My friend, reptile expert Clifford Warren, has just co-authored an important paper, which backs up a long time concern here at Born Free USA. Put simply, we are constantly seeing, in zoos, pet shops, exotic animal shoes, classrooms, educational centers, animal sales, and private collections, snakes maintained in what would be unthinkably cramped conditions for pretty well any other animal species. As the study’s authors put it, for snakes, “management policy commonly involves deprivation of the ability and probable welfare need to freely extend the body to its natural full length.”
As I type, one of my step-daughter’s dogs is curled up in a ball on his bed. It’s winter now, and our wild snakes are all soundly hibernating, but the last northern watersnake I saw in the wild was coiled on rock, absorbing the warmth of the sun. I would never, ever, think of confining Charlie, the dog, to the space he is now occupying. Why would I think the watersnake’s rock were all the room he’d ever need?
The other dog in my house, Lily, is stretched out her full length on the couch. Both will soon be walking and running. Snakes stretch out, too, and also move from place to place. And yet, time and again, we see them imprisoned in vivaria or cages that simply don’t allow the animal to extend full length. Worse, many “collectors” maintain what we sometimes call “Tupperware zoos,” with snakes and other reptiles – and amphibians – maintained in plastic containers, often racked for convenience sake, which deprive them of both space and sensations associated with the provision of “enrichment,” increasingly recognized for its importance to the mental and emotional welfare of confined mammals and birds.
I think two problems faced by reptiles is that they don’t display manifestations of stress and illness as easily recognized as those of mammals (who are also often poorly maintained, of course) and also, the size of their naturally occupied territories is not appreciated. Additionally, because they can be kept in small containers, there is a tendency to do so, maximizing numbers that can be kept in within a given amount of space.
We at Born Free USA always advocate against keeping wild animals like snakes as pets, but those snakes who are being held in captivity deserve better conditions. We should all demand of those who keep these fascinating creatures is that, at the very least, the animals are given the room to stretch to their full lengths. By keeping them captive, we have responsibility for their well-being. These animals should have the room they need, and the article being discussed, which is freely provided for all to read, or save, or print out and distribute, gives us the research-backed information we need to make the argument to everyone and anyone who has a captive snake.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry
