is it cruel to keep a snake in captivity?

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Quote: ?
adj 1: lacking or showing kindness or compassion or mercy [syn: unkind] 2: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures";


dictionary definition,=cruel
either you are a cruel keeper or you are not,
a great question i think ,cant be anwered unless you can teach a snake to talk ..i struggle with it myself, especially when i see them trying to get out and rubbing noses on their 'cages'especially the more intelligent animals,ie. monitors
baz :roll:
 
Supertaipan said:
But surely the wild is the natural environment? they have survived for thousands of years quite well? :lol:


So what. Mother nature is the cruellest of mistresses. She cares nothing for our sensitivities and leaves countless animals to die miserable, lingering, painful deaths. Isn't that so cruel that we should collect them all and keep safe from each other in captivity?

Remember, we are discussing "cruelty" here, not what is "natural".
 
Good question supertaipan i was once thinking of starting a similar thread but thought it wasnt worth all the flamming.

IMO it can be cruel to keep animals in captivity, if the animal suffers alot of stress from being contained then it is cruel. If the animals needs(mental, phisical and social) are properly looked after then it isnt cruel.
What is required for this obviously varies alot between differant animals so im not going into that.

whether the animal is WC or CB is irrelevant IMO if the reptiles needs are met, obviously a WC animal may have differant needs.
 
Happy is an emotion that may not be relevant to apply to snakes.

Is it clean, well fed, watered etc. and are it's stress levels at a minimum? If so then it's probably not unduly cruel to keep under those conditions.
 
I am not having a go at you guys who keep them , im just interested in your opinions, or rather put yourselves in the snakes place, then answer honestly?
 
Supertaipan said:
True but how can you ask a snake if its happy in a cage?

OMG,
See my point now?
It dosn't matter what anyone elses opinion is, he just has to argue with it.

Look, it is cruel to keep snakes ok. We are all sadistic bar stools hence we choose satans beasts (serpents) to imprison to a life of torment & torture. Join the dark side supertaipan, or take a hike.
 
OK then imagine being captured and kept in a 10 foot cage all of your life? would you be happy in that environment, and being fed frozen food every few weeks???
 
Supertaipan said:
I am not having a go at you guys who keep them , im just interested in your opinions, or rather put yourselves in the snakes place, then answer honestly?


This question cannot be adequately answered at this time.

If you open the door cage will the snake leave, almost certainly as it is instinctive for snake to roam. Will it be "happier"? That's much harder to answer.
 
Supertaipan said:
But surely the wild is the natural environment? they have survived for thousands of years quite well? :lol:

Yeah, THEY being the species.

With any given species 100's or 1000's of individuals must get dispatched by predators in no kind fashion!! I know that this isnt cruelty for them, it's life. But still shows that it can be a harder life for them in the wild than in a small enclosure.
 
I haven't stated that it isn't cruel to keep snakes in captivity, just that it is less cruel than it is to keep dogs and birds. Before i stated this Supertaipan had stated or at least implied that it wasn't cruel to keep dogs but he thinks it may be cruel to keep snakes, therefore my reasons for my statements are justified and relevant.
Duga, you're dogs are undoubtably very happy with their lifestyle, though it is illegal for them to be not restricted. If dogs didn't wander then the RSPCA wouldn't need to impound dogs that had wandered. We also wouldn't have a huge problem with feral dogs in the great dividing ranges if they always hung around waiting for their owners. Some dogs have been bred to be ''lap dogs'' and they make very suitable captive animals, other dogs are bred to run and hunt, do they make suitable captives in a suburban environment? Perhaps suitable for you, yet the dog is living a restricted life in regards to what their instincts are craving. So i believe it is silly for people to think keeping a snake, in particular pythons which are not very active animals, is any crueler than keeping most other pets. Dogs may be domesticated, but what does that really mean? They have been selectively bred for a purpose, often that is hunting and yet most people do not take their dogs hunting. Some breeds are bred for fighting, they love a good scrap, yet we don't allow them to do this. We restrict their natural instincts. A python on the other hand is ''generally'' an ambush predator that will not go far if it doesn't need to, it will not travel far to thermoregulate if it doesn't need to, it is fairly simple to fulfill their instictive needs.
 
Why would you need to ask it to find out if it was 'happy'? I doubt Snakes would feel happiness at all, they are highly instinctive, and I doubt there would be any mental harm to the snake if all needs are met and really, would the snake care aboput being in captivity if all needs were met? Snakes move for life related reasons(finding food, seeking shelter etc) not for enjoyment.

Keeping a snake in conditions where it is healthy and all needs are met is far from cruel, otherwise I would not keep them, the restrictions may cause a level of confusion, but I doubt it would be of any real mental harm. Snakes don't have fun being free in the wilderness, they don't have fun at all.
 
Parko said:
I haven't stated that it isn't cruel to keep snakes in captivity, just that it is less cruel than it is to keep dogs and birds. Before i stated this Supertaipan had stated or at least implied that it wasn't cruel to keep dogs but he thinks it may be cruel to keep snakes, therefore my reasons for my statements are justified and relevant.
Duga, you're dogs are undoubtably very happy with their lifestyle, though it is illegal for them to be not restricted. If dogs didn't wander then the RSPCA wouldn't need to impound dogs that had wandered. We also wouldn't have a huge problem with feral dogs in the great dividing ranges if they always hung around waiting for their owners. Some dogs have been bred to be ''lap dogs'' and they make very suitable captive animals, other dogs are bred to run and hunt, do they make suitable captives in a suburban environment? Perhaps suitable for you, yet the dog is living a restricted life in regards to what their instincts are craving. So i believe it is silly for people to think keeping a snake, in particular pythons which are not very active animals, is any crueler than keeping most other pets. Dogs may be domesticated, but what does that really mean? They have been selectively bred for a purpose, often that is hunting and yet most people do not take their dogs hunting. Some breeds are bred for fighting, they love a good scrap, yet we don't allow them to do this. We restrict their natural instincts. A python on the other hand is ''generally'' an ambush predator that will not go far if it doesn't need to, it will not travel far to thermoregulate if it doesn't need to, it is fairly simple to fulfill their instictive needs.


i stated that if you kept a dog in a cage you would be reported to the rspca.
 
No but a snake has no choice, look this is getting nowhere fast, i was merely asking the question, nobody who has a pet snake would think they are being cruel obviously, but from the snakes point of view the question has to be asked.
 
Supertaipan you stated that it's different for dogs because they are kept in yards, go and check your own comments. If you have decided it is cruel to keep snakes and wont listen to evidence on the contrary than why are you still here?
 
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