Taking a Tarantula to my daughters school

[Will]

So my 5 year-old daughter has a show-and-tell at her school on Friday.

Should I take a Tarantula for her to show her class-mates? Or would this be too stressful for the T?

 

[Denny Dee]

Depends. If you do, I would try to bring a T that you can actually bring in it's enclosure. Removing the T from its home s stressful. Handling the T is stressful. Changing it's environment (temp and humidity) is stressful. So, sounds like a bad idea. However, this also sounds like a great opportunity to provide an education opportunity. Which is really one of the primary reasons this hobby even exists. 5 years old is a bit young and they may not retain anything learned but who knows? You could be helping to get future Arachno-collectors into the hobby. Your T, your call. Good luck!

 

[Will]

Yes that's my main fear. Except for my P metallica (which would be my last choice to take), all my T's would just dive into their burrow/hide at the slightest vibration so I would have to rehouse into an empty plastic container. This would be pretty stressful in itself. There would be no handling and it would probably be a 1 - 1.5 hour round trip including the show-and-tell.

 

[syzygy]

If you have a T that is calm enough to allow you to rehouse it temporarily into an enclosure that is nothing more than .5" or so of coco-fiber or other "soft" substrate then it should be fine. Most Grammostola or Brachypelma would be fine. If possible, rehouse a day or two before the car ride

This is a great learning opportunity and at that age the kids are sponges for facts. You will likely get just as many "ewwww...a spider" responses as you do "cool....a spider" reactions, but the reality is that they are far more able to learn and look at something in a new way than most of us old people.

 

[Entity]

I see the pros and cons....but what got me interested in bugs at all was when i went to the outdoor school when i was a little kid...they had a b. smithi in there and i couldnt take my eyes off of her. been interested in all things creepy crawly ever since.

 

[kormath]

My son has taken his GBB back and forth to school a number of times for his research project. Just make sure there's nothing loose in the enclosure that could injure the spider in a sudden shift (like slamming on the brakes) and it should be fine. Like posted before take one of the Brachy or Grammostola sp if you have one large enough that isn't a pet box of dirt still or a GBB.

 

[Scoolman]

Do it. I take 14+ tarantulas around to the schools here for presentations. The kids love it, the adults will become fascinated, and you have the opportunity to dispel so many myths and fears.
The stress is minimal, far less then what they went through when shipped to you.

 

[Will]

Thanks all. Scoolman, what do you use to transport them? Just an empty plastic container or do you put some substrate in there?

 

[Will]

So I've decided I will do it! I think the educational benefits for the kids outweigh the potential stress caused to the Tarantula (which will be minimal as it's less than a 5 minute car ride and we wont be there long).

I think I will take my juvenile Nhandu chromatus. It's probably my best looking T after my GBB and it's easy to get to. My GBB will just run into her deep burrow and it will be hard to get her out without destroying some of her burrow, which I don't want to do.

 

[Nicolas C]

Great! I would have done the same. Tell us how it happened when you've done it.

I had my last child's school class come to my house to see my tarantulas in january. It was great: two hours spent with 6-7 years old children fascinated (and a frightened teacher!). A great way to learn from these misunderstood creatures.

 

[Will]

Will do. Yeah I imagine the teachers will be more frightened than the kids!

 

[Denny Dee]

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Entity]

anyone that can deal with that many kids at once shouldnt be afraid of anything!

 

[Will]

So I did it. I took my GBB to my 5-year-old daughters school and she did a 'show and tell' and told everyone about Shelob the young tarantula.

She did a great job and made me proud. My daughter did ok too!

It was interesting because none of the kids were really old enough to have developed a deap fear of spiders. Also my daughter holding it (in a tub) probably instantly put them at ease. They just had loads of questions, which was fun for us both to answer.

The teachers on the other hand...well 2 of them wouldn't even come within 10 feet of it!

Anyway. Great experience. Glad I did it.

Also noticed Shelob is premoult

 

[kormath]

Congrats! Glad it went well. Teachers at my son's school are the same way with his project when he brings his in. Kind of funny to watch. THey're all supportive and interested until the spider comes into the picture

 

[Scoolman]

Fantastic. In time the teachers come around.
This is how I transport and display mine. A friend built it. I need to get him to build me another.

 

[Kymura]

Huge congrats, wish more schools would encourage this,
I live in a podunk town and I'm fairly certain they would poop all over themselves.
So glad it went well

 

[Zurchiboy]

The community college I got to has its own Tarantula for zoology. Little 3 inch rose hair. But woudlnt it be smart to add some cushion like moist paper towels. I would imagine it is smart to remove the T from its enclosure and put it in a tuperware with cushion in case you get into a minor crash or hit a larger pot hole to keep it from getting to banged up.

 

[Entity]

So I did it. I took my GBB to my 5-year-old daughters school and she did a 'show and tell' and told everyone about Shelob the young tarantula.

She did a great job and made me proud. My daughter did ok too!

It was interesting because none of the kids were really old enough to have developed a deap fear of spiders. Also my daughter holding it (in a tub) probably instantly put them at ease. They just had loads of questions, which was fun for us both to answer.

The teachers on the other hand...well 2 of them wouldn't even come within 10 feet of it!

Anyway. Great experience. Glad I did it.

Also noticed Shelob is premoult

Glad it went well and im glad she gave such a great performance! ...ur daughter too! lol

 

[kormath]

My son, as most of you know already, started our collection as a school study project. He just text me a minute ago saying his demo with his GBB today at school went very well. He's also got a dinner "date" set up with one of his friends to teach his parents and his friend's sister about the rosea she got. It's pretty cool seeing him be referred to as a reference around the school and community I keep telling him he should go to college to study Ts. If he does maybe he'll help straighten out the mess of some of the genera.

Now come to think of it i better check and make sure the parents will be there for this dinner date and spider education session