Animal Cruelty

I am a terrible person. According to the RSPCA, as the keeper of two ‘exotic’ pets (a crested gecko and a bearded dragon), I contribute to the number of people keeping ‘wild animals…in captivity,’ which serves to magnify the suffering of these creatures.

It is fine, however, for me to keep my rabbit as a pet, as he is an example of a species that has undergone years of domestication, which apparently serves to make him a suitable companion, much like dogs, cats, the domestic pigeon (!) and the domesticated Bactrian camel (!!!).

The final pledge of the five that have been put into practice by the RSPCA to ‘help animals to improve their welfare’ states: ‘We pledge to reduce the number of exotic animals kept as pets and increase their humane care.’ The latter part of this I really take no issue with. I am, however, baffled as to why the RSPCA seem to believe that simply because an animal is ‘domesticated’, it must make for a healthier, happier pet than one who is not.

To ‘domesticate’ an animal is ‘to tame (an animal), especially by generations of breeding, to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal and usually creating a dependency so that the animal loses its ability to live in the wild.’ Some charming eventualities of this have included:

•    Boxer dogs commonly suffering from epilepsy as a result of inbreeding to retain their pedigree.
•    Dyspnea in Pugs and Bulldogs.
•    High occurrences of cancer in Rottweilers.
•    Polycystic kidney disease in Maine Coon and Persian cats.
•    Glycogen branching enzyme deficiency in horses.

It, therefore, shocks me that the RSPCA intend to stop the general public from breeding animals such as lizards, where the majority of common health problems can be avoided with good husbandry, but not pedigree dogs. Whilst I am not intending to criticise dog breeders, it is difficult to understand the RSPCA’s endorsement of keeping animals whose breeding alone almost assures a shorter lifespan, compared to undomesticated animals who generally do not suffer from these issues.

The RSPCA claim that the husbandry of exotic animals is often inadequate. They claim that up to 15% of captive reptiles suffer from malnutrition. Whilst I don’t dispute this fact, as there are incompetent reptile keepers out there, it is difficult to take husbandry advice from an association that solicits the use of heat mats in bearded dragon vivariums. This is nonsensical due to the fact that bearded dragons are almost completely unable to sense and absorb heat through their stomachs, meaning that they can be burnt by the mat whilst getting not benefitting from the heat. I also believe I have the support of many reptile keepers when I say that the specific needs of reptiles often make us more researched and passionate about our animals.

I’m sure there are many imbeciles out there who buy iguanas off the cuff and give them away when it emerges they are not cute and cuddly, but the scale on which this happens is surely insignificant compared to more common pets, such as dogs or cats. At my local rehoming centre, there were 117 Staffordshire Bull Terriers versus absolutely no reptiles. Again, I am not criticising staffie owners, I am merely pointing out which way the scales seem to tip.

Yes, my bearded dragon and crested gecko are not domesticated, but that’s because they don’t need domesticating. My beardie is as docile as pets come, except at feeding times! I do agree, however, with the RSPCA’s proposal of requiring a license to own all exotic animals (some species already need one), I just think this should be extended to dogs as well. I would also like the finger to be pointed in all directions, not just at us irresponsible, abhorrent reptile keepers.

Farewell, monthly donations…

Iguanas: Occupying Niches; or, Gratuitous Pictures of Lizards

As a child I absolutely adored lizards. Over the last couple of years, my love for lizards has re-emerged with a vengeance, a passion which was nourished a year ago when we acquired a (then) six month old bearded dragon named Mushu.

Recently, our mini-zoo expanded further with the addition of a five month old crested gecko. He – or, at least we think it’s a ‘he’ (it’s notoriously tricky to sex juvenile lizards) – is one of the most fascinating creatures I have ever encountered. He has the ability to move faster than my eyes can adequately track, and has the softest skin I have ever felt.

In addition, the bones in the feet of crested geckos are so small you can barely feel them when handling one. It gives the feeling that you are holding something almost as light as air, in spite of them utilising the setae (very small hair-like structures) on their toes in order to cling to your skin.

This ever-growing love of all things Lacertilia lead me to think back to a particular holiday I had as a child in Florida – a place that happens to be crawling with reptiles. There was one particular type of lizard I remember seeing all over the hotel gardens, which I, retrospectively, believed to be the iguana. They were green, had long claws, striped tails and possessed dewlaps. Having seen captive iguanas, these wild lizards seemed to be a lot smaller than their caged counterparts, however, I had attributed this to their proximity to humans (a consequence of which may have been that they did not live as long and, hence, were small).

However, when researching lizards native to Florida, I was saddened to learn that the iguana was not one of them, and began to doubt the accuracy of my memory (I was eight at the time!). Perhaps it was not iguanas that I had seen. Many different species of gecko and skink are native to Florida, but the iguana is not. In fact, the iguana is not native to any part of the United States.

But I was not wrong. Whilst not native to Florida, iguanas certainly do live there. It seems unwanted and escaped pet iguanas have now firmly established themselves in the Florida Keys, largely due to the subtropical climate of the Keys, as well as widely available vegetation. Insufficient predation has enabled their population to grow rapidly, and they are increasingly getting a reputation as a nuisance species due to their fondness of defecating in private pools! A fact probably made all the more infuriating by the iguana’s tendency to carry Salmonella bacteria.

Subsequently, many local residents are resorting to desperate measures to keep the iguana population in check, which varies from using iguana repellent to eating the iguanas!

The invasive species hit the headlines in 2010, when many brumating iguanas fell from the trees simultaneously as Florida temperatures dropped to record lows. Iguanas are one of many lizard species that brumate, along with my own bearded dragon. Brumation is akin to a ‘mild hibernation’, whereby the reptile will become more dormant in colder temperatures, with their metabolic processes slowing down, however, unlike in hibernation, they do not cease eating completely and they do not sleep through the entirety of their brumation. The cold weather had slowed their blood stream, causing these reptiles to stop gripping the tree branches as efficiently, and to fall, only to wake up several hours later and terrify local residents, who assumed they were dead!