Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm a highschool student taking a "college-prep" English writing class at the moment called Expository Writing. Our current assignment is a 5-10 page argumentative paper. My choice was why reptiles are good pets. I chose this topic because many of my friends who know I have an 8 foot red-tail and a 3 foot ball python are a little apprehensive at times to come over, and have the wrong idea I think about reptiles in general. I talked with many students in my class asking me what they thought about reptiles as pets, and many of the responses consisted of "ewww they're slimy" or "I can't believe you feed it live mice!" and the list goes on. I am asking anyone out there who would be interested in leaving me some feedback here, why you think reptiles are good pets/what makes them better than others. Also, what are some of the negative responses you have gotten from people who find you have reptiles as pets, any in general, I'm talking about all reptiles. Not leaving any out, not just the big snakes and nile monitors or crocs, but the salamanders, newts, toads and frogs, turles, tortoises-the works! I want to know what everyone thinks here. Obviously the main goal of this paper is to educate anyone who reads it who has the wrong idea about reptiles in general, I want to know the positive AND negative responses everyone has gotten. All of your help will be greatly used and appreciated and when I finish the paper I might just post it on here and let you all know how it went. Thank you for your time and thank anyone again for your help

of times i have had this discussion, there really is no reason to keep ANY animal other than attractionit comes down to preferance some prefer birds,dogs,cats,horses,opposums,skunks,lions&tigers&bears oh my!
some prefer scales,
sadly snakes have gotten a bad rap since the bible.its hard to undo that kind of engrainment of fear&ignorance
the downside of keeping snakes i would say is dealing with that,fear&ignorance or otherwise being known as the creepy snake guy a term i have come to accept as endearing albeit hard at times
upsides would be low maintnance,ease of care, and sheer beauty which btw is in the eye of the beholder.
arguements would be they(reptiles)are not slimy, dont all carry disease(salmonella is a bacterium that is transmittable to ALL life including reptiles),they are not evil,they dont attack and hunt people down.
it comes down to EDUCATION and unfortunately some people will simply not educate themselves,i guess they prefer to live in fear&ignorance(kinda like ostrich) i commend your effort to change that in your paper good luck
,,,,,,,,,,thomas davis

Yeah, what Thomas said, LOL! And really, do you want to be known as a dog/cat person or that creepy snake guy?! LOL! I'm one of those, too! LMAO! All animals are fascinating but herps are what does it for me. When's the last time you went out in the field to look for dogs in their native habitat? Their is still so much to learn about herps, that would be a con also.
Todd Hughes

I have a few ideas to throw at you. Granted I'm no expert, but...

Snakes are one of my favorite animals because they are the most mysterious. They are very stout. They have survived millions of generations and provide a strong argument that evolution is in fact very real. Like the Scarlet King that has evolved with colors mimicking the dangerous coral snake. Or the fact that all snakes have an additional bone structure that would indicate they once had legs. I like to explain to people how this slithering little predator has many disadvantages yet it retains itself high up in the food chain. They have no arms or legs... they have no ears... they cant see very well... they are cold blooded... yet they survive and thrive in almost every environment on the planet. From the tundra of Canada to the ocean waters of the Pacific, there are snakes on every continent except Antarctica!

I was recently learning about the similarities between the Green Tree Boa and the Green Tree Python. Two animals with localities on opposite sides of the planet that both evolved with similar colors and both are aborial. They feed on the same types of pray and live in the same thicket of the jungle. Yet one comes from south America and one from Indonesia.

I also really enjoy learning about the biology of snakes. Its fun and interesting to learn about how albinos are bread in captivity. There are the dominate genes and the hetro genes. So on and so forth. Corn snakes and all the different varieties are an excellent example of selective breeding. Furthermore, I like to learn about genius' and class' and species', this becomes interesting when someone asks you what is the difference between a crock and an alligator. Or check out the Tuatara from New Zealand... It was once thought to be a lizard but NO, alas it is not. Check this out: http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/tuatara.asp

Or how about the question, do all reptiles lay egg's? You were taught that answer to be yes but let me tall you, Garter snakes don't lay eggs. In my own experiences, I couldn't get my Tarahumara Kings to produce good eggs but an adopted wild caught Garter I had just one day procreated 20 or so little babies... HEY I didn't see any eggs! Where did these come from? It was a beautiful thing to say the least.

I like the aspect of conservation through captive breeding. The fact that I can buy a captive bread Arizona Mountain Kingsnake will probably keep an idiot like me from going out and destroying the natural environment and removing the animals from their place in the ecosystem

So, in conclusion, dog's are cool and they make good pets but when was the last time you saw an albino doxin or a piebald chihuahua?

Maybe you could post your paper somewheres here on the forum when you finish and let your cyber herp friends grade it for you.

Good luck and keep your grades up! School is cool, make it fun and be a positive influence on your stupid class mates.

Dean Moriarty, amatuer herpetologist and professor of all good things.

Of course the main pros for me would be quiet pet, easily maintained, and interesting to view. Cons would be people misunderstanding (bias), vets are hard to come by in some instances, local laws may be bias. All in all, I think snakes, lizards and chelonia are easy to care for if one does their homework, much easier to care for than birds, dogs and cats. Another distoted view is individuality. Some of my charges don't want much to do with me, whereas most of them recognize where their food comes from and some even seem to enjoy interaction.
All in all, I think reps and 'phibs require less work on the backside once good husbandry tecniques are put up on the front side. There is no doubt there will always be dog/cat people, but there are so many more different kinds of herps out there and our numbers are growing! Hope some of this helps, and good luck with your paper.
Todd Hughes