Hindsight, Foresight, and something else ending in sight - or - TL;DR

[Nafun]

I own two snakes. I researched both extensively before purchasing, and was still unprepared. I believe I care for them well, which is not to say I couldn't care for them better, and I have asked a few questions on this forum that, in hindsight, I was embarrassed about having to ask.

However, I look back to my childhood, and I owned many exotic pets. I was never allowed to have snakes, but I had turtles, tortoises, anoles, and several varieties of parrot. I am ashamed to say that none of them lived a full life. There were no internet resources then, and pet stores then, like pet stores now, are more interested in moving the animals out the door than making sure the animal will be well cared for. My two painted turtles likely died as a result of vitamin D deficiency. I had no idea that they needed ultraviolet light. My two box turtles were hastened to their grave by improper diet. The pet store told me to feed them lettuce, now I know that lettuce is as nutritious as wet cardboard. My anoles had a heat rock, and they cooked on it.

I have many excuses, I was young (these things all happened 15 to 24 years ago), young enough that I had a pair of lovebirds named Tweet and Twat, and no one would explain what was wrong with the name. There wasn't much information available to me, the internet wasn't the wealth of information it is today, and internet access wouldn't even come to my area until the mid to late 90's. I wish I could go back in time and educate my younger self. I hastened many beautiful animals to their graves, and there is nothing I will ever be able to do to change that.

This being said, in the short time I have been on these forums, I have seen many people asking questions that hearken me back to that time of my life. People asking questions that could have been answered by a simple google search, and should have been answered before the animal in question was purchased. Clearly the existence of the internet, and its wealth of information on animal husbandry sitting at everyone's fingertips has not changed things.

The only difference I see in pet stores, twenty years after being told to feed my turtles lettuce, is that now instead of pulling information out of their asses, they read off of a vague, and often inaccurate care sheet that encompasses exactly as much information as can be printed on a single sheet of paper.

This isn't going to change, in my heart I know it. Pet stores exist to make money. The true answer to "What does my pet need?" is "How much are you willing to spend?" and a pet store that refused to sell you that $20 iguana unless you were prepared to spend the additional $180 on required accoutrements would quickly go out of business.

To be fair, we are, ourselves, part of the problem. We promote herpetoculture. We want our hobby to be recognized as legitimate. We want snakes to be viewed as beautiful, majestic creatures and not as slimy monsters. The very act of keeping exotic pets, promotes the keeping of exotic pets. I don't know the answer to this, I'm not sure there even is one. It's a painful dichotomy that by trying to change people's views about these animals we indirectly promote an industry that sends these wonderful animals into the hands of people who aren't prepared to care for them.

It doesn't end there either. Every time someone gets bitten by a hot snake that they did not have the experience, patience, or equipment to handle, it hurts our cause. Every time someone releases a snake into the wild because it got too big to handle, it hurts our cause. Every time a news report airs with footage of half a dozen people carrying a snake out of a home, it hurts our cause. It perpetuates the stereotype that snakes are inherently dangerous. I'm not deluding myself, I know that some poisonous snakes as well as large constrictors can kill humans. However, it is improper care, recklessness, and hubris on the part of their keepers that make them dangerous. These exquisite animals are wild, and have to be treated with the caution and respect that such animals demand.

It doesn't matter that more people are killed by dogs, which have been domesticated for 14,000 years, in a year than have been killed by giant constrictors in recorded history. When a dog attacks and kills a human, there is no call to ban dogs as pets. In nearly all incidents, the police and the press rightfully look to the animal's owner. If a horse kicks a keeper, or throws a rider, it is viewed as a tragic accident. Everyone accepts that the horse was being a horse, and that these things can happen when working with dangerous creatures. Most dogs, horses, and captive snakes will never hurt anyone, and because dogs and horses have generally positive stereotypes, the exceptions to the rule are viewed appropriately as aberrations or accidents, rather than the inevitable outcome of handling an inherently dangerous animal.

If you've read this far, I feel I owe you some answers. I regret to tell you that I don't actually have any. I don't know how to change public opinion about reptiles. I don't know how to make the pet trade into a responsible industry. I don't know how to ensure people do sufficient research before purchasing animals. I don't even know how to make sure I don't inadvertently encourage an irresponsible person to purchase a reptile. I will, however, try my best to be a responsible reptile owner. I will make sure I have appropriate shelter, heat, and food for anything I buy. I will make sure I only buy captive bred animals. I will make sure I have sufficient husbandry information to understand and fulfill the needs of the animals in my care. I will do my best to encourage responsible pet ownership, and not tarnish the reputation of herpetoculture through action or inaction. I cannot undo the mistakes of my childhood, but I can ensure that I never make them again, and do my best to keep others from making the same.