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

well, i'd definitely include a section on feeding frozen/thawed rodents, as that information does seem to make a difference, when people find out the rodents are humanely dispatched as opposed to "crushed to death"... too many movies & tv...

i always just explain how friendly they are, that they're not in any way slimy or disgusting, that they all have their own personalities, and the main differences between them and more commonly accepted pets like dogs include the fact that there has not been one documentable death caused by a boa constrictor, while dogs kill people all the time...

just a few things to start on...

good luck!

bc

Hi,
You might like to also explain what a 'pet' is? Reptiles are not often 'pets' like a dog which return affection - reptiles do not (often) return affection, only reproductive proclivities - they tolerate more than return any kind of affection.

Snakes have been for 5 millennia worshipped as deities - and when those said cultures found another deity, pushed the ophiolatry deities aside (often placing them in 'evil' category) and that has alot of what we see today among many people in the World today....and among your classmates.

Good luck,
mbayless

You propose people's aversion towards amphibians and reptiles as the antagonist of your paper's objective. Consider that, if you are trying to convince people that these creatures aren't all that bad, taking the route of telling them that such animals make good housepets may be a little ambitious insofar as possible approaches go.

Describing herps as important ecosystem participants, important for our understandings of primitive approaches (from a basal aspect) to vertebrate physiologic processes, or just because they're nifty, might be better-received persuasion than claiming large constrictors as ideal bedfellows.

You might be taking too liberal an advance towards very high-strung emotions (in the people who are not reptile fans). Also consider, herps are not self-regulating as are dogs, cats, birds. Their environmental mandates tend to be a little more elaborate than those of the average aquarium fish species. For the latter, plug in light, filter, sometimes heater, good to go. No worries about humidity, photoperiod, substrate, nutrition, thermogradation, etc. The basics to amphibian and reptile keeping are more plagued with contradicting approaches than is the keeping of fishes, birds, and certainly, mammals. With regards to these comparative groups, I mean the common "pet" species, as I'm sure you're similarly stressing the good pet qualities of common herp species, as opposed to rare or difficult specialists.

The truth is, amphibians and reptiles are actually not good pets for most people. For the purposes here, good = practical. Understand, by this I do not mean most "herp people," but, most people in general. Practicality in pets provides for a positive margin for error in the keepers, and keepers are prone to error (i.e., they're human). Since understanding how to properly care for amphibians and reptiles requires an owner to understand not just the animals' behavior, but also, environmental conditions required, they are far more complicated to approach as pet subjects than endotherms (warm-blooded critters). Since (most) amphibians and reptiles live in air or at least (after metamorphosis) breathe it, their environments cannot be so closed and self-supporting as the average simple fish tank.

Physiologically, amphibians and reptiles are far more diverse than average aquarium fish (which are similarly "cold-blooded", too, which means, you can't understand the specifics for one species and understand the specifics for all. Achieving that requires a great deal of applied common sense - something that many pet keepers don't like to (or can't) invest. This is why so many keepers fall down on keeping herps alive in the long run, let alone allowing them to achieve greater goals in life (reproduction).

Finally, certain characteristics about the animals this forum directly concerns will never appeal to most people. Why would you keep large, huffy, scaley animals that feed on cute, little, fuzzy animals when you can keep more responsive dogs or cats, which feed on pureed racehorses and chicken entrails that are conveniently packaged as dog- or cat-specific, unrecognizable-ingredient, food in cans?

Do remember, these are just thoughts with which you might approach your paper's topic. Take em or leave em. Hopefully, the paper will work out for you, since schools are a positive atmosphere in which to counter near-superstitious beliefs such as those pertaining to many amphibians and reptiles. Young minds seem to lose interest in prejudice a little more easily than do old ones. Still, how could anyone hold distaste for such an endearing face?

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FR has created a monster.
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To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody asks, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks." -JH

nice, and funny
i am sure FR will like that

I agree with the others, as such, let me say this simply...
Herpkeeping is much more than petkeeping. It makes us researchers, behaviorists, and artists.
Working with limited or inaccurate data, and far less emotive animals, we become astute observers of the slightest quantifiable fluctuations in environment and reaction in our animal charges. These are not the same diciplines as those of a dog owner. For us to be only adequate, we must fill many roles. This qualifies us to be called something more than pet-owners.