Well unless you have a termite mount in your living room as well as the ability to provide the same climate, fauna and flora found in Africa a setup will never be naturalistic.
Captivity is what it is, captivity and in our job is to provide those animals with an environment that allows them to thrive and be healthy and this can be achieved many different ways from minimalistic to bioactive and everything in between so long people know how to.
The issue I have seen over the last 20+ years however is that people often let their emotions (often anthropomorphism) take control and they are no longer able to be unbiased when it comes to keeping reptiles.
So the reality is that there are more than one way to do things and people should do what works for them and their animals granted it does work (troubleshooting an animal with issues is different story)
Over the years I have kept various species in various type of setup, I have always experimented (heat, enclosure, feeding etc) because it has allowed me to witness and understand specific species behavior based on how they were specific kept and allowed me to grow as a keeper as well, ultimately over the last 14 years I have chose to keep some species in minimalist environment and sometime I provide belly heat sometime I do not (being efficient is also a factor I take in consideration)
Bottom line do what works and be open and willing to learn from others and your animals.
Reply With Quote