Is it Ethical to Buy Wild Caught or Imported Reptiles and Amphibians? —
Catching Wild Reptiles and Amphibians
I think its great that there seems to be a trend towards greater compassion for animals. Humans have historically treated animals horribly, maybe especially reptiles and amphibians. I cant stand the fact that it’s legal for fishermen to pierce the heads of live frogs and salamanders with fish hooks to use for bait. And of course the epic cruelty that snakes the world over experience seems like it will never stop.
But I think sometimes our laudable increasing awareness of animal mistreatment gets a little off track.
There are three issues to think about. The first is the natural history and ecology of the wild caught animal. The second is the trade in wild caught and imported herps and the third is comparing those two things to the captive herp production industry.
A basic tenant of ecology is the fact that all animals produce an excess of offspring. The offspring vary genetically and that genetic variation means some are better suited to the changing environment and some are less suited. The less suited tend to die, the stronger survive. Thats evolution in a nutshell!
Let’s take a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) as an example. A female snapping turtle that hatched toward the end of WWII (1945) would reach sexual maturity and start laying eggs in about 1960. And lets say she averaged 30 eggs each year until last year when she died during hibernation. That means she had a reproductive life of about 62 years and laid a total of 1860 eggs during her life time!
Whats going to happen to all those babies? If they all live, they will all die. Why? Because their environment wont be able to support those numbers of turtles. So they will consume the available food and starve, or be so crowded that disease will spread quickly and do them in.
And that’s why it is not harmful to remove some of the more common species from stable populations. In fact it it has been shown that in some cases a sustainable harvest actually benefits the population as a whole. (This is the case with sport hunting and even trapping, as cruel as that is).
I often read a post on social media where someone indicates they removed a reptile or amphibian from the wild to keep as a pet. The post invariably has a whole slew of comments along the lines of “Let it go”, or “It belongs in nature”. And I love that show of respect for the animal. But the truth is being captured and brought home to an informed and respectful keeper’s home is probably the best thing that will ever happen to that snake, frog, lizard or salamander. Life in the wild is usually “nasty, brutish and short” whether we like it or not. And removing one individual animal from a stable population will do no harm to the ecosystem.
That leads us to an important caveat: If the captor doesn’t know the details of the animal’s population in the area, and the legality of taking it, it would not be ethical (or legal) for them to do so. And if they did not know, or be willing to quickly learn, the proper way to keep the species in captivity it would not be ethical for them to remove it from the wild.
Most of the most ardent herpers that are my age grew up catching our pet herps. I’m sure none of us did any permanent damage to these species. And Im equally sure many of us developed a deep understanding, respect and passion for the animals we chased through marshes, woodlands and across rocky deserts.
In fact, one of the biggest problems I see in the herp hobby today is people trying to care for these animals who know nothing about their natural history. The passion that drove many of us to catch wild herps also drove us to learn every last bit we could in order to improve our odds. We poured through books, learned about preferred habitats, daily and seasonal habits, etc. And then in the field we applied and adapted what we learned.
And this intimate understanding of the wild herps translates very well to our captives in ways that those who lack field experience cant hope to grasp. Sorry kids, thats just the way it is 🙂
In Summary: There is nothing wrong with a knowledgable person removing a common species from a stable population as long as it is legal to do so and they have the knowledge and resources to provide that animal with high quality care in captivity.
Importing and Retail
But what of the companies that bring in animals from other countries, or resell animals collected within the US? Ethical?
I recently bought a pair of rare iguanas from an importer that was claiming they were “farm raised”. When I received them it was abundantly obvious they were wild caught – ticks and scars, dehydrated and emaciated. Other than calling and complaining I had little recourse. They came from a country that has no resources to monitor wildlife trade. And this is not unusual.
The reptile and amphibian import business has improved in many aspects. But since it started from such terrible standards it had no where to go but up. Years ago I saw piles of dead animals, abused animals suffocating under their own weight, holding pens with floors literally covered with dead chameleons, snakes stuffed with cocaine used as drug mules piled high in wire cages.
The reptile trade used to be dangerous and ugly. Im tempted to tell stories here about drugs and sex and brutal violence, but I won’t. The point is, the trade is much, much better today – though still far from perfect.
The improvements have been prompted by a lot of forces. Love ’em or hate ’em the animal rights groups have shown a light on some of the abuses, which have led to changes. Social media has also highlighted some abusive people and at least diminished their negative impact. But maybe the biggest improvement has come from the increasing value of the animals themselves.
When I used to buy imports prices were so cheap and treatment so poor that I was forced to accept a loss of 25-30% of the animals I bought for resale. But Boiga species were $12, 100 flower rat snakes (Orthriophis moellendorffi) were $18 and Chinese big-headed turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) were $25. Most of the animals I bought cost less than $25, many less than $10. A far cry from today’s prices!
Today we have a much better organized CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and a better understanding of global wildlife trafficking. Unfortunately that doesnt mean we can control it. Social media and the internet have facilitated trafficking to the point where smuggled herps are being offered any day of the week on the animal classified sites and at the reptile shows. If you know a guy who knows a guy you can get your greedy little hands on most anything.
In the United States the collection of wild animals for commercial purposes has tightened up significantly over the past 20 years. I remember catching water snakes by the bag full at a local march and listening to the County conservation officer explain that he shoots the massasaugas he comes across. States like Kansas and South Carolina used to be wide open. Collectors would drive through Kansas in panel vans filled with tubs and cages collecting every cold blooded critter that moved.
Today we have few States that allow the commercial collection of most herps, and those that do have long lists of species that are off-limits; threatened or endangered. And many countries have export quotas that are more or less enforced.
So my summary here is similar to the above. As a buyer you have a responsibility to understand as best you can the wild status of the animal you hope to buy. You need tor search the seller to see if they treat the animals in a manner you can feel good about. Do they care for the animals well? Are they healthy and hydrated when they arrive? If not, you can now shout it to the heavens thru social media and we can collectively demand better!
Pet Stores and Big Breeders
Here’s the rub… If you turned your nose up at the resellers and importers, who are you going to give your business too?
A very real and relevant question is also one we shouldn’t have to ask: Is it ethical to buy from breeders and pet stores?
The very sad truth about our herp hobby is that the vast majority of the reptile and amphibian breeders are unethical. And that means buying animals from pet stores supplied by these big breeders is unethical too.
If you buy a ball python, hog nose snake, garter snake, rat snake, king snake, etc from a big breeder you are almost certainly complicit in animal abuse. I would argue that buying herps from pet stores and the bigger breeders is less ethical than buying from a respectable importer or reseller of wild herps. The animals offered by the importers or resellers are inconvenienced for a few days or a week in less than perfect conditions. Your breeder has imprisoned his or her animals in abusive conditions their entire lives. And they will remain there until the day they die.
If you want to be part of the solution to this animal cruelty, you can do a couple things. First you can stop trying to make a profit from animals. That leads almost inevitably to cruelty, neglect and abuse.
Second you can ask the seller to provide photos or a video of his or her breeding facilities. Are the animals being kept in tubs, racks or grow tents? Then keep looking. Reptile shows used to be full of small time keepers who produced a small number of animals. And still we could get our hands on a wide variety of pets. There is no reason why you cant today. The oft told lie of the big breeders that “you wouldnt have what you have today without them” is nonsense. All they have done is turned the whole hobby into a pyramid scheme full of greedy people. They should be shunned.
So my summary for this last section is quite simple. Get to know your local herpetoculturists and hobbyists. If you really need to buy from out-of-area sellers take the time to get to know the community. Look for people who keep their animals in ways you admire, not on wood chips in an opaque plastic tub.
Dont let sellers tell you its the best way to keep their hog-nose snake, or king snake, or rat snake. It may be the best for them, but its not best for the animal.
You wouldn’t buy a puppy from a puppy mill, so dont buy a reptile or amphibian from a herp-mill either!
Spilotes pullatus Tiger Rat Snakes 