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Posted by Mr. D on March 25, 2001 at 23:50:24:
In Reply to: If you can't provide a cage for an animal don't purchase it! posted by Jason G on March 25, 2001 at 19:16:48:
Throw stones at me for saying this. I'll hold still and provide an easy target...;)... I PARTIALLY agree with Jason BUT....The absolute EASIEST way to solve the whole inter-species/same species housing debate is actually very simple. Take it a few steps further back...."your new friend came from a place with no glass walls, screen tops, stained plywood boxes or something called a "REPTARIUM". Your "new friend" also didn't come from a place where it lived in a house with humans. It's never seen hot rocks or UV bulbs or, god forbid, dog food where it comes from. The absolute best way to solve this problem is not to create it in the first place. In other words, don't try to make a "pet" out of something that was never meant to BE a pet. Leave the iguanas, monitors, gex, constrictors, gators and everything else where they belong which, for the most part, isn't even on the North American continent.
The only reason that "rescue operations" exist is because there are simply too many people that are partially or totally unprepared for the necessary monetary/time element that these animals need once they are in captivity. I'd be willing to bet that those of us who have chosen to form both loosely bound and formal rescue organizations for the various reptiles we care for would GLADLY give it all up tomorrow if there was some sort of "magic wand" that would guarantee that not a single reptile would be taken from it's natural habitat in order to sit in a 36x24 glass tank in someone's living room in rural Kansas or central New Hampshire or coastal Washington or ANYwhere in Canada (Hi Candace). I KNOW I would because the bottom line is that if this were the case then the iguana I just took in last week wouldn't be missing an eye and part of it's face because it got in a fight with a domesticated cat. I guess the point that I am finally arriving at is simply just that these animals really shouldn't be pets at all. They shouldn't be stuffed into a pillow case with 99 of their closest friends and shipped somewhere where the mean temperature of the area is 20-40 degrees below it's natural living conditions. They shouldn't suffer at the hands of some poorly educated, or worse, simply ignorant human because the human didn't bother to do any homework and find out what was required to keep this animal even nominally healthy in captivity.
They should carry out their days where they belong. Yes, my life is a bit richer because of them and what I do to try and help them. But it wouldn't be lacking at all if the only time I ever saw an iguana was down on the hill overlooking the beach while I was sitting on the balcony of a restaurant in Playa Dominical. And even then that should really be a bit too close.... Sorry for the rant all...It's been building up for awhile again....Thanks for listening....
