Quote Originally Posted by cristacake View Post
I can't find the post, but somewhere on Tumblr was a (very sad) post about a tegu, I believe it was, whose owner had let it roam around the house very often. To the owner's dismay, vet results showed a lot of long-term damage to the body from a lack of proper humidity as well as some other things. It was an eye-opener to me because I wasn't aware of how much humidity affects reptile health INternally, not just externally (ie: skin health and shedding process). Obviously it's not completely analogous because lizards are different than snakes, but in my mind that makes it even more apparent that BPs should stay inside- tegus don't live in burrows to my knowledge.

So if you can find that post somehow or explain the importance of them being in their controlled environments, as well as the fact that they evolved over millions of years to be very sedentary animals that purposely spend their lives in small, insulated burrows and termite mounds, maybe your partner will understand a little bit better why your BP is happier, healthier, and safer in her enclosure more often than not.

I explained that post to my brother, who lies on the extreme end of the spectrum regarding pet owning, saying that no pets should be held captive other than dogs, and even he had to agree that it makes sense for certain reptiles like these, a sheltered and sedentary lifestyle benefits the animal more than having free range of a house.

I would try to find the post but I'm about to head off to class. If I have time today, I will find it and link it here.
I would be interested in seeing this post. Not doubting but as long as the animal has access to clean water all the time and isn't left out for 18 hours a day 7 days a week in winter style dry air, I don't see how a couple hours every 2-3 days would adversely affect the health of a reptile that much. I used to have a Nile Monitor which I got as a baby and she was puppy dog tame. I would let her roam around my apt for about 3 hours a night after I came home and she was fine.

Now this is strictly from a humidity standpoint. I'm not accounting for if your animal stresses from coming out or stuff. I know both my BCIs LOVE to come out and usually the minute I open the door on my big girls cage, she is ready to climb on me or just hangs out looking out the front of her cage or hanging there staring at the floor lol.