Any members 65+ ?

[wonkey78]

Hi everyone,

I'm a Master's student (in my 40s!) from Ireland and I'm doing a study on how non-traditional animals can contribute to well-being for my final thesis. I am looking for people 65+ who own any type of pet other than a dog or a cat.

Almost all the research on how pets benefit our lives focus only the two most common pets (dogs and cats) and I wanted to look at how other creatures can also be great companions.

Most research also focuses on people in their 20s and that's why I wanted to speak with older people.

If you, or anyone you know qualifies and would be willing to have a chat with me (about 45 mins online) about your snakes, reptiles, tortoises or any other unusual pet please send me a message.

Thank you!

Cathy

[ClockwerkBonnet]

Welcome to the forum! I'm currently not within that age range, but I hope the research goes well.

[wonkey78]

Thank you!

[chairman]

I wish you luck on your research though I'm also not in your target age group.

There are a couple things that your major professor should have discussed with you about this subject that you may or may not be aware of depending on when you entered the hobby.

Exotic pet ownership is not particularly popular. I'm not sure about worldwide statistics, but in the US the rate of ownership is under 15%. A decade ago the ownership rate was under 10%. Assuming a growth pattern in ownership that is more logarithmic than linear (which is the pattern that makes the most sense to me as a person watching the industry since the 1990's), the number of people 65 and older that own exotics is going to be a very, very small number.

The motivation of keepers is also going to be highly variable based on age and national origin. European keepers are traditionally very science-oriented and will keep species less as pets than as conservation projects. The US will have a percentage that keeps exotics in the same way, and that group is likely to trend older; there are certainly younger individuals keeping animals for conservation purposes, but the younger generation will be more of your pet keepers. I suppose that one's motivation for keeping pets might not matter, as I'm sure that successfully maintaining a conservation program can instill well-being in a person, but you'd have to use targeted questions to assure that it is the act of keeping animals that contributed to well-being and not just the act of being successful in an endeavor.

That ownership statistic also accounts for all exotics. I'm not sure what the breakdown is going to be, but I'd imagine that the most popular exotic will be fish. Either birds or exotic mammals would probably be next. There are likely more snakes and lizards in captivity than tortoises, but there are probably more tortoise owners (the snake owners will just have more pets per household). So, depending on the exotic you are interested in, you could also be looking at a very small sample group.

Another detail making your study difficult is going to be that most of the older generation has abandoned the internet. Fifteen, twenty years ago, you would have found some experienced folks online. Then the social media savvy generation came through and bullied the older generations off internet platforms. And those platforms themselves, the blackboard style forums, are slowly fading away. This forum is a lot slower than it used to be and I want to say three or four other forums I used to frequent disappeared. Not looking to plug other sites, but faunaclassifieds, tortoiseforum, and monsterfishkeepers are going to be among the last big holdouts that the older generations are likely to continue to frequent.

Another interesting detail is that the majority of reptile owners should know that their pets lack the ability to form emotional attachments of any kind. Your pet snake probably recognizes you in the sense that it has learned you are not a predator and you are associated with food, water, and warmth, but it doesn't like you. Could be an interesting concept to pursue in a study of how keeping animals contributes to well-being.

Combine all this with the fact that most people are incredibly xenophobic. You know, fear of things that aren't like you. And can you get less like you than a snake? No eyelids, no legs, no traditional skin or hair, they lay eggs... the epitome of otherness. It is probably why serpents are so maligned historically and currently; I can't tell you how many people I meet that learn of my hobby and still express that the only good snake is a dead snake, and that they will continue to go out of their way to kill any snake they catch a glimpse of. Lizards don't get much better treatment. Essentially, there isn't a high level of understanding in society about why people would be interested in keeping pets that aren't cute and fuzzy. As such, not only is your target study group very small, they are very strange because they're capable of having empathy for species that the vast majority of people cannot have empathy for.

I guess the really, really, short version is that your target study group is an endangered herd of unicorns with a small population size. Still, I wish you luck, and would encourage you to come back and share your results with us.

[wonkey78]

Thank you!

[wonkey78]

I wish you luck on your research though I'm also not in your target age group.

There are a couple things that your major professor should have discussed with you about this subject that you may or may not be aware of depending on when you entered the hobby.

Exotic pet ownership is not particularly popular. I'm not sure about worldwide statistics, but in the US the rate of ownership is under 15%. A decade ago the ownership rate was under 10%. Assuming a growth pattern in ownership that is more logarithmic than linear (which is the pattern that makes the most sense to me as a person watching the industry since the 1990's), the number of people 65 and older that own exotics is going to be a very, very small number.

The motivation of keepers is also going to be highly variable based on age and national origin. European keepers are traditionally very science-oriented and will keep species less as pets than as conservation projects. The US will have a percentage that keeps exotics in the same way, and that group is likely to trend older; there are certainly younger individuals keeping animals for conservation purposes, but the younger generation will be more of your pet keepers. I suppose that one's motivation for keeping pets might not matter, as I'm sure that successfully maintaining a conservation program can instill well-being in a person, but you'd have to use targeted questions to assure that it is the act of keeping animals that contributed to well-being and not just the act of being successful in an endeavor.

That ownership statistic also accounts for all exotics. I'm not sure what the breakdown is going to be, but I'd imagine that the most popular exotic will be fish. Either birds or exotic mammals would probably be next. There are likely more snakes and lizards in captivity than tortoises, but there are probably more tortoise owners (the snake owners will just have more pets per household). So, depending on the exotic you are interested in, you could also be looking at a very small sample group.

Another detail making your study difficult is going to be that most of the older generation has abandoned the internet. Fifteen, twenty years ago, you would have found some experienced folks online. Then the social media savvy generation came through and bullied the older generations off internet platforms. And those platforms themselves, the blackboard style forums, are slowly fading away. This forum is a lot slower than it used to be and I want to say three or four other forums I used to frequent disappeared. Not looking to plug other sites, but faunaclassifieds, tortoiseforum, and monsterfishkeepers are going to be among the last big holdouts that the older generations are likely to continue to frequent.

Another interesting detail is that the majority of reptile owners should know that their pets lack the ability to form emotional attachments of any kind. Your pet snake probably recognizes you in the sense that it has learned you are not a predator and you are associated with food, water, and warmth, but it doesn't like you. Could be an interesting concept to pursue in a study of how keeping animals contributes to well-being.

Combine all this with the fact that most people are incredibly xenophobic. You know, fear of things that aren't like you. And can you get less like you than a snake? No eyelids, no legs, no traditional skin or hair, they lay eggs... the epitome of otherness. It is probably why serpents are so maligned historically and currently; I can't tell you how many people I meet that learn of my hobby and still express that the only good snake is a dead snake, and that they will continue to go out of their way to kill any snake they catch a glimpse of. Lizards don't get much better treatment. Essentially, there isn't a high level of understanding in society about why people would be interested in keeping pets that aren't cute and fuzzy. As such, not only is your target study group very small, they are very strange because they're capable of having empathy for species that the vast majority of people cannot have empathy for.

I guess the really, really, short version is that your target study group is an endangered herd of unicorns with a small population size. Still, I wish you luck, and would encourage you to come back and share your results with us.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Participants are indeed unicorns but I have found some. People have been very generous with their time.

[wonkey78]

Welcome to the forum! I'm currently not within that age range, but I hope the research goes well.
Thank you for saying that. It's nice to get support :)