A, B, C, D, E, F….. ‘Y’! Y is for ‘Yabbies’! The amazing blogger, Deborah Stewart from Teach Preschool has fired up the early childhood blogging community by suggesting that we put together an A – Z of preschool teaching. Brilliant! Deborah is celebrating 20,000 ‘likes’ on her FB page… an absolutely amazing achievement! Her knowledge, influence, support and generosity have touched many of us in the blogging community so it is a real honor to be offered the chance to participate in this wonderful experience.
PETS IN PRESCHOOL!
Okay, so when most people talk about pets, images are conjured up of something cute, furry and cuddly. Mmmmm… yabbies most definitely do NOT fit this brief! In fact, some folks might suggest that they are down-right ugly! Whatever your opinion might be, they do provide an opportunity for a great deal of learning about the cycles of nature and the need to maintain healthy well balanced ecosystems for living creatures to survive and be successful.
The beauty of yabbies is that they are a very low-maintenance and easy to keep pet.
Yabbies are essentially a freshwater crayfish, native to Australia. They can generally be found living in rivers, streams and farm dams. Yabbies live for 5 to 7 years and can be found in a multitude of hues as they have the ability to change their colour to help with camouflage in the wild. They can grow up to 30cm long and weigh 350g!
To keep yabbies you need a tank set up in much the same way as you would for fish. However, don’t fill too close to the top as they may crawl out! It is important not to over crowd your tank as yabbies are very territorial and will prey on each other if they have to compete for space. Yabbies breathe through gills so it is very important to keep their water clean. You will need an aerator and filter in the tank and it is important to replace the water at least once a month. Do not allow uneaten food to remain in the tank beyond two hours as this will decay and impact on water quality.
Make sure you place gravel on the bottom of the tank as yabbies love to dig. And it is also important to provide them with long vegetation and little ‘hidey holes’ as they generally burrow along the banks of rivers and streams in the wild to keep moist.
Yabbies are omnivores and will eat almost anything. They are ‘scavangers’ and will wait for food to float down to them from the surface. It is very important not to overfeed. Add food every second day and wait for it to be eaten before you add more. A good feeding schedule would be, small pieces every two to three days. A commercially produced food can be purchased but they are happy to feed on small pieces of vegetables, fruit, meat and fish.
Yabbies grow by moulting their skin every three to six weeks. When this happens they become less active and stop eating. On the day of moulting they appear motionless. Yabbies moult by splitting their tail along the back and then flicking it off. It is best to leave the old shell in the tank as they will eat this to provide a good source of calcium. After moulting, the yabbies skin is very soft and delicate so they are likely to hide away until they grow into it and it hardens.
So there you go, a great low maintenance preschool pet. If you don’t live in Australia, I am sure there are similiar alternatives. Crawdads in the US I believe? Or how about hermit crabs? Aquarium pets are particularly valuable in helping children develop an understanding of the delicate equilibrium that exists in nature and the impact that man can have on upsetting this very sensitive balance.
…. W, X, Y and Z!
Don’t forget to check out the extra 25 characters of the alphabet!
Now I know what Yabbies are! :)Love it!
I used to catch these in a creek when I was a kid – now I would never touch them LOL We called them crayfish.
Well I learned something new today. I thought a yabbie would be a cute little mascot or something of your classroom. Nope. It is a crustacean. You are braver than I to have those in your room! 🙂
(Stopping by from Teach Preschool's A to Z linky!)
Ooooh – I am not sure I want a Yabby!! LOL!
Ooohhh, coooolll!!! I want some! We have crawdads, or crayfish here, but I don't think they live very long. A few years ago, we had some donated to the classroom next door. They were put in an existing full tank and crawled out in the middle of the night! The entire school had a "crawdad hunt" for 2 days. One was finally found behind a cabinet on the other end of the school a few days later. I'm pretty certain that there would be a mutiny if I ever tried to seriously keep some in the classroom! 🙂
Oh come on guys, they are harmless little critters! LOL. On a serious note, I really think that it is important to demonstrate to children that not all animals are of the cute and cuddley variety BUT they all deserve our respect for the important role they play in keeping the balance of natural ecosytems.
Thank you for the education on Yabbies…and preparing us about them. You never know what mommyhood (to a boy) brings. I better be prepared.
You have such exotic animals in Australia.
Ha! Yes we do Juliet! We have both amazing flora and fauna and a beautiful rugged landscape… a truely magnificent place. Perhaps you should come on down for a holiday sometime! 🙂
Oh Ayn! Behind the cabinet… I hope not dead and a little smelly!? Yes I have heard of Crawdads before. Go on, give it another try, just make sure you don't fill the water to close to the top and a lid might be useful. you can get lids with fly wire in them… ideal! 🙂
I am sure you will have all sorts of critters brought into your household as time goes by Roses! 🙂
I LOVE yabbies Karen … especially (cough, cough) with a dash of vinegar! =)
Oh yeah and they make very cool and interesting pets too!!!!!
Donna 🙂 🙂
Wow, I love to learn something new & now I can talk about yabbies!! What a great post – hope your yabbies can't read Donna's comment tho'!! I am hoping to get stick insects for my class in a few weeks, I also like pets that aren't always furry & 'cute' Kierna
Stick insects are great pets too! I have a friend who keeps them at her preschool. Good luck with that Kierna. 🙂