Introduction to Squeaky the Rat

Hello Critter Lovers!!

My name is Heather Byers and I'm the author of The Busy Busy Hive blog.  I am so excited to be able to share on this wonderful blog.  I {Puffy} Heart animals, especially ones in the classroom.  I have an unusual pet in my classroom { at least my kiddos' parents think so}.  I have a pet rat.

I think it's his tail that sets people off to rats.  Squeaky is my 3rd classroom pet rat.  He loves to snuggle, be held and he acts a lot like a cat.

 

I was first intoduced to rats as classroom pets when I was teaching 5th grade my 1st year as a teacher.

My partner teacher had 13 rats {yep 13 that wasn't a typo}as pets in her classroom.  She also talked about how calm and wonderful they were as pets and the kids loved them.  That year I had gerbils and hamsters as class pets.  Needless to say both of those types were not my ideal pet.  The gerbils were too fast to handle and the hamsters kept escaping out of their cage.  Not that hamsters and gerbils don't make good pets.  They just weren't the right ones for me and my classroom.  When I started teaching 1st grade I decided to try a pet rat.  I had found my ideal classroom pet.  I will probably always have a rat in my classroom now. 

Squeaky eating his snack.

His favorite part  of the day is snack time.  He always ends up with some banana or apple from someone's snack.  Squeaky is quiet and very good with the kids.  My own kids love it when its Spring break or Summer Vacation because they know that Squeaky will be home.

 

Do you have anything good to eat?

Thank you for reading this little intro to Squeaky.

Squeaky and I look forward to sharing even more

about our classroom adventures and happenings in the future.