Reptiles! What is the fascination?

[TSKA Rory Matier]

Well okay, l have run a similiar one on Primates, so it is only fair to ask the same question to reptile keepers.

Okay, so prior to me meeting Nerys, my interest in reptiles has at best been somewhat unfocused. I have friends that keep them, and of course Nerys herself has a large collection of them.

But here l sit in my office, waiting on the templates that will signify the arrival of the COP's [Code of Practice] for reptiles, looking at a pair of Carpet Pythons in a viv, that may have moved in the last twenty - four hours what amounts to no more than five feet.

They lay there 'entwined' for want of a better word on their environmental scenario of branch limbs - doing absolutely nothing.

I can not but help ask myself, as l have done prior to Nerys and prior to everything - why?

Why, why, why?

Why keep reptiles, what on earth is the fascination?

Not as 'political' as primates, but still the opposition would like to see keepers of them, seriously restricted in what they can and can not keep. So still political.

I mean the small percentage of reptiles here are unobtrusive to my working day, they do me no real harm, in fact if it was not for the fact that l know them to be here, l would not know they were here at all!!

In light of the fact that COP's are due out this year in template and draft form, l think it necessary to ask this of this forum, for you are a reptile forum, and l would like to know why you think you should keep this species and why do you keep them at all?

You can never recreate their natural environment totally, you at best can only stimulate an artificial residency after all, so why.....what is the fascination?

Rory

[Angi]

Good morning Rory.

For me reptiles were the start of my fascination and love of animals, other than cats. Prior to being introduced to reptiles I had not really had time for nor a great deal of interest in animals, maybe because I had not looked into that area. My interest was sparked during a holiday, where I visited a Reptile centre who focused upon education and dispelling myths. This centre opened up my eyes to a new world and I felt compelled to learn more and to seek further opportunities to interact witrh them. A few months later I took the first step of buying my first snake, which I still have. I think this opened up a whole new world for me, I have always loved studying, but this interest provided a massive area providing constant possibilities for me to learn. For me I not only enjoy keeping reptiles but I also enjoy learning more about them, observing their behaviour and trying to work out how we can look after them to the best of our ability, this also leads me to delve more into discovering all about the reptiles natural habitat and connected natural history.
I must confess that I do feel priveledged to be able to interact with so many of the worlds amazing species and the love of reptiles has drawn me further into the world of animals and wildlife.
I do enjoy keeping lizards more than snakes as I find there behaviour more interesting.
I also enjoy the challenges of keeping difficult species and breeding, I know this may not be considered as ethical by some, but I prefer to be open and honest. I do enjoy breeding reptiles, watching a reptile hatch out of an egg and then watching it grow is an amazing experience, not to mention something I love to share with my daughter, and it helps her to learn about and appreciate animals, positively enhancing her education and development.
Keeping reptiles also ties in with other interests that I enjoy such as photography, which I am learning about and I enjoy photographing my reptiles immensley. I also have a very strong interest in MBD, UV lighting, supplemenatation and exercise with reptiles, which I think stems from my rheumatology nursing background. I am striving to learn more in this area and thinking of becoming involved with research regarding UV lighting and its effects.
Now I know Ive waffled but my interest is multi-faceted, thats my excuse and Im sticking to it .

[TSKA Rory Matier]

Good Morning to you as well Angi,

Thanks for your response.

R

[Andy]

I am not really fascinated by them I just quite like them,same as I am not fascinated by dogs but own them too. I like the fact they are easy to keep and interesting and dont make a mess like some other pets. They are ok if you forget to feed them on time and are happy being left alone if you havent time to do anything with them. They are a good pet for modern day busy lifestyles.

[ratboy]

Hi Rory,

As far as Boids (Boas & Pythons) go... I agree with your observations and the fact they do little or nothing for most of the week is the singlemost reason that they do nothing for me whatsoever... so I don't keep them.

All my species are rat snake species simply because they are reasonably intelligent, harmless, small enough to handle by a single person and above all active and interesting.

If I were to keep other types of snake, it would probably be rear fanged animals like Angis Boiga species for exactly the same reason, they are small, active and intelligent enough to keep you on your toes.

Steve.

[Art_Gecko101]

For me, i think it is the pleasure of interacting with an animal that is so far removed from ourselves. Mammals dont do nearly as much for me a reptiles, and i think its because when i look into a lizards eye i can see hundreds of millions of years of evolution that has lead it down a path so different from us, and find it amazing that i can hold and interact with a creature that you would not normally encounter during your life.

It also got alot to do with my love of dinosaurs!

[Bonkers!]

Originally Posted by Art_Gecko101

For me, i think it is the pleasure of interacting with an animal that is so far removed from ourselves. Mammals dont do nearly as much for me a reptiles, and i think its because when i look into a lizards eye i can see hundreds of millions of years of evolution that has lead it down a path so different from us, and find it amazing that i can hold and interact with a creature that you would not normally encounter during your life.

It also got alot to do with my love of dinosaurs!

I completely agree with this line. Even after all these months i still find it fascinating that i can feed & have something which i would never encounter whilst walking through the woods happily sit on my shoulder whilst i watch tv.

[TSKA Rory Matier]

I thank those who have answered this thread already.

What l find surprising is that the thread 'Primates, l seriously don't get it' was about primates, and picked up 45 posts and over 600 viewings. Now why l am surprised is that that was on a reptile forum, so here we have a direct question aimed at reptile keepers in the general herp section and we have but a mere five responses from reptile keepers.

So what you are all saying in so far as keepers who have not responded] is this:

They are not fascinating, nor interesting, nor educational?

So with so few responses, do you not care?

Then l will make a highlight of the other question:

'and l would like to know why you think you should keep this species and why do you keep them at all?'

So answer that then, what right do you think you have as keepers to actually own reptile species?

R

[toyah]

Originally Posted by TSKA Rory Matier

What l find surprising is that the thread 'Primates, l seriously don't get it' was about primates, and picked up 45 posts and over 600 viewings. Now why l am surprised is that that was on a reptile forum, so here we have a direct question aimed at reptile keepers in the general herp section and we have but a mere five responses from reptile keepers.

Primates are a relatively small, focussed group of animals. Reptiles is a huge category. I'm not passionate about reptiles as a general group ... you couldn't pay me enough to keep a Burmese, and I have no desire to own the vast majority of lizard species. I can't explain "reptiles" because I only like certain portions of that vast grouping of animals.

I didn't respond to your thread about Primates because I don't keep primates. If you'd made it as vague as this one ("Mammals - I seriously don't get it") I probably would have found myself unable to respond as there are vast sections of the mammal world I find myself with no desire to own. But make the thread "small rodents - I seriously don't get it" and it would have been something different. I imagine if this thread was about colubrids, or pythons, or sand boas, or geckos, you would have got more responses.

Another explanation for the number of views may well be that on this forum most people know why they keep reptiles and don't need to read other people's justifications. But many people might not "get" primate keeping and want to know more

[royalpython]

I think they are interesting, and educational. If they were not fascinating, i'd never have owned one.

I shared a flat with my friend who owned a female royal years ago, and he gave me her once he had a child. i was completely in love with her, and i'd honestly roll around on the floor with a duvet some nights, making little paths for her to move around under the duvet... this was part of my fascination with her. Probably my first realisation of how harmless royal pythons are. Snakes in their vivariums really don't do much, but it's more the handling aspect that see's what pussy cats with personality's they are. (EDITED: I also believe that royals and leopard geckos don't mind human interaction. I am still learning the BCI behaviour, and Carpet python behaviour so i won't comment further on those yet)

Since discovering different colours and patterns of royal's my passion has grown even stronger for them (i always wanted to breed them, and now it's been made even more interesting).

What give's US the right?
I think the educational side is a good one. Get to youngsters while they're still young, and try expanding the numbers of people to support them (inspiration to go on and do better things, zoology, conservasion etc). We all know fairly well that most adults have a great fear of reptiles, and maybe perhaps with more people owning them (or people like me showing them to people with a brief talk about them), the fear barrier may eventually diminish.
If the animal doesn't appear to be suffering, and with our captive stimuli being provided, i cant see any reason why we shouldn't be allowed to own them.

Unfortunately planet earth has produced some halfwit's, which have been allowed to look after animals improperly, but the same can be said for some parents looking after their own. The human race is by no means perfect.