The Elephant in the Living Room exotic pet documentary

[threezero]

wondering if anybody have seen this documentary, its available on netflix. It portray Exotic pet ownership in a pretty bad light.

granted the film focus on the lion, tiger bears and venomous snake however there is quite a few time where non venomous snake ownership is portray in the same way like going "undercover" to a reptile expo. just wondering if anybody have seen it and what you guys think about it.

features quite a few snake attack from retic, burmese and boa constrictor and testimonial from expert.

[patientz3ro]

Unfortunately, I've seen it. Absolutely awful, and ridiculously biased. The ending was disgusting. I still can't believe LLL Reptile hasn't sued over the use of their name and logo in the reptile show scene. There's just so much wrong with that film. Total HSUS/PETA propaganda piece.

Watch "Beyond the Myth," also on Netflix. WAAAY better.

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[Skiploder]

Haven't seen the documentary - don't need to.

My experiences selling to and buying from people have confirmed my own negative view of the exotic pet industry. Many people who own reptiles - venomous or not - shouldn't.

The reasons are varied - lack of proper knowledge, lack of sufficient funds and a prevailing attitude that these animals are disposable all come to mind.

Yeah, you'll have a few people chime in here on how passionate they are about their animals, but come time to take one to the vet and spend some money on keeping the animal alive and all of a sudden that passion is tempered by a light wallet.

Many people buy exotics for the wrong reasons - impressing your friends is not a valid reason. Owning a perceived status symbol is also not valid, nor is a totem for being different.

Many people buy exotics without understanding the depth of care they require, or how to properly meet their needs.

And boy do we have our share of scammers and con men in the reptile biz.

I guess the good news is that the documentary you saw won't do much damage to the negative public view of exotic pet ownership - most people already have come to that point of view because this hobby does such a poor job of policing it's own.

[patientz3ro]

Haven't seen the documentary - don't need to.

My experiences selling to and buying from people have confirmed my own negative view of the exotic pet industry...

The reasons are varied - lack of proper knowledge, lack of sufficient funds and a prevailing attitude that these animals are disposable all come to mind.

Yeah, you'll have a few people chime in here on how passionate they are about their animals, but come time to take one to the vet and spend some money on keeping the animal alive and all of a sudden that passion is tempered by a light wallet...

Many people buy exotics without understanding the depth of care they require, or how to properly meet their needs...

Well said! I've never understood the view some people have about reptiles being "disposable." Granted, they tend to be less expensive up front when you compare them to dogs or cats, but they're still living, breathing animals. For me, there's no distinction between my snake and my cat. That's a large part of why I choose not to build a collection of reptiles. I wouldn't ever want to have the monetary value of an animal be a factor in whether I take a sick animal to the vet. I also believe that caring for a "wild" animal means providing an environment that simulates their natural habitat as closely as possible, only better. I've spent a very large amount of time, money, and effort doing just that for Ajja, but it's too expensive for me to do the same for multiple animals.



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[bcr229]

Haven't seen the documentary - don't need to.

My experiences selling to and buying from people have confirmed my own negative view of the exotic pet industry. Many people who own reptiles - venomous or not - shouldn't.

The reasons are varied - lack of proper knowledge, lack of sufficient funds and a prevailing attitude that these animals are disposable all come to mind.

Yeah, you'll have a few people chime in here on how passionate they are about their animals, but come time to take one to the vet and spend some money on keeping the animal alive and all of a sudden that passion is tempered by a light wallet.

The same can be said for cats, dogs, horses, etc. It's just easier to dispose of them. Look at how many cats and dogs are euthanized at municipal shelters each year, or how many horses are shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.

And boy do we have our share of scammers and con men in the reptile biz.

No more so than in the motorcycle or photography industries. I think the perception is present due to FC, I don't know of many other small industries that have a resource such as their BOI available where feedback is permanent and goes back for years. I know it doesn't exist in the firearm world - though to be fair, it's harder for criminals to operate in the retail market due to the regulations.

[HVani]

I've seen this documentary and I actually liked it. I've also seen "Beyond the Myth" mentioned above.

Another one I liked was "The Tiger Next Door"

Yes these are bias, but I'm a firm believer that there should be some sort of restrictions on who owns these animals. You shouldn't be able to get a tiger on a whim. If you want to own an exotic pet then make sure you have the ability to care for it properly. "The Elephant in the Living Room" is a sad situation, that didn't turn out good for really anyone. Unfortunately it's the animals that end up suffering.

Like someone else mentioned, a lot of people who own these animals shouldn't. Heck there have been cases of people owning tigers and hyenas in apartments. This is not adequate in anyway.

I use to work at a petstore in the reptile department. I lost count of how many people came in and wanted a snake(usually ball python) because it was "cool". They were not interested in any sort of research and some where even scared to handle the snake but they wanted to be cool and get it anyway. Just left a bad taste in my mouth.

[OctagonGecko729]

We also have a super young market currently, there is still a lot of maturation that needs to and will occur. The old timers who treated all of their animals as trash are dieing off and the new generation of breeders are much more responsible. Many older breeders are changing their ways to stay competitive though, or were responsible from the start. We just have to keep pushing that it isnt acceptable to have animals that arent cared for properly and dont associate, trade, or sell to people who dont care for their animals. Its all about educating the consumers and in turn forcing the "bad guys" to change or die off because no one will want to purchase their sick $15 savannah monitor or BP.

[Bluebonnet Herp]

The reasons are varied - lack of proper knowledge, lack of sufficient funds and a prevailing attitude that these animals are disposable all come to mind.

You failed to mention that this applies to all living beings- including children and the unborn. The pet trade isn't any different. The points mentioned in documentaries like OP brought up are just typical of life. What's wrong about them is they try to make it seem like something exceptionally special. It's not. It's just one of many numerous symptoms of a downfalling society. These kinds of documentaries are really about being propaganda for a completely anti- animal agenda. They don't give a rat's arse about a few passionate keepers, nor do they care about the good points of pets and zoological specimens. They just want their radical agenda enforced and they'll do whatever they can to get there.