Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking for articles that are about the advantages and/or benefits of keeping captive born and bred reptiles as pets. So far I've found several articles (most with very weak arguments) that pretty much say it's a bad thing and a bad idea to keep "exotic" pets. Ultimately, I'm looking for articles that do not have an anti-reptile bias. I'm also interested in the ethics of keeping an animal in captivity and out of its natural environment (again, from a pro point of view). I have a few arguments for why I think this is okay, but I'm unable to find any articles or papers on the matter. Does anyone know of any articles like this? Links please!
Thanks in advance

You'll have a hard time finding any pro articles, since most of the articles pertaining to ethics of keeping them, are published by such organizations as HSUS and PETA, that would like to ban all pet-keeping, if they only could.

One of the strongest arguments for keeping them, is that fact that they may be kept by people who are highly sensitive to allergens. Because they have neither fur nor feathers, they normally don't cause allegic reactions. I have friends who are great animal lovers, but can't keep anything except herps and/or fish. Fish are too non-interactive to qualify as "pets," so they keep lizards and snakes.

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tricia

I'm also interested in the ethics of keeping an animal in captivity and out of its natural environment (again, from a pro point of view).

I don't know of any links, but here are a few thoughts (and their counterpoints)....

1. Captive bred reptiles decrease the pressure on wild populations. (This is at least theoretically true for some species, although many people are greedy and sell cb animals for more than the price of wild caughts, thus increasing the pressure on wild pops, not decreasing it.)

2. Captive bred reptiles live longer and are exposed to less danger than wild caught reptiles. (This arguement is fraught with all sorts of philosophical problems, but it is one that is put forward).

3. Wild habitats are being destroyed at such an alarming pace that the only refugia for many species is going to be in captive populations (e.g. the Round Island Boas). (The arguement against this is "what's the point?" Why maintain captive populations of species that have become extinct in the wild?)

and the follow-up...

4. Theoretically a captive population could be used to restock areas if the cause of the initial extirpation could be eliminated - such as elimination of introduced mongooses, cats, goats, or a reforestation program. (The arguement against this is that a captive populations need to be carefully managed to prevent inbreeding if a viable population is to be maintained for reintroduction. That isn't happening in most species outside of institutions like zoos. Add to that the fact that many restocking efforts fail.)

Just a few thoughts.
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Chris Harrison

Some of us are born scientists. I can read about snakes for hours at a time and all it makes me want to do is get that type of animal and find out for myself if the book was right. As far as taking them from the wild...that's touchy but as long as you can be sure that you are not removing an endangered or threatened specie and as long as you have good intentions I don't see anything wrong with it.
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