Posted by:
obeligz
at Mon Apr 27 20:27:44 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by obeligz ]
There should be some minimum standards in respect to most animals but most animals also have different minimum requirements.
A home made vivarium may be much better or much worse than a commercial mass produced vivarium which also may be good or bad.
To be honest I donīt really like the plastic tub commercial american terras but when the animals living in them are healthy and do not show negative unnatural behaviour, I canīt find a rational basis for my oppinion. I may think they are ugly, but a coat of metalic green paint with a layer of candyflavored clearcoat on top and a new vegetated substrate will change all that, add a couple of pinstripes and the thing goes bling bling. Ugly and beautiful put aside, terra should be suited for the species.
The environment within, size, temperature & humidity gradient, substrate, vegetation. Sweden and some other countries in Europe has draconian minimum requirements regarding terrarium size for some reptiles.
It matters little if a species is legal to keep, if the minimum size requirements are absurd.
On the other side some reptile species have very high tolerances in respect minimum size requirement. Some can spend 8 months of the year brumating in a cold hole and most of the rest of the yeas sleeping under or on top of a stone.
Otherwise, in other species too big or too few shelters, or too small or too cold basking spot, or the lack of substrate may be stressful and unhealthy to any reptille in the long run.
Standardisation in minimum requirements is perhaps best expressed by the sea of authors in herpetocultural literature, I diverse exotic herpetofauna has a diverse set of minimum requirements. Despite the lack of minimum requirements reptile welfare standards in the herpetocultural community have risen to the degree where some keepers have fully automated terraria which are connected to the net and gather climadata from animals natural habitat, granted there may be some delay in real time.
Advances in technology have made it fairly simple for the beginner to set up a naturalistic vivarium.
In 10 years we may have advanced climate controllers similar to those found in PCīs which can assist the owner in getting the right climate for the reptile, provide seasonal variability and even beep when something is wrong. In 20 years such gadgets may be fairly cheap.
However, if reptiles are outlawed in the mean time through unrealistic minimum requirements, or if the pet industry has to spend too much resources defending themselves from bans, there is little money left to invest in product development.
I think minimum requirements should primarily exist to minimise frequency of escapes and reduce risks in reptile keeping, not in respect to animal welfare.
While I do believe that my frogs have the right to sleep in my bromeliads, I fear that minimum requirements in respect to the well-being of Invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles, as well as smaller birds and mammals are not good to put in legislation unless the right to responsible animal husbandry is secured in advance.
Ethical considerations of higher mammals like big cats and dogs, bears and primates require more attention to minimum requirements in respect to their kognitive ability and need for activity.
Small reptiles have a different perception of the environment compared to big cats and primates who have a more developed brain. Cockroach breeders donīt need minimum requirements in respect to animal welfare since cockroaches canīt feel mistreated and I would argue that many reptiles and amphibians fall in the same category. They generally function as clockwork at the same time as every individual has itīs very own consiousness, perception and understanding of the world.
Many snakes believe the best in the world is a cramped dark warm place with a and on demand free rat delivery service.
As long as the snake is healthy, eats and canīt escape from the house, I donīt really see the need for minimum requirement or standardization by law.
I also argue one should be allowed to live in a responsible vivarium, unless some species within are irresponsible to keep in the area, due to risk of introduction of invasive species in the environment.
In my case so far that amounts to sharing my bathroom with geckos roaches and fruitflies. Roaches live in a box where geckoes have access to them. GEckoes live in crevices and hides on the walls. So far no roaches have escaped but the gekoes laid eggs in the roach box. Still, if they do escape from the bathroom, the rest of the apartment is my quarantine area. If they escape from my quarantine area they still canīt do any significant damage.
If I ignore my duty to respect the peace to my neighbors, and some of my roaches or geckoes escape, I will perhaps be forced to abandon some of my animal husbandry or take additional measures to prevent escapes, but as long as I am not a danger to my neighbors or the norwegian environment I donīt see any reason to keep some of my geckoes confined in a smaller vivariums, when it is within my rights I believe to place my bathroom at their disposal and decorate it according to both their and my needs.
In constructing minimum standards for reptile keeping, we should not make impossible the keeping of certain free ranging reptiles, in room sized vivariums which have been adapted to meet the needs of the reptiles and humans living within.
As long as my geckoes stay healthy, lay eggs and sing for me in the evening, I donīt see a problem in letting them live freely in my bathroom, and I donīt regard my herpetoculture as less responsible than the keeping leopard geckoes in racks or ballpythons in relatively small plastic terrarium tubs.
Ho can standardization give consideration both to a large breeder and to a private hobbyist and a Zoo who are all keeping the same species of a certain reptile?
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