why do we keep reptiles

[Linds]

Why do I keep reptiles?

*beautiful
*fascinating
*misunderstood
*well-suited to my situation (space, time, etc)

[Xetox]

I have been fascinated by them since I can remember, I have been working with them since I was about 6, and have been hooked ever since! Who ever says that they dont make good pets can come on over!

[eyespy]

Heehee, attention? Nope, tends to be a lack of it when some of your so-called loved ones are afraid to visit you!

I keep reptiles just for the sheer joy of being in their presence.

[damzookeeper]

Why do I keep reptiles?
That is a very simple question.

As everyone said they are graceful, unusual, gorgious and so on.
But also because they are misunderstood and I want to educate people on how special they really are. I want my daughter to grow up to respect and love them along with ever other species of animal as I do. I love them because they are easy to care for, they suit my lifestyle, and they are fun to watch and play with for the most part. And yes, the attention is also great! But being a shy person that was definately not the reason I got them to begin with. I was bringing stray animals and herps home from the time I could walk. I grossed my mother out many times with the things I brought home. But it was always fasinating and interesting to me.
I don't think I have a "normal pet" unless you call our bird ( a tiel) normal. We have the herps a bird and a ferret. No cats, no dogs. And we are content this way.
Every summer you can find me going for walks with my beardies or taking them to the local park and all along the way I am answering questions from the young and old. And the beardies seem to just love the attention, or maybe it's the fresh air. lol.
I've also gone to my daughter's class with a little show and to her brownie group. THe kids love it!

[SnowFoxx]

Snakes are beautiful, graceful, and fascinating, yes. But there's more to it than that.

Snakes are a piece of something wild and untouchable that this world is losing a little bit of every day. Snakes are killers and healers. They can be tamed but never domesticated. They are incredibly strong and equally delicate. They appeal to the primal spirit that cries at the sound of a wolf howl and yearns to just take off into the wild, never to be seen or heard from again.

I know I'm sounding a bit dramatic, but when I was holding my BP this morning, I remembered an article I read somewhere that said pythins are one of the oldest living creatures around today. There were pythongs crawling the earth long before there were people. I looked out my window into the parking lot behind my building as my little Idunna crawled around in my hair, and tried to picture a huge prehistoric Idunna curled up under the one lonely tree on the edge of my parking lot...and I felt so sad.

I guess, for me, keeping snakes is a way to hold on to the fast-disappearing wilderness, and to enjoy the far away jungles that I will probably never see. I love picturing Idunna and Freja, my BPs, slithering through steamy tropical tree roots, and Arden, my corn, burying himself in leaf little in southern forests.

It brings me such joy to have a little wildness in my home.

- Victoria:w

[Xetox]

Where have you been my whole life snow

No really I agree there is nothing like herps as pets, people say they have personality, but they are full of personality every one is different. Even those little shits that like to nip all the time.......it all who they are...I know I like to nip alot to

[rethius]

You know what that is a great question, I think since I have always had such an interest in snakes I think i just kinda developed a sort of love! can't really describe it! A little bit of WILD earth right here in my home!

[Dilshad]

When I was a kid I was fascinated by the idea of dragons and dinosaurs. I think most kids are, but these ideas and images retain their fascination for some of us more than others. As for the why of it...well these images fire the imagination when you're a kid, but there are deeper ideas buried in the fossil record, regarding the nature of life and death on this planet.

The reptiles and amphibians I keep remind me of a much larger, more complex natural world. They're also aesthetically pleasing - living studies in line and colour, and they're profoundly different from me.

Personally, I don't keep them to educate or enlighten others. I enjoy working with my dart frogs or phantasticus the way someone would enjoy working in their garden. It's simple enough, I think.

[Lizzy001]

i like reptiles because of their different attidutes etc. , like a challage, lus its way better than an ordinary pet!@!!!

[krrc]

I really like what snow fox and all of you said. I guess for me it's a little of all these things and my desire to futher the reptile hobby it's almost comparable to the civil rights movement (if you've every tryed geting a pet store to change it's husbandry you know what I mean). I injoy fighting for them even though it can bring much discust tord the store and pitty for the reptiles.

[BAZ]

I keep them because I tink they are..

*beautiful
*facinating
*misunderstood
... hold on I think Linds already said that

*they are the underdog of the animal kingdom in my opinion. Too many people hate them and I think they need people to love them and protect them
*there are too many myths about these creatures and I keep them to dispell any myths (especially in the Indian and pakistani community which i am a part of)
*you can give unconditional love to a reptile. they are not going to love you back.. if they were big enough tey would probably eat you.

I think if we have the right frame of mind we can learn deeper lessons from keeping these animals. Showing love and caring for something that does not have any love for you (it may not even like your presence or it may just tolerate you). It can teach a person compassion and if we reflect on this it could teach us to treat each other better as human beings.

* oh yeah and... birds love a bloke with a large snake

[Dilshad]

Hey Baz, long time no speak...hope your scaly crew's all good.

Anyway, of course you're right about the myths that abound in the Pakistani and Indian community, although for the first time, I have a better understanding for my mother's intense fear and hatred of snakes.

Having done a lot of research on venomous snakes (for my own edification, I don't intend to maintain these in my home) over the last year or so, and later finding myself in their presence at places like the Indian River Reptile Zoo...I can understand the basis of the fear. Wonderful, beautiful and ecologically important these animals may be, but they also have the potential to cause great harm and suffering when uninformed humans come into contact with them, or even informed people who tangle with them by accident or other misadventure.

The fear and loathing which I once found foolish, I now see has a rational basis. Those aren't garter snakes hanging out on the subcontinent, something that someone such as myself, living in Toronto my whole life, can't quite get my head around.

That said, over the years my mother has made a lot of progress. She can admire snakes when they're securely caged, and has held lizards in her bare hands, overcoming a lifetime of fear.

As for your philosophical take on it all, I think that's kind of a long and circuitous route towards compassion for your fellow human beings, but I suppose better the long route than no route at all. Cynical as ever, I will say this much; I've met a lot of reptile keepers. Some of them are truly intelligent, insightful and admirable people. I've met just as many who are ignorant or just plain stupid. In most cases, I don't think keeping reptiles is going to make someone reflect on deeper meanings the way you evidently do.

In my opinion, people are people no matter what kind of hobby they happen to pursue, and aren't easily improved upon. Luckily, it's not impossible for people to better themselves. I guess that makes me an optimist.

[Herpogirl]

Because we like them and thier fun to keep and take care of