SOS (Save Our Scales)

A Look at Reptile Rescues

By Bonnie J. Keller

 

 

(NOTE: This article was originally printed in the August, 2001 issue of Reptile & Amphibian Hobbyist Magazine.It has been updated with new URLs and phone numbers, as well as other information. Request permission to reprint.)

The phone rang at 7:30 AM, and a voice on the other end demanded to know if this was "the reptile place". "Yes," I responded, "this is the NH Herp Society's shelter." The frantic woman on the other end explained that she had seen the news the night before about the African Rock Python that had escaped and killed a toddler somewhere in the Midwest. She had an African python in her house, too, and it was constantly escaping. She explained that they had bought if for her ten year-old son last year, but she was afraid now that it would escape again and eat him and their dog, as it was a vicious animal. "What kind of African python do you have, Ma'am?" I queried. "I don't know, but I think they said it was a Bald python. But it doesn't matter, I know it's from Africa, and I want it gone today!! Can you come get it??" That afternoon, I drove the 4 hour round trip, and came home with a tiny 18 inch-long Ball python, rescued from a 20 gallon glass aquarium with no heat, no hide box, and no substrate. "Ferocity", as I later dubbed this most docile of any ball python I've ever seen, rode home wrapped around my steering wheel, as the owner had decided to keep the aquarium at the last minute, "because I might let him get something else."

 

Why the need for a reptile shelter?

 

As reptiles and amphibians become more popular, they suffer the same fate as other "popular" pets: they become unpopular with their original owner, and need a new home. The reptile market is among the fastest growing of the exotic pet trades, as can be confirmed by the myriad commercials featuring various geckoes, chameleons, and frogs. Scaly critters now hawk beer, insurance, sunglasses, sunblock lotion, and innumerable other products. This is fueled, and in turn, fuels, the ever growing demand for reptile pets. Movies have encouraged people to go out and get their own pet dinosaur, or worse, their own "killer" snake. The ability to import large numbers of new, exciting animals made many folks curious about what it would be like to own a wild animal that could be kept in a glass aquarium. Commercial pet product manufacturers have responded with all kinds of pre-packaged foods, intended to help those who are squeamish to still be able to have the reptile of their choice.

 

This may be great, except that it also means that there are now untold numbers of reptilian pets that are now discarded every year. Unfortunately, pet stores as a whole do not do a very good job educating people who purchase their new pets. To be fair, most people do not do the necessary research prior to buying that cute little green lizard (or baby snake, or adorable little tortoise) in the store. Once they get it home, many folks do try to find out something about their purchase, and do what they can to accommodate the needs they find listed in the books from the pet store. But often, folks are just not prepared to keep these animals for the expected lifespan of their pet. That's when the owners start trying to find a place that will take better care of the animal they have grown fond of. Most people that need to find new homes for their herp resort to calling local pet stores, veterinarians, and newspaper classifieds. Traditional pet owners (i.e., dogs and cats) can simply find an animal shelter or SPCA to take their pet and attempt to find it a new home. Reptile owners have not had it so easy, and this has created the need for a new type of animal shelter: a herp-only rescue group.

 

A New Breed of Animal Rescuer

 

When I moved to New Hampshire in 1996, I had no idea that I would end up starting the New Hampshire Herp Society and Rescue. Nor did I know that I would have my home there licensed as an animal shelter, and that the number of mouths I needed to care for would grow from 5 to more than 85 in less than two years. But once there, the obvious need for a reptile-oriented group was too strong for me to ignore. And, since the closest group was in Boston, 2 hours away, I decided to go for it. It wasn't long before the calls came in from all over New England, mostly from folks with iguanas and large boids that had outgrown their welcome. I turned to the internet to help place these animals in appropriate, informed homes, and began networking with other rescuers. I found few others online at that time, and there were even fewer that I could find in person. Melissa Kaplan helped me locate those that I did, and I started plastering the newsgroups and other online forums with information about what I was doing. I was able to place 50 or so animals that way, shipping all over the country when necessary.

 

When I moved back home to my native state of Virginia in the summer of 1999, I already knew that there was a network of individuals here that were working in rescue. My goal now is to actually build a shelter, and support it by having an exhibit of healthy animals for folks to come visit. But my dream is a long way off, and in the meantime, the VA Reptile Rescue, Inc. is operating out of my home, just as I did in New Hampshire. Like me, other folks across the country have seen the growing need for reptile shelters, and have responded. Most of us start out by being a well-meaning reptile owner who takes in a reptile that a friend of a friend needs to get rid of. Before long, the veterinarian is aware that they are a herp-lover, and starts referring folks to them that call looking to adopt out their pets. Before long, that person finds that they have a second phone line and an entire room dedicated to taking in these unwanted pets and finding them new homes. The local law enforcement keeps their number handy for those cases where reptiles are found abandoned in an empty apartment, and these people become the local "reptile rescue." I have found lots of folks who operate this way, out of their own homes, and do a great job to the best of their ability and space. But more and more, the need for actual full-time shelters is demanding more attention, and slowly but surely, reptile shelters are springing up across the country. Lest we think that Americans are the only ones who are in the "throw away pet" mode, we need to look abroad to see that the situation is not much different there. Folks in Australia, Canada, and Germany have reported the same trend towards reptiles being the newest group of animals to need special groups who will foster, feed, and adopt out to good homes. Breed rescues for traditional pets have long had their own networks of folks who would take in unwanted animals; now, it's our turn.

 

A Roof over those Scaly Heads

 

In addition to my own shelter, there are numerous shelters all over the country. Most, like mine, are spearheaded by one or two passionate individuals who absorb the cost of feeding, caging, rehabbing, and advertising the animals they take in. Many are in various stages of getting their local or federal non-profit status, although even those that have it are generally not supported by any organized fundraising efforts. All can use more donations of time, money, space, and equipment to further the cause. Here are a few that I have found to be particularly efficient and dedicated to helping our scaly friends:

 

Colorado Reptile Humane Society

www.corhs.org

13941 Elmore Rd
Longmont, CO 80504-9686
(303) 776-2070

 

Arrow Head Reptile Rescue

www.arrowheadreptilerescue.org/

Greater Cincinnati area

Phone: (513) 844-6340

 

Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary

Lancaster, PA

http://www.forgottenfriend.org/

(717)330-3015

 

New England Amphibian & Reptile Rescue

http://www.reptilerescue.net

Canaan, Maine

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Helping the cause

Until people stop buying pets on impulse, there will always be a need for rescues and shelters, whether they are exotic or traditional. Education is the key to preventing these types of purchases, and everyone who owns a reptile can help. Talk to your friends and explain that caring for reptiles is not as simple as it may seem: those pretty landscaped terrariums don't clean themselves, don't feed themselves, and have to be well-designed to prevent escapes. Find good caresheets on the most common reptile pets (iguanas, burmese pythons, leopard geckos, etc.) and take them to your local pet stores. Offer to do seminars and displays on weekends for their customers. Offer to help guide the pet stores in selecting the most appropriate reptiles to carry, and offer to help them find those animals (wholesale dealers are readily available online, and are often found in the classifieds of this magazine as well.) Show them what is happening with reptile rescue, and explain that if reptile dealers don't start educating customers and preventing the unwanted publicity that comes from escapes and inappropriate purchases, that local lawmakers will. Explain to school groups that while having a reptile pet may indeed be very cool (or very warm, depending on your perspective), it should be preceded by research on the type of reptile that can best fit into your lifestyle, space, and time demands. Lastly, get involved with your local reptile society and/or rescue. Offer your extra equipment, offer time for cleaning cages, or offer to foster animals until homes are found. Just because you may not have time to be a full-time reptile rescue yourself doesn't mean you can't help stem the flow. Remember the motto:

 

Education = Preservation

 

Bonnie Keller was one of the founders of the NH Herptile Society and Rescue, and has been handling reptiles since a child. She and her husband, Rich, live in southwest VA where they house their own collection as well as a very few rescues at a time. Bonnie works as a science teacher to support her "habit." Information about the VA Reptile Rescue can be found at: http://www.vareptilerescue.org