Sunday 29 March 2015

New Age of the Reptiles?


'News' from the RSPCA that reptiles (and amphibians) are now the fourth most popular group of companion animals or pets, after fish, cats and dogs (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/29/reptile-amphibian-pets-almost-as-popular-as-dogs). This is not really an entirely fair comparison as reptiles are very different from amphibians and they only attain the fourth rank by lumping all the species (from axolotls to tortoises and boa constrictors) together. Cats and dogs are separate species of mammals (and lots of other mammals are kept as pets e.g. mice, rabbits and horses). I think the point they were trying to make is that these cold-blooded animals also have welfare needs but they are more difficult to interpret unless you have a degree of understanding of such species. The housing and feeding requirements can certainly be considerably more complex than that pertaining to your average cat or dog (they also vary enormously between species).

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