Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

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Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby Wazted » Thu May 23, 2013 3:32 pm

Hey there guys

This has been on my mind for awhile and i just wanted to hear some of your opinions, I love my reptiles and I make an effort daily to make sure they are happy, kept in big enough enclosures with food, water etc. While browsing Youtube i saw this documentary on reptile keeping and these people were at an expo and were talking about how reptiles are mistreated and not meant to be kept as captive pets (Even if they captive bred) and how dogs, cats and birds can adapt to captivity but not reptiles, they were talking about how snakes and lizards will try and escape from enclosures and try to get up the glass or lift the lid and this a sign of distress (even though i know of so many dogs that will escape if given the chance), Now for someone that loves animals and loves keeping them especially reptiles, I hate this kind of thought cause i don't ever want to feel im taking away something from my reptiles. I watch snakebytestv weekly and have heard it said that snakes prefer small places and if given a big room they will go in sit in a corner curled up in snakebytes they have some of the Burmese and retics in racking systems and when people see this that arent familiar with racking system their first thought is that its cruel and small. I just want to hear from you guys on how you feel about keeping your reptiles and if you ever feel like you have to defend it from people that just don't share the passion for this hobby. Even on that puffadder story from the SPCA i was reading the comments on facebook and people have such a negative view its crazy. Looking forward to your replies :)
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Re: Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby Lillypod » Thu May 23, 2013 3:58 pm

My personal opinion is that if you take good care of the animals, meaning their requirements are met I see nothing wrong with keeping that animal. The SPCA has this thing where they do not want people to keep anything other than cats and dogs and even then they seem to have problems with how you keep them. They even have a problem with people breeding rats/mice/rabbits/guinea pigs for snake food, but most of them eat meat and the torture that livestock go through is much more disgusting than feeding a rodent (dead or even alive) to a snake. No one complains about the way the SPCA keeps the animals that reside there, sitting in their own poop in small concrete cubicles (what's the difference here?). The SPCA and Peta have the "power" to change people's minds very quickly. People believe what they do is right, even if they put down adoptable animals, so they'll quickly jump to the same conclusion (sheep?) than what was said by the party...

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Re: Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby Wazted » Thu May 23, 2013 4:47 pm

Def getting it, and i agree with you Lillypod
and that's the other reason this topic bothers me so much. I read what happened to you with SPCA arriving there, i cant believe that they would say you cant keep that many animals etc, it just sucks that there is such a bad vibe out there. I live in Durban as well and I dont like the reaction people are having towards herps :(
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Re: Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby Lillypod » Thu May 23, 2013 5:17 pm

@Wazted don't worry to much, keep what you have, get more if you like, as long as they are taken care of there is nothing they can do. If the SPCA ever comes back to my house they'll be mostly dealing with my dad as he doesn't anger as quickly as I do (I escalate very quickly from being calm to wanting to "kill" someone...) The other thing is if they do come to you tell them to get a warrant.

My animals have probably tripled from the time they were here last considering i only had one cage with mice at that time, now having close to 10... There is nothing they can do about it. If they take an animal from you that is in perfect health and has a appropriate enclosure according to EXPERTS then you can sue them. I have wised up since the last time they gave me grief and if they come again I'll embarrass them a bit by asking: "Did your friend, NAME, complain again cause I sell more than she does?"
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Re: Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby michael » Thu May 23, 2013 5:29 pm

I also saw that documentary. It was the biggest load of rubbish I have ever seen and their arguments are completely anecdotal! They clearly didn't research their topic and used a very biased point of view. Misinformation like this just causes problems.
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Re: Reptile keeping - How do you feel about it?

Postby Bushviper » Fri May 24, 2013 1:17 pm

You will find bunny huggers everywhere. Usually they are not very well informed and some will never change their minds. Just ignore this and move on. I dont have the time to change the "only good snake is a dead snake" idiots any more than those that "everything must be in the wild".

When you have people calling fish "seas kittens" so that no kids will want to eat them then you have to just walk away. I class them along with child molesters and perverts. Its not my job to "fix" them and I really could rather spend that same energy more productively on people who have a semblance of normality. I know they are out there but I avoid them because they suck up my positive energy and leave me drained.
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