OK I keep getting flack for keeping my snakes in a rack system

[angllady2]

Question?

If every single snake ever captured in the wild here, or imported into the United States HAD to be kept in a naturalistic enclosure, do you really think we would have so many animals to enjoy now?

While I do agree that no snake deserves a poor enclosure that does not meet it's basic needs, I find your insistence that they all need a naturalistic enclosure ridiculous.

Until you can provide me with copies of brain activity from a snake of any kind kept in an expensive and impressive natural enclosure and copies of brain activity from the same type of snake kept in a tub on newspaper and you can PROVE the naturalistic enclosure is without a doubt a necessity, I continue to say you are making your snakes more human that what they are. Period. Just because it is pleasing to you, you cannot prove it is more pleasing to the snake. You can claim it is, but not prove it.

Having had experience with keeping ball pythons in large and expensive highly decorated and very attractive enclosures, AND experience with keeping them in tubs in a rack system. I can say that with my own animals, as long as the environmental needs were met, they didn't care two figs how large or fancy or small and plain their enclosures were. Now, I myself found it took much more effort on my part to maintain said environmental needs in large and fancy enclosures. This constant and excessive effort began to diminish my enjoyment of my snakes. Over time, I began slacking off in maintenance and my snakes suffered for it. When I realized I was becoming one of those people who neglect their snakes to the point of poor health, I decided snake keeping was not for me.

A few years later, I decided to try again. This time, with knowledge gleaned from extensive research, I decided to give a rack and tub system a try. I found maintenance so much easier, and meeting environmental needs so much less time consuming, I could devote more time to enjoying my animals. Now tell me, as long as my snakes basic needs of food, shelter, temperature and humidity, and cleanliness are being met, why is a rack system so wrong? If my ball pythons required a swingset in their tub to have their needs met, then I guess I'd have to go with a big enclosure, but to my knowledge they don't use swings, so why is how I do things so very wrong?

If you can prove beyond a doubt that any snake NEEDS a natural enclosure, I'd be very interested to see your results and how they were reached. Since you cannot do this, I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request I change how I keep my snakes. If you can prove that a ball python kept in a naturalistic enclosure is one bit happier or healthier than one kept in a correctly maintained tub, please post your findings for us all to study, and then perhaps you can convince us how we do things is not suitable. Until such time, I will continue to keep my animals as I see fit, and you keep your as you see fit. But kindly stop beating people over the head with your opinion.

Gale