'in The Wild'

[Jason]

this is not directed at anyone inparicular! i feel this gets thrown around WAY to often!
'IN THE WILD' is a bad term imo, i have a part time job in a pet shop on the weekends and i here this atleast once a day! this is just a few of the things i have customers say to me every weekend:
-'they dont need a heat light, they wouldnt have it in the wild'
-'they eat live mice and rats and what ever else i catch around the house, they would eat it in the wild'
-'i feed him every 10-12 weeks, thats all he would catch in the wild'
-i never worm them, who's gona worm them in the wild?'

im not joking this is some of the things i here EVERYWEEK! then i reply with the following:
1) these arent wild animals.....they are captive and so should be given the best of conditions that you can give them!
2) i then usually ask if they have a dog and wether the treat it like a wild dog, and throw them rotting animal, or just release animals into the backyard so the dog can catch it and kill it like it would do IN THE WILD, dont supply a bed etc and just let it find somewhere in the yard it likes (which some dogs do), wether they worm them or wash their dog.......... usually they look after their dog ok, but to them they look at reptiles like wild animals still.

i just believe with the rate that this hobby is growing, that the coment just gets thrown around to much and people should start talking about reptiles lilke they are captive animals more cause if we the breeders dont, then all the new comers will also be using the excuss that its like that 'in the wild'


would love to here others thoughts on the topic!

[Horsy]

I agree wholeheartedly!

[serpenttongue]

I agree. Even a wildcaught snake that is brought into captivity is no longer wild. It should be classed as a captive specimen and treated as such (i.e. wormed, weaned onto dead prey).

There's a big difference between a wild and a captive existence.

[waruikazi]

On the most part i agree with you. But there are alot of things from the wild that you need/should/can replicate to help your snake live a long healthy life and breed if you so wish.

[Clairebear]

Yeah it's just a really bad excuse for being too lazy to do the basics for their pet. A bit pathetic really. but i guess it's also just ignorance and the fact that although the hobby is growing, people are still not used to them being 'domesticated' (in a very loose sense of the word... my water python won't sit for me ) animals.

[dellywatts]

I agree with you to an extent. Obviously the captive life is no where near the life like in the wild. I do think however that people do need to make some adjustments to their keeping of reptiles. I wouldn't say don't feed for 10-12 weeks but it is true that they don't need to eat weekly or even fortnightly. As for the heating issue. Just explain to these people if they are willing to take their snake outside to bask in the sun for a few hours then that is fine. I doubt they would be willing to do it.

[noidea]

its sad that some people think that, i've had people offer baby field mice for my snakes and can't understand why i say no. and as for people saying they don't have a heat light in the wild they do its called the sun. it goes to show some people really only get reptiles to boost their ego.

[eerin]

man customers suck sometimes.
i would be a smarty back and say something like why are you in a pet store if your so concerned about the wild or something like that???

[Mystery]

It is really hard to "shut your mouth" sometimes. It is the same as the pet rat and the wild rat. It's like comparing a dog to a dingo. But, customer always knows best. lol

[Jason]

Originally Posted by waruikazi

On the most part i agree with you. But there are alot of things from the wild that you need/should/can replicate to help your snake live a long healthy life and breed if you so wish.

i completely agree, there are things that need to be replicated, heat, temp gradient, in some species humidity etc needs to be taken into consideration! i have had people bring snakes in to me and say its not feeding after a winter cooling, i look at the snake and it is absolutly skin and bones, seriously its hard to believe the condition of this one animal, it was about 6ft long not much thicker then a 50 cent coin and i could see every bone in its body!!! he said that it would have been cooled in the wild yet he didnt think about fattening it up for coooling!

some people are sorry after they realise the mistakes they are making and fix them straight away, others buy a lizard or snake, come in to get a set up and realise its to expensive and they walk out saying 'he'll be right, they survive in the wild without it'.

a guy came in the other day and told me he had troubles feeding his snakes, i asked how old, type feeding history etc to understand the environment and situation. his reason for having problems is that he couldnt catch any lizards cause the wether was to cold.

[waruikazi]

it's people like ur lizard guy that make you wonder how their snakes have survived for so long.

[Ramsayi]

A lot of hobbyists have the same logic.
eg:The snake I keep comes from an area that gets down to 6C in winter therefore I will replicate that in the enclosure.What they fail to take into account is that during the times of extreme temps the snake will most likely be holed up somewhere (insert underground) where the temps are a lot more stable and a hell of a lot warmer.Also they would most likely be in that same place when the outside temps are stinking hot.

[Mystery]

I had a lady come in this morning for a frozen rat. She has been coming in roughly every 5 days for one. I asked her how old it was and did she think she was overfeeding it. The conversation went on and she said she was wondering why hers had such a little head compared to her girlfriends out of the same clutch.

Gordo - there are some real horror stories that some ppl tell about their reptiles, some ppl just shouldn't own animals.

[waruikazi]

Originally Posted by Ramsayi

A lot of hobbyists have the same logic.
eg:The snake I keep comes from an area that gets down to 6C in winter therefore I will replicate that in the enclosure.What they fail to take into account is that during the times of extreme temps the snake will most likely be holed up somewhere (insert underground) where the temps are a lot more stable and a hell of a lot warmer.Also they would most likely be in that same place when the outside temps are stinking hot.

you would be suprised at how well a snake insulates its body, you will very rarely find a snake with a body temp below 12 degrees... Not reccomending it though.

[PhilK]

Shudder... Sounds awful. I agree with the 'in the wild' thing, but also agree there are some aspects of 'in the wild' that need to be adhered to