We don’t sell green iguanas, African spurred tortoises, alligators, crocodiles, Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, rock pythons, or venomous reptiles. We don’t sell them because we don’t think they make good pets...and unfortunately, they are all too easy to get. We believe that it is cruel to sell an animal that will inevitably end up being moved from one ill-suited environment to another because it is difficult to care for and/or expensive to keep. The ones that don’t die as a result of abuse or neglect all too often end up being put in situations where they act aggressively and cause harm to someone. The unfortunate end result is that someone gets hurt, the animal is killed/euthanized and more laws are created to limit keeping reptiles. Every year the herping community is subjected to another city passing another law that dictates what animals can and can’t be kept. It is always the same animals that are cited as reasons for the new laws and it is always irresponsible keepers that are ultimately to blame.
There are also a significant number of reptiles that are let loose around the country each year when they are no longer wanted by their human keepers. Of the many animals we’ve rescued over the years, the list of species that have been found here either in the wild or in some body’s front yard includes iguanas, ball pythons, corn snakes, common boa constrictors, Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, box turtles, Russian tortoises, red-eared sliders, and bullfrogs. None of these animals are native to Oregon (where we live) and most would not survive here for long. Unfortunately, some (like the red-eared slider and the bullfrog) have survived all too well and now out-compete dwindling native species for food and habitat. An extreme example of this problem is the Everglades area in Florida where they now have self-sustaining populations of spiny-tailed iguanas, Nile monitors, Burmese pythons, African rock pythons and boa constrictors because people have let them loose there when the animals were no longer wanted.
Zoos, some private collectors and a rare few hobbyists are knowledgeable enough and have enough resources to be able to keep these animals in a way that is both safe for humans and humane for the animals. The vast majority of the buying public does not. Having provided reptile rescue services for many years, we know first hand of the deplorable conditions in which many of these animals are kept and we‘ve seen what happens to them when their human captors don‘t want them any more.
We are not advocating for more laws to be passed in order to control this problem. What we do advocate for is more responsibility and self-regulation amongst the herping community. Breeders, distributors and pet stores should refrain from selling these kinds of animals to anyone who cannot prove their capacity to care for the animal appropriately and responsibly.