A Stillwater High School Spanish teacher has a unique collection of pets.

Mr. Benites, who teaches Spanish I and Spanish II, has a chinchilla, a tortoise, an axolotl, three snakes, 24 tarantulas and two isopod colonies.

“I love the chinchilla and the tortoise the most because they’re funny together,” Benites said. “The chinchilla will get on top of the tortoise and ride her around the house.”

Benites said the easiest pet to take care of is the tarantulas because all you do is mist them once or twice a week and then feed them a cricket once a month. Benites said he has plenty of pets and doesn’t plan on getting more.

“Anytime I go to Petco, I always see this little mouse that always looks at me, and I look at it, and we’re in love, but I cant buy any more pets,” he said.

Benites is in his fifth year of teaching. He started in 2020 during COVID at Union High School in Tulsa.

“The first year was COVID and I started just because I wanted something new,” Benites said. “I’ve always worked with spreadsheets and numbers and I just wanted to make an impact with some people and try to find the person’s side of me.”