Bad Trends in the Reptile Hobby

Do you keep up with trends in the reptile hobby? If so, you’ve probably come across a few things you disagree with or maybe even shake your head at.

But for the most part, the majority of reptile enthusiasts who share their passion online take good care of their animals and do what they think is best for them.

And then there are the people who follow the bad trends…

Here are some bad trends in the reptile hobby that anyone who loves exotic pets should watch out for online.

Keeping animals for selfish reasons

Okay, pretty much everyone who keeps pets is doing it in part for selfish reasons. Why else would we keep them if they didn’t bring us joy?

What I specifically mean here by selfish reasons is potential money or online fame. As reptile-keeping influencers become more popular, more people want to get in on the trend. And some of these people don’t really care about the animals.

The good thing is that the vast majority of reptile influencers get started because they love the animals and the hobby. But when people get into it only for sponsorship money or views, animals can sometimes end up neglected because they’re only being kept for filming purposes.

Villainizing reptiles for clicks

Most reptile and other exotic pet channels on YouTube or other social media represent these animals in a positive light, which is great. Snakes, toads, and spiders already get a bad rap in some fairy tales, mythology, and pop culture.

But there are other influencers out there who are trying to make people scared of these reptiles just for the shock value.

Anyone who participates in the reptile hobby knows that these animals can make great pets when properly cared for and handled appropriately (or not handled, as the case may be). We don’t really need more people trying to scare the general populace into indiscriminately killing snakes and lizards just so these influencers can boost their views and shares.

Torturing reptiles for clicks

With the multitude of wonderful herp keepers out there, you wouldn’t think that torturing animals is something we’d even have to talk about. Unfortunately, there are would-be influencers on social media that will use captive animals in demonstrations that clearly harm the animal.

Setting up reptile fights

This is similar to the one above but deserves its own mention because of the horrendous nature of this trend. Don’t look for them—because viewing their channels feeds this bad trend—but there are actually people on various platforms putting reptiles and other animals (such as tarantulas, scorpions, or frogs) together in small cages in order to watch the fight ensue.

Reptile Fight Club is not cool.

The majority of animals, whether wild or domesticated, are highly territorial, and this is certainly true for many reptiles and other exotic pets. Intentionally putting animals together that you know are going to fight each other to the death over a tiny territory is wrong and not what we want to see in the reptile hobby.

Hopefully, you haven’t come across any of these terrible trends in reptile keeping.

To keep on top of all the good trends for exotic pets, follow The Tye-Dyed Iguana on Facebook.