Cannot pip install SolrClient (python2.6 vs 3.4 issues?) - solr

Question

I am trying to pip install SolrClient, and I believe I am having some difficulty with my version of python.
Here is the error message.
[root#centos64 ~]# pip install SolrClient
DEPRECATION: Python 2.6 is no longer supported by the Python core team, please upgrade your Python. A future version of pip will drop support for Python 2.6
Collecting SolrClient
Using cached SolrClient-0.1.0.tar.gz
Complete output from command python setup.py egg_info:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
File "/tmp/pip-build-UeQsqQ/SolrClient/setup.py", line 4, in <module>
import SolrClient
File "SolrClient/__init__.py", line 1, in <module>
from .solrclient import SolrClient
File "SolrClient/solrclient.py", line 10, in <module>
from .collections import Collections
File "SolrClient/collections.py", line 7, in <module>
from collections import defaultdict
ImportError: cannot import name defaultdict
----------------------------------------
Command "python setup.py egg_info" failed with error code 1 in /tmp/pip-build-UeQsqQ/SolrClient/
So, when I go to check my python version, it is 2.6
[root#centos64 ~]# python -V
Python 2.6.6
I've got python 3.4 on my machine, albeit I need to call it like this
[root#centos64 ~]# python3.4 -V
Python 3.4.3
So, a few questions.
Am I correct in my assumption that my error is due to the fact that I am attempting to pip install using python2.6?
If so, how do I either
a) tell pip to use the python3.4 version? (not sure if this is the right way of thinking about it)
b) adjust my system to use python3.4
Otherwise, I am not sure how to proceed here. Thoughts?

Answer 1

I did indeed need to use python3.4
As suggested, I went with a virtual environment for the task.
pip install pew
pew new -p `which python3.4` 3.4
pew workon 3.4
pip install SolrClient

Answer 2

sudo apt install virtualenv
virtualenv -p python3 <envname>
cd <envname>
source bin/activate
pip install SolrClient