Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im curious how many of you would support the hypothetical idea of making green iguanas illegal for pet stores to sell.i know the idea is kind of crazy but seeing these little fragile hatchlings selling for as little as $15 at pet stores only to go to a slow painful stressful death 9 times out of 10 (not an accurate statistic but an assumption) bothers me.as im sure you all know keeping iguanas healthy in captivity takes real education and dedication and patience...to me selling these animals the way the pet trade does borders animal cruelty.

I think you can say that about a lot of animals.... I dont agree with it, and it does suck to see ANY animal in a pet store not treated well. Cows and pigs that we eat arent treated well, dogs and horses that we bet on and watch run for our amusement arent treated well. They are cruely killed when they have past their "prime". Animals are treated very poorly. Owners , how do you know when selling an animal that it will go to a good home and that someone will not neglect it, kill it, starve it to death , irresponsibly let it go.... People treat animals like sh.. and weather it is a poor green iguana destin to die in a pet store for 15 bucks or a dog at a puppy mill so inbread it will never walk right when there are 10,000,000 homeless dogs out there and put to their death each day. It sucks, people suck. We let it happen, so not selling iguanas is great but there its a bigger problem.

i agree with everything your saying i hope im not coming across as some hippie peta type...im just saying that iguanas are very difficult to raise and expensive to raise and seem like kinda a disposable pet at $15....its just too bad people dont relize how awesome they are...that they live longer than dogs,become tame and some argue even affectionate and are smart enough to potty train and free roam.im sorry like i said it was just a hypothetical question and i am curious what people think.

Dont be sorry, ill im trying to say is that all animls need our help.

I honestly think all exotics should be banned by petstores.
Seriously, the vast majority have no ****** clue how to care for them, nor really give a damn what happens to the animal.

They should have a special permit that authorizes selling exotics, with proof that they have someone knowledgeable on the subject; but what I would really prefer is PRIVATE breeders only.

It is fun and wonderful to see some beautiful lizards or varanids or constrictors at the petstore, but one has to keep in mind the bigger picture.

I would be ok with display-animals-only, since they will still be allowed to sell accessories and supplies for reptile/amphibian husbandry.

-IJ

i agree...i would not be opposed to something like that

So wait I am a little confused

I found this at wikipedia:
may also be used for a species which is non-indigenous to the owner's locale.

Many major pet stores and service providers (such as veterinary insurance carriers or online retailers) tend to classify any animal besides cats, dogs, or fish as "exotic".

Woops it didn't post my full message. what I was trying to say is that you want to ban anying other than dogs, cats, or fish?
Just because dogs and cats are domesticated, dosen't mean they are all being properly cared for. Instead of just trying to ban exotic and cool pets, try and find a way to make sure people are informed about there pets. You can't solve all your problems be banning everything that is difficult.
I really wish the government would learn that.

Compared to exotics, domesticated animals are better treated, and receive more compassion and adoptions than the former.
What is the ratio of people who take home a cute puppy to those who take home a thought-less python?

You can see if a dog or a cat is abused or malnourished, it is not as easy with a reptile, unless you're experienced and know what to look for.

I would also ban puppy-mills, but that's another issue.
The issue here is exotic animals in small and large-chain petstores. And since there are too many of them and not enough people buying and caring for them properly, they should be banned and left to private licensed breeders.

This would also facilitate a guarantee on healthier animals, responsible ownership, and breeding.

-IJ

you see you didn't what I was sayin.

How do you know which animals to ban and not to ban. plus Isn't that kind of stepping on freedom laws?

I hate whats going on but personally I feel banning is not the solution. Just like they are banning most of the guns here in cali. plus do you think just cause an animal is banned it will improve the care. If there is someone that can't get a licesne then they will just go get one illegally. then they will just keep the reptile in even worse conditions.

A good solution would be limiting the amount of pets, pet stores can buy or sell. and standerdized care sheets on each animal being sold.so the same care sheet is in every store.
Or even make pet store owners take required care courses on each of the animals they sell.

If pet stores and other places did not have these animals for sale than most people would never see reptiles. If people don't see something they generally don't care about saving a species or care when cities or states want to completely ban a "dangerous species". This has already happend several counties have banned pythons because burms and retis are dangerous. They didnt take into account that ball pythons are harmless. So be careful what you wish for.