. I will see if I can get back into the room this next week to take some pics.

I do want to let everyone know that the two ladies are resting comfortably in a nicer cage with wood to chew on and good food to eat. They are big sweeties, and my husband agrees that they should not go back in the fall (yay!). Good thing we're moving to a bigger house soon... ;)
 
UPDATE: Long Overdue!

We have been SO busy lately!!

I wanted to let everyone know that the two chins I was taking care of over the summer for our high school ag teacher have found a permanent home with us!!! I asked him at the beginning of the year if we could keep them, and he said no problem.

They currently have their own two story ferret nation cage and tons of love. They are such sweethearts!!

Thanks to those who offered supports and solutions! We're all much happier!! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top