Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i'm writing a paper about keeping exotic pets and are explaining both sides for an ethics paper.i know that many rettiles with the proper care make really great pets. i would l;ike to use an example for the other side that is against keeping them.

which reptile has the poorest track record in captivity both for the general pubic and zoos.

which one has the leaste known about it, as in feeding reqs, tempretures, breeding, etc.

thanxs lot
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"I’m scared of those nasty big-eyed grey aliens, too. I think it’s that I don’t understand their motivations. I am confident of my ability to out-think, out-con, or if need be, tire-iron-upside-the-head demonic forces, ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night, etc. It’s the notion of something that doesn’t have any desire to talk to me except via anal probe that freaks me out"

Depends on what you mean by poorest track record. Iguanas have a horrible track record, simply because they are usually sold as 'beginner reptiles' to people who have no concept of the time, effort and money that goes into keeping a full grown iguana in captivity. These guys are probably one of the hardest herps to keep humanely/ethically because of their sheer size.
Generally, anything really big can cause problems for the 'average' pet owner. ie: some monitors, large boas/pythons, crocodilians. All of these guys are sold in pet stores (IMO this is totally wrong, unless there's some sort of screening process for who's buying them), to people who just get them because it would be "really cool to own a ______" (insert reptile name here) with no thought as to what they'll do with it when it gets to be 6, 10, 20 feet long.

but with the right care and iguana is not a hard pet to care for. they just need more work then the easier herps to keep.

what im talking about is an animal that even zoos have issues keeping alive that the general public can get thier hands on.

thnx

ashley
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"I’m scared of those nasty big-eyed grey aliens, too. I think it’s that I don’t understand their motivations. I am confident of my ability to out-think, out-con, or if need be, tire-iron-upside-the-head demonic forces, ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night, etc. It’s the notion of something that doesn’t have any desire to talk to me except via anal probe that freaks me out"

Generally speaking (with a few exceptions), all animals are 'easy to keep alive' but not necessarily in good shape. I work for a small zoo, and even with modern vet. technology and care and knowledge, it's hard to keep all the herps in top physical shape. You run into respiratory problems in too much/not enough humidity, various defeciencies because the food/prey they're eating isn't necessarily what they would eat in the wild, stress from being expossed to visitors/people etc. For example, in captivity, most snakes eat mice or rodents, simply for ease of feeding. In the wild, they would eat birds, reptiles, amphibians, and many many different species, all of which with their own nutritional content. This is hard to replicate in captivity, no matter what facility you have. The same with exercise requirements. Large monitors have huge ranges in the wild, what effect does captivity have on them? In a zoo, you are constantly learning about a new technique for this, or a better way to do that, or a less stressful way to do something, etc. etc. Since these are ALL wild animals, not domesticates like dogs or cats, they ALL are difficult to care for properly.
Probably not the answer you were looking for But there are a LOT of herps (and other species for that matter) that are hard to care for and keep them in optimal health. I'm going to be doing a masters thesis on this next fall, so I know how hard it is to find unbiased info on this.

Just wanted to add that I own snakes/herps, and I am in no way suggesting that they SHOULDN'T be kept in captivity. The subject of my thesis is actually that by having captive specimens we improve our chances of conservation through education and research. But we all need to acknowledge how lucky we are to share our lives with them, and that they ARE in an unnatural environment, which of course poses problems that we have to overcome, in the case of all reptiles. We do our best, but clearly, we don't know everything, and can always improve our care techniques.

I think Iguanas are a good example. So are WC Ball Pythons (and now the farm hatched babies). Tens of thousands of these animals are imported into this country every year and sold as cheap starter reptiles (these are the $19.99-$39.99 Ball Pythons you see at Petco). Of the tens of thousands that are sold, I suspect more than half die within the first 6 months in captivity (it takes 6 months for them to starve to death).

Other examples are wc Mandarin Rats and Hundred-Flower Snakes (E. mollendorfi) which are imported and invariable die in captivity regardless of the experience of the keeper.
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Chris Harrison

>>what im talking about is an animal that even zoos have issues keeping alive that the general public can get thier hands on.

Well, here's the thing. When a species is so incredibly delicate that even zoos can't keep them alive, there's no way in heck more than a small handful will become accessible to the public. Dealers and pet stores generally DO NOT want to handle and offer animals that keel over the moment someone looks at them. Two reasons for this... It's not ethical, and even the sleazy types are deterred since it's not cost effective.

Wild Caught chameleons are pretty fragile I understand, as is a little critter called a flying lizard, but those are available in such tiny numbers as to probably be irrelevant to your paper.

If you want to talk about critters with a terribly bad track record, Iguanas are your reptile. Sure, it's very possible to keep them happy and healthy as pets. And there are quite a few dedicated keepers out there who love and respect their animals and keep them well.

But so many idiots see these tiny cute cheap little green things and purchase one for each kid so little Tommy and Sally won't fight over them. And then oops! The green thing has grown too big! Or it's grumpy or boring! Or the kids failed to learn responsibility by taking care of it! Better give it away or just ignore it in a back roon or (worst of all) set it free...

I strongly support the private keeping of reptiles and will defend it to the end. Basically even though there are idiots out there, responsible keepers shouldn't be punished for the actions of the irresponsible. Frankly, the scenarios I've described here apply to more common critters like dogs or cats just as easily. Only the species has changed.
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

>>hello, i'm writing a paper about keeping exotic pets and are explaining both sides for an ethics paper.i know that many rettiles with the proper care make really great pets. i would l;ike to use an example for the other side that is against keeping them.
>>
>>which reptile has the poorest track record in captivity both for the general pubic and zoos.
>>
>>which one has the leaste known about it, as in feeding reqs, tempretures, breeding, etc.
>>
>>
>>thanxs lot
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>>"I’m scared of those nasty big-eyed grey aliens, too. I think it’s that I don’t understand their motivations. I am confident of my ability to out-think, out-con, or if need be, tire-iron-upside-the-head demonic forces, ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night, etc. It’s the notion of something that doesn’t have any desire to talk to me except via anal probe that freaks me out"
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"I’m scared of those nasty big-eyed grey aliens, too. I think it’s that I don’t understand their motivations. I am confident of my ability to out-think, out-con, or if need be, tire-iron-upside-the-head demonic forces, ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night, etc. It’s the notion of something that doesn’t have any desire to talk to me except via anal probe that freaks me out"