Precautions, Tips, and Safety/Care Sheets

Please consider the following guidelines for handling reptiles and amphibians, as they may carry Salmonella:

• Avoid direct contact with clothing: Do not carry animals in your clothing or place them around your neck.
• Practice rigorous hand hygiene: All individuals who touch the animals must wash their hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before and after contact. If soap and water are unavailable, use hand sanitizer.
• Ensure a calm handling environment: To prevent frightening the animals and potential incidents, only remove them from their cages in a calm setting. Avoid screaming, tapping on cages, or allowing multiple individuals to pet them simultaneously.
• Handle with care: Avoid sudden, jerky movements when handling animals.
• Provide full body support: Always ensure the animal's body is fully supported when handling it.

Prior to handling any animal, please review the safety handling techniques specific to each animal, which are detailed on the ordering form.

Given that small animals may occasionally bite when handled, it is important to note that all animals produced in the Learning Alive Cooperative Center are confirmed to be rabies-free. However, in the event of a bite, the potential for infection or allergic reaction should always be considered.

Should a bite occur, please adhere to the following protocol:

• Contact the School Nurse immediately.
• Thoroughly wash the wound with soap and water.
• Apply an antibiotic ointment to the affected area.
• Ensure the individual receives a tetanus shot, if necessary.
• Transport the animal in a secure cage to the Learning Alive Cooperative Center. The cage must be clearly labeled with the district name, school name, teacher's name, the name of the individual bitten, and the date of the bite.

The Learning Alive Cooperative Center will then observe the animal for a period of ten days. The animal's status will be communicated to the teacher at the conclusion of this observation period.

Despite all precautions, even supposedly pure bacterial cultures can become contaminated, and the possibility of a contaminant being pathogenic cannot be entirely ruled out. To ensure the safety of both yourself and your students when working with bacteria in the classroom, please adhere to the following procedures:

• Pre-Laboratory Demonstration: Before students begin any laboratory work with bacteria, teachers must demonstrate all techniques. It's crucial to repeatedly emphasize that cultures are completely safe only if they are handled as if they are pathogenic.
• Sterilization and Disposal: All bacterial cultures must be autoclaved before disposal. This involves heating them at 15 lbs. pressure for 15 minutes in a pressure cooker.
• Emphasize Safety Protocols: The importance of stressing that safety is assured when proper techniques are employed cannot be overstated. Given the common public perception that all bacteria are pathogenic, parents may be understandably distressed to learn their child is working with bacteria unless they are thoroughly reassured of safety protocols.

• In general, do not place protozoans in refrigerators or in a location of excess heat or sunshine. Normal room temperatures should be satisfactory. Open all culture jars on arrival and aerate with a clean pipette. Cover loosely with top. Check light colored animals (amoeba) against dark field background, others against white field background.
• Clean cloudy cultures for clear inspection as follows: Using a dissecting microscope, check to see that the majority of animals have settled to the bottom. Pour off top half of water and replace with fresh water. Permit animals to settle again and repeat until clean. Distilled, rain, or spring water may be used.
• Do not use tap water. The chlorine content will kill the cultures.

Mealworms can be effectively cultured in various open containers, such as jars, dishpans, or other deep receptacles. A suitable culture medium can be created using cornmeal or bran, supplemented with slices of raw potato or apple to provide essential moisture. To offer additional surface area for the mealworms, crumpled or shredded newspaper may be placed within the container.

• There should be as little time as possible between making cuttings, treating with rooting hormone, and planting.
• Cuttings should be moistened and the excess moisture shaken off before treating with the rooting hormone.
• Dip basal ends of cuttings into rooting hormone.
• Shake off excess hormone by tapping cuttings.
• Plant treated cuttings in soil or perlite, being careful not to rub off rooting hormone.

• Overfeeding, overcrowding, and incorrect water temperature contribute to fish death rate by causing disease and shock. An aquarium heater is recommended. Temperature should remain close to 78 degrees for most fish. Goldfish do not require a heater, except in severely cold weather. See LMP-207.
• Algae eaters will starve to death if added to an aquarium too soon. Wait until the aquarium has been established several weeks before adding the algae eater.
• The following guidelines will help maintain a healthy aquarium.