October 1, 2023

Hey there, troops! 

You know I’m all about animals being treated right, right? I'm not sure if you know it but most of my life with animals involves specifically, reptiles. My wife and I have saved and found homes for thousands of our reptilian buddies. I’m not boasting, just wanna lay it out there: snakes hold a prime place in my life. Originally, I kept various reptiles as pets without ever considering the question, do animals really wanna be our pets?

From my humble perspective, that comes from 45+ years of working with reptiles that the answer is No Freaking Way!. No snake, lizard or tortoise wants to be someone’s pet. Imagine being stripped of your freedom, and totally reliant on a “master” for everything—food, where you can go potty, even when you get to play or go outside. That’d crush any spirit, and I believe animals dig their freedom too. They wanna roam, be with their crew, or just do their own thing without human rules.

Now, rescued pets, that’s a different groove! If you’ve got a rescued pet, you’re making the best of a rough scene, and if you’re a rad pet parent, you’re giving them a better life. Good on you! But I’m talking about the whole breeding and pet trade deal. That stuff creates millions of “slaves” every year just for human pleasure. 

Check this out, I read that around 6-8 million animals are destroyed in shelters each year while a few million get bought from pet shops. It’s wild, right? If they stopped breeding them, people would have to pass the petshops and go to shelters to get a pet. Eventually, in just a few years, shelters wouldn’t even be a thing! They'd all be empty. But sadly, people are all into those specific breeds or cute little kittens and puppies. I dig it, we all have our desires. But here's the thing, these animals are suffering big time in shelters. Their lives end all lonely and unloved just because humans want a specific breed or style or whatever. Shouldn't we step up and do something about that? 

Especially us believers, like us Christians, we gotta answer to a higher power. Me? I'm accountable to the man upstairs, and I know lots of my audience are Bible-thumpers too. We willingly submit our will to a God of compassion and mercy. We're not to give into our selfish desires if it hurts God's creation. But hey, if religion ain't your scene, maybe it's about justice, love, and mercy in your book. Tune into whatever ethical frequency floats your boat.

Thing is, everyone can just buy a pet, right? But is that really what's right? Remember, millions of animals are gonna bite the dust just because people want specific pet shop pets. As an animal lover, that's just not right. Shouldn't we be putting the animals needs above our personal desires if we're animal lovers? So, if you can, give a furry friend a home, you know, adopt one.

And about that word 'slave' I dropped earlier. Let's talk about that for a sec.
Having a pet is a "want," not a "need," you got that? Sure, there's this kinda chill give-and-take thing between a pet and their human, but deep down, it's like this master/slave deal. And if you wanted, you could totally mistreat the dog—like, beat 'em, leave 'em hungry, ditch 'em at some shelter, or just straight-up ignore 'em. Hey, you might be saying “never, my dog loves me, I love my dog, I take care of it, offer food, protection and stuff.” And yeah, that's all cool vibes, for sure. But if you got your furry buddy from the pet shop, it was for your own kicks, you know? You could've given a chance to a shelter dog, saving it from being gassed to death. Harsh guilt trip I am laying on you, I know, but true. But really, can you say that breeding an animal just to make it a pet is for the greater good of animals? It's like creating a life that you are going to lock into this whole slavery scene. Imagine if a dog could choose right from the start—"Hey dog, do you wanna be owned or run free with your crew?" What do you think the pup would go for?

Okay, enough of the dog talk. If you're familiar with my experiences, you know I'm all about reptiles, so I’m gonna blab on about that for a while. 

Have you ever thought about what it's like for a reptile living in captivity? Stuck in this little glass box, relying on humans for everything?Imagine being on display just for human kicks, getting handled when humans feel like it, chowing down when humans decide its mealtime, and livin’ in a clean or gnarly cage all based on human whims. Even getting to decide whether to mate, it's all about human wants. That's just messed up. It's not their jam, you know? They'd rather be out in the wild, exploring, and just doing their reptile thing. Being cooped up ain't their vibe at all. 

To a snake or lizard, cages are like prison. Think about it, can your snake slither from one side of its crib to the other in like, less than 10 seconds? Or even 5 seconds? Can it actually stretch out straight at all? Compare that to its natural scene—exploring the jungle, looking for sex or hunting for food. Pythons, they’ve been clocked moving like 20 miles in just 70 days, you know?

 Consider mealtime for the reptile. What should be hours of fresh air and sunlight, hustling for grub turns, into sitting and waiting for a handout. Not natural at all. Most captive reptiles, their exercise is pushing against or trying to sneak under these invisible barriers (those glass tanks we tend to keep them in), just trying to bail. It's a sign they're stressed, feeling the pinch of captivity. Reptiles, they don’t get that glass gig! In their reptilian minds, it's like some wild Star Trek force field, keeping them trapped. Those poor reptiles just don’t get it! Imagine if you locked a dog in a room like that, man, you'd be in deep trouble for animal cruelty, you feel?

Picture this: If I were in a snake's shoes (not saying they have feet but you know what I mean) and someone asked, "Hey, snake buddy, do you wanna spend your whole life cooped up in this glass box, barely having space to slither and check things out? Are you cool relying on some unseen source for food, warmth, and all your needs without even being able to chat?" Or like, "Hey there, lizard friend, how about being on display just for a human's kicks, even though your instincts scream for privacy?" So wrong. I'm pretty sure these reptiles would ditch all that and opt for the wild freedom of the jungle, no doubt about it. 

So, when it comes to the reptilian vibe, it's a whole different trip compared to our furry pets, like dogs or cats. It's these it's these instincts that make captivity a way harsher scene for reptiles. They're not at all domesticated, so they're constantly wrestling with their deep instincts and other needs that get suppressed in those cages. Take a dog, for instance, all groomed by domestication, soaking up love and giving it back, you know? Doggie can still share some joy within a “Pet” lifestyle. But not so for reptiles. On a scale of emotions, reptiles are pretty low on the “Love” chart so they aren’t into human snuggles—they’re all about their reptile scene, like munching, keeping warm, getting busy, and just living that reptile kinda cycle.

Those regular domestic critters—dogs, cats, horses, cows—they're genetically different from reptiles. They have these biological traits that let them groove alongside other species like us humans. They accept us as part of their family, their “pack” or community. But when it comes to reptiles, it’s a different scene altogether. They just can't do that. Reptiles are like more 'hard-wired' with deep psychological needs that just don’t jive well with captivity. Being cooped up messes with their emotions, you know? Even if they seem chill, they never fully enjoy those poorly crafted habitats. And let’s be real, any cage is just a pale imitation of freedom for these creatures.I think back to when we did reptile shows for children. We were in homes of reptile owners over and over and over. It was heartbreaking to see an 8 foot boa in a 4 foot glass tank. Or an iguana in a cage that takes all of 2 seconds to go from one side to the other. Even if the iguana is taken out of its cage 20% of the day, can any person imagine living in a room that small for 80% of their lives? Consider the boredom of our lizard pal. The only source of mental stimulation is humans walking past the cage, freaking sad.

Also, think about the food for these carnivorous snakes. The food sources alone will result in the death of thousands of other rodent like animals. Again, if you love animals, then killing other thousands of animals to feed your one pet is selfish and cruel. How can any person who claims to be an animal lover purposely breed a carnivorous reptile into existence, knowing it will result in the death of 1000 more animals, just to keep that one carnivorous pet alive? Remember, humans do not need to have pet snakes to survive. So, as a pet owner, you are responsible for the deaths of so many more animals just to keep your one alive. Is that compassion? Is that Love? Hey, I'm not saying the snake is guilty for eating little furry dudes at all. It's a carnivore doing what carnivores do. I blame snake owners for buying a snake that was bred into existence just for human pleasure. If there wasn't a market for pet snakes, snake breeders wouldn't be breeding snakes. And rodent breeders wouldn't be breeding rodents for food. To breeders, it's all about the cash. To the animals, it's a life of suffering, and unavoidable, death.

In the end, keeping reptiles in captivity ain’t a good vibe. It’s like putting an animal in jail for life, not cool at all. So, if you believe all living things deserve happiness, let’s say no to buying or breeding any pets. At our place, we do what we can for the reptiles we rescue, giving them the basics for a healthy life. But even with all the love I offer them, I can't fill all their needs. Captivity just ain’t their jam, and it’s not what’s right for them. So stop shopping and let our critter friends live their best life, yeah? Peace and love to all creatures!

Whoa, man… I feel like the pic made the snake look way larger than it really was! Here’s the OG pic I used to create that icon photo. So, the deal with this mean snake is it was a rescue, totally infested with mites. Mites are like fleas for snakes. After some TLC, she became this super chill, mellow serpent. She lived with us for around 20 years before passing away from old age, spreading love and good vibes all around. Peace, old friend. ✌️🐍