Authored by Brandon Fowler Roaming Reptiles
Our Responsibilities as Reptile Keepers
Legless Lizard (Sheltopusik sp.) makes a new friend.
Before I get started, I want to say that this article is about my own personal feelings and I do have great respect for the people who have given the reptile hobby so much. Without them we would have nothing.
With everything that is happening in our hobby right now including the government, animal rights groups and other agencies doing everything they can to shut us down, now is the time for us to be even more cautious in our actions. I see pictures all the time of people free handling venomous snakes and posting pictures online. As I have mentioned before,
What may be cool to you and I, may scare people who do not understand the reptile hobby. This also gives the groups who want us shut down more ammunition.
If you are or want to be a “leader” in the reptile hobby you should hold yourself to a higher standard. If that means less “likes” on your page or less views on your reptile YouTube videos so be it. Now with saying that, do I believe we all have the right to post whatever photos or videos we want? I do! But I also think we should stop and think about what we post before we post.
Will this picture/video have a positive or negative impact?
Unless a post provides a positive image of the reptile community, this is not the time to make such posts. In an interview with In-House Counsel for USARK, Richard Stanley informed me the organization
“is very concerned about the negative public image created by a small number of herpers who insist upon posting pictures and videos that are predictably perceived negatively by folks outside the reptile community. We need to win the public perception war. We need to be smarter, more efficient, more cohesive and overall more productive in our fight to keep our reptiles than our opponents who are infinitely better financed.”
We as a hobby have an opportunity to do something great! We need to look out for each other and help each other when possible. We all talk about what we are leaving our kids and grandkids, but with the track we are on now, we will have nothing in this hobby to leave them except pictures and books. I want my kids and future generations to have a chance to keep and learn about these amazing animals.
When we post photos/videos of us doing something careless just so we can get those extra “likes” or a few more views on YouTube we are hurting those that are working very hard on saving our hobby.
Let’s work together and help one another to make this a hobby something we and future generations can be proud of.