Reptile Keeping vs. Reptile Hoarding

[STORMS]

a hoarder is someone who is constantly obtaining new animals, and not being able to provide adequate care for them. It is not a numbers game. Everyone has their own limits. As long as every animal is receiving the proper care, its not a problem.

You took the words out of my mouth

[fishmommy]

this is a really interesting topic

[daniel1983]

So the thing that seperates reptiles from mammals in terms of 'hoarding' is our ability to provide 'adequate' care for a large number of reptiles with little effort compared to providing 'adequate' care for a large number of mammals?

I guess that throws the definition of adequate out there again.

Someone that does not think a rack system is adequate housing could label some keepers as 'hoarders'....

Someone that thinks a person should interact with their reptiles for a given time each day could label some as hoarders....

....I guess it all falls back to perspective of the 'right' way to keep the animals.

[Freakie_frog]

Someone that does not think a rack system is adequate housing could label some keepers as 'hoarders'....

Yea they could but a regardless of the perception their needs are being met in a clean healthy manner for both the keeper and the pet

[littleindiangirl]

So the thing that seperates reptiles from mammals in terms of 'hoarding' is our ability to provide 'adequate' care for a large number of reptiles with little effort compared to providing 'adequate' care for a large number of mammals?

I guess that throws the definition of adequate out there again.

Someone that does not think a rack system is adequate housing could label some keepers as 'hoarders'....

Someone that thinks a person should interact with their reptiles for a given time each day could label some as hoarders....

....I guess it all falls back to perspective of the 'right' way to keep the animals.

Don't hoarders usually REFUSE to let any of their animals go? As in they'd freak at the thought of adopting them out or selling?

Where they have a hard time even thinking about letting 1 animal go, because they think in their minds that they are the best care giver to the animal and no Vet's, societies or other people can take them for even a few hours.

Even to the extreme of not getting rid of DEAD animals?

[Debbienflorida]

Domestic animals need socialization. A hoarder cannot give adequate attention to 50 dogs or cats. They all may be fed and watered properly but scared to death of strangers or even the owners themselves.

[ChicaPiton519]

Some people also ask me if its legal.

good so im not the only one ahha

Don't hoarders usually REFUSE to let any of their animals go? As in they'd freak at the thought of adopting them out or selling?

yeah,
i personally think that a hoarder is some one who has 100+ animals that they cant take care off, but they dont want to get rid of, just because they cant handle it...
possibly even some one with 10 snakes that cant take care of them, they just have them to have them...

basically no passion, or care of treatment, just attachment to the fact of having the animal.

[littleindiangirl]

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affe..._hoarding.html

The HSUS defines an animal hoarder as a person who has more animals than he or she can properly care for. Another defining characteristic is the hoarder's denial of his inability to care for the animals and his failure to grasp the impact his neglect has on the animals, the household, and the human occupants of the dwelling.

What's the harm if all the animals are cared for humanly and healthy?

[Kristy]

I have thought about this many times too. I think the main thing here is not numbers like mentioned before. It how well the animals are cared for, like being fed/water, vet care, socialization (when that applies), adequate shelter, clean living space. With cats and dogs, are they spayed/neutered to prevent over population?
I see nothing wrong with people owning as many animals as they can care for properly.

However, with hoarders there is another problem. They don't have the ability (or mental capacity) to seek help when needed, they feel like they can't find homes for their animals. Some even keep carcasses of passed animals in freezers, or other storage places because they have the inability to part with their animals that they think they love so much. Now these are extreme cases that I have seen, and its not pretty.

Where say most of us, if we come down on hard times, have more than we can care for. We are able to pass a long our animals to others in the form of a sale, or even giving away animals because we are more concerned for the animals health and going to a good home.

[xdeus]

So the thing that seperates reptiles from mammals in terms of 'hoarding' is our ability to provide 'adequate' care for a large number of reptiles with little effort compared to providing 'adequate' care for a large number of mammals?

I guess that throws the definition of adequate out there again.

Someone that does not think a rack system is adequate housing could label some keepers as 'hoarders'....

Someone that thinks a person should interact with their reptiles for a given time each day could label some as hoarders....

....I guess it all falls back to perspective of the 'right' way to keep the animals.

Not necessarily. There are measurable criteria that can be used to determine if an animal is being cared for adequately without using perspective. If the animal is under/overfed, have sores/lesions, parasites, unkept fur, and behavior problems are all used to determine if an animal is adequately cared for. Mammals need more space, mental stimulation and maintenance in order to prevent any of those criteria from occurring, but reptiles (and snakes in particular) can get by with less. Perspective really has nothing to do with it. Some people think keeping a dog outside is cruel or keeping a dog inside is unhealthy... that really doesn't come into play when determining if an animal is adequately cared for or not.