These 5 DISGUSTING People and Behaviors Will Kill The Reptile Hobby 

what do you think? Are videos like this helpful?

Fun fact: PETA does run an "animal shelter", but it has one of the highest shelter euthanasia rates in the country. Poorly funded municipal shelters generally save and adopt out a higher percentage of the animals they take it. You'd think a huge wealthy organization like them could run a better shelter, but they don't. They've actually been sued before over animal cruelty (they kidnaped a dog and killed it the same day).

Years ago I was in a class and we had to report on an activist movement. Three people used PETA as an example, then I went up with my various pelts, my old leopard gecko and horrified the room with the truth on PETA. It was a good day and the gecko got many pets.

Those brief clips of the FWC killing snakes...brought me to instant tears. My god how horrible. How can that be legal? Those people should be charged with animal cruelty.

Thank you. Finally someone points this out. As an old school reptile handler from the Ca. alligator farm, we did alligator and snake shows hourly. Our curator, (the legendary Ken Earnest), would always tell us "if the cobra is hooding, leave it alone", " if the rattlesnake is rattling, leave it alone". We had a strict policy to NOT sensationalize.

Love your point about the FWC. The amount of people in the hobby who support special interest groups like PETA or the HSUS (and even the AZA) which openly despise and advocate against our choice of pets has always shocked me. People are always very eager to make excuses and defend those who would pass legislation banning your exotic pets in a heartbeat.

1 more thing needed added to the list which is people releasing their reptiles it needs to be talked about more because it can destroy whole ecosystem like what is happening in Florida, by not releasing our reptiles we wouldn’t have to deal with so many regulations on owning certain reptiles.

One thing I can’t stand are people that bash others for showing the gentle and positive interactions with giant snakes. Especially when it’s always done correctly and safely supervised. When your own “community” is out here throwing speculative situations that likely won’t ever happen, it makes it very easy for bans to occur. Especially if they use ignorant comments by those who keep them against us to prove their point.

one of the worst things for me is the mob mentality some people have with piling the same knowledge onto people in an "attacking" manor, it can scare people off enjoying the hobby and ruin the reputation for the community as a whole

There are no bad exotics, only bad people. -Emmett 2023 Edit: after reading a comment I have decided that there are some exceptions.

I agree 100 percent, that's why I only watch certain youtubers and the ones who have so much passion and who is trying to teach everyone that reptiles are not bad and have so much love for them and know how to take care of them

I have issues with anyone who keep venomous snakes for pets, just for bragging rights.

Hey bro ur one of the people keeping this hobbies alive 😊

Used to work at an aquarium where there was a reptile keeper who was a know it all. She ended up causing half of our tanks to crash from messing with them while we werent around and then blamed it on us. Also fried an entire hatch of high quality panther chameleons and a gaboon viper in her own department

What gets me are the people who. Keep, say, 8ft boa in an enclosure with just some newspaper and a bowl. Of water with no enrichment and then just trow food at it. No cleaning up and you can see the poor animal just looks miserable. Thanks for the rant, well deserved and needed

Wish there was more we could do to rid the channels/people you speak of. They just come back under a different name. It's sickening.

The last one 💯 makes me so mad. “They’ve lived like this for years” okay, surviving and thriving are 2 different things. I hate when people aren’t willing to take advice and let their ego get in the way of caring for their reptile properly

Always hard when the good people get lumped into the whole because of awful people. It always sucks when i tell people i keep reptiles and they go "oh.... you're one of those, you're crazy".

You're like the top reason I got into the repltile hobby, you're keeping the hobby alive 😁! Love your content 💚

I really appreciate how you do a healthy balance of positivity and negativity (helpful negativity, not drama or non constructive criticism) on this channel, that’s something that other reptile channels have a hard time doing

Know it all's make me crazy! I got banned from a tortoise page for saying I had to feed store bought produce in the winter. I was informed that if I put in enough effort, I could find weeds all year. I nicely explained that I live in Canada and our climate is different than the UK. They continuedto insist weeds can be found all year, so I posted a photo of a ruler stuck 80 cm deep into the snow with a thermometer showing -18C. I got kicked off the page. 😂

This types aren't just exclusive to the reptile hobby. Its within any kind of pet/hobby animal community! If people want to see true Karen know it alls the bunny and hamster communities is particularly filled with them! Animals sparks debates, and there is still so much outdated, inaccurate and myth based information about husbandry out there!

I HATE the fight channels! I would love to put those creators in a prison cell with 2 inmates 😂

My dad used to breed working dogs. One neighbor kept complaining that they were a nuisance, and eventually cops came to confiscate them all. And they didn’t just take the dogs, they took all the animals - horses, cats, everything. Our little red bone coonhound was running away from them & they couldn’t catch her - so they just shot her right in front of my dad. Traumatizing. The animals were taken to “Best Friends Animal Sanctuary” where they will remain locked up for the rest of their lives - used as pons to get donations.

The fighting in a box reminds me of the sick people that bait small animals like kittens etc to dogs. Lowest of the low, hurts to think about

I have been breeding and keeping reptiles as pets for 30 years. I no longer breed as I have health problems, but I still rescue a small amount of reptiles and keep them as pets. The most toxic people I have found in the herping business as a whole are the pet stores. 90% of them supply bad info to prospective owners, do not keep the reptiles they are selling in a proper enclosure, do not even have the proper humidity and UV-B for the reptiles. Breeders generally have a wealth of knowledge about the specific species that they breed, but none of this seems to be taken and passed on by the pet stores. I personally purchased a red tail boa because she was so infested with mites all she would do is lay in her water bowl and not eat. You could see her spine and ribs, because she was so underweight. It took me 6 months to get her to a healthy weight and I do not know if she will ever recover from the malnutrition she suffered. I bought a green iguana at a different pet store because I could see the black flesh eating bacteria growth covering 50% of her body. I nursed her back to health and although she is scarred she now leads a very happy and healthy life. This is the kind of stuff I see at the big chain stores and the little mom and pop stores. Pet stores just want to turn a buck and do not really care about the reptiles they are selling. EDIT: I did tell the pet store they had a mite infestation when I found my red tail boa, the response was "Oh, well that is not really a problem. " and the flesh eating bacteria had me so upset I was shaking. My wife had to purchase the Iguana so that I did not lose my cool and start yelling at people. It is animal abuse. Speaking of animal abuse ASPCA will never see a dime from me or my family due to their policy to euthanize ALL reptiles they find.

Also the fact that FWC is run by developers. Its literally a front so they can build and develop where they want

I raise tarantulas and scorpions and the one question I get asked a lot is. Who would win if I put them together. It annoys me so much that I get asked that.

I hope people don't get the wrong idea about videos like this. All your fans know you really don't like having to put videos like these out but someone has to have to the courage to say what needs to be said about the few in this hobby that are ruining it for everyone. Thank you sir, thank you

To me the worst is what they ban in the name of conservation while doing nothing to address the cat problem. If they really care about ground dwelling birds so much, how about some anti-cat legislation rather than or at least in addition to anti-tegu legislation. I'm looking at you SCDNR.

As someone who has been part of many different non-animal groups, I think that most of the animal keeping community is pretty good in comparison. I have been part of communities that send death threats, shout racial slurs, and get no punishment and are kept because they are entertaining. This community is only getting punished despite the people being 99.99% good.

I love how we can always trust you to say what needs to be said with no extra fanfare. 👍👍

Every time I see you playing with your Burmese python, I am getting more and more jealous. Just to have the opportunity to do that once in my life would be wonderful.

While its not in the hobby we seriously need to get platforms to crackdown on "live" feedings where pacman frogs,snapping turtles,rodents, etc are ripped apart for views.

These people really tick me off. I saw a video on facebook of a women deliberately waving her hand in front of her snake (unsure what kind, maybe a burm or a retic) and then acting so surprised that it bit her. Like c'mon. I believe it was a "sensationalist" video like how you described in the beginning. I hope we can continue to help decrease those videos by educating more. Thanks Adam for the video, my blood pressure is up now. 😂❤

Not in the community, but adjacent to it. Veterinary colleges that discourage students from going into exotics because "reptile owners don't care about their animals" or "they are all tattooed freaks with crazy colored hair". I strongly believe that the community needs to foster a better relationship with veterinary colleges so they don't get rid of their exotics classes/tracks or to encourage them to expand to include exotics in their program. Veterinary students learn almost nothing about exotics in some programs. Another are men in the hobby who discourage or belittle female reptile keepers just because they are women.

I don’t understand how those FWC officers have not been charged with animal cruelty much less still have jobs. They smiled while killing those animals and that is disgusting.

PETA make my teeth itch🤬🤬 I was hoping they were meeting their end when they went after Irwin on his birthday

Your videos are great. I appreciate your knowledge and the fact that you're willing to stand up for these animals and the reptile community. Well done!

It's important to address serious issues aswell as your usual upbeat videos. Keep up the amazing work ❤

Another one is close minded people who can't take constructive criticism and are using outdated care info

The worst ones r the animal fight videos like pacman frog vs centipede vs lizard vs baby leopard gecko or something like that its absolutely horrible they should be banned forever

How have I only just found you on RU-vid. Your attitude is brilliant, your animals are brilliant, your advice is brilliant and your content is spot on. Another subscriber standing by. Good job!

Well said. Hate those unnecessary cruel feeding videos don't know why they keep popping up on my RU-vid feed .

People who give incorrect information or out dated information are the worst, especially pet stores! Please, do research!!!

Something bad is keeping leopard geckos in 10 gallon tanks

Adam, This was a much needed video. Thanks for spreading the wisdom!

i had someones parrot rescued by the rspca, they were feeding it crisps (chips west of the pond) i said that his system could not process salt and it would kill him slowly and painfully and i was not listened to and was told "but he likes them" (probibly the interaction as he was also severly understimulated), i was so angry, the parrot was re-homed quickly and im not wellcome at his old home, they are not allowed to have pets now

People harming animals intentionally other than hunting or defending their livestock/crops are just crazy to me. I stopped feeding live after a rat but a nice hole in one of my pythons. Just a small chunk but I felt so terribly guilty my whole feeding program changed.

I feel like my dad kinda abuses my leopard gecko I’ve told him at least 60 times that he can’t live in a 10 gallon enclose and he need at least 20 but he won’t listen and says no it’s fine. (I’m 13 so I can’t buy him my own enclosure)

You are one of the reasons that I know how to keep my reptiles, thanks

You are the best RU-vid ever have a super day have a great day have a nice day Wicked wickens reptile

Made the mistake of getting into a leopard gecko Facebook group.. so damn toxic. I refuse to post anything but stay willing to help who ever needs it through privet messages.

One of the things I hate is venomous owners that free handle. It’s only a matter of time that they will get bitten, but they also make responsible venomous owners look bad.

you are my source of inspiration because of you, I started collecting reptiles. Thank you for your good advice

Thanks SO much for doing this video! I thought I was the only one who kept reporting those fight videos, but nothing seemed to come from it. And nobody on other channels etc ever mentioned it. Those fights are so horrible - and the reason for it is just love for blood sports.

When I saw that video where those people shot the boa with a nail gun, I was so mad. They call themselves animal lovers yet they one, kill the wrong animal, and two, don’t do anything about it after the snake is dead. Terrible.

100% know-it-alls grind my gears. People that dont upgrade an animal that needs an upgrade definitely make me mad! Great video Adam and this one was well needed

“It’s just Silly Goose stuff..” LMAO Adam is so damn wholesome😂😂😂

Been watching the channel for years my man and love the realist positive outlook you bring. Also diamonds gettin old! Seen so many videos with diamond on your shoulder

Well said, my friend. Im in California, the animal restrictions here are pretty crazy. I can’t even have an axolotl. 😢 hopefully more attention is brought to these kinds of issues, it’s definitely needed. Thanks for making the video!

So we'll said for all of it! Also good on you for calling PETA out, It's upsetting how many people unknowingly still donate money to them🤯..

You go Adan! About time these evil pukes were called out. I know your not the only one but it's still good that more of us stand up and talk about this shit.

I'm not happy about breeders of giant snakes, who sell them as cute babies. Many people are not equipped, nor will they ever be, in order to handle them and house them as adults. Also, the cost of feeding them is prohibitive for many.

Diamond's cuteness being my emotional support during this video. So adorable. 💕

OMG that exact FB group has been such a problem for me, they are so volatile sometimes :/ I miss reptile addict UK, that group used to be SO good. Peta also spends more money on their displays events then they do on their animals. I WISH people would stop funding them.

I am from Spain and it did went through. We are waiting for the "positive list" to know what can be kept or not.

Animal abuse makes me so sick, I want to cry… I don’t understand how abusers can live with themselves at all, let alone enjoy financial gains made from doing such sick things… 😢 All animals are incredible, beautiful, and deserving of respect… I wish there were more empathy in the world-for all living things.

I had a guy smirk when I pronounced the Latin name of a lizard and he proceeded to say "its pronounced this way" then I said "Latin is much closer to Spanish than it is to English so I'll stick to reading it like if I was reading Spanish" I don't think he was a fun of me pronouncing the name with a heavier Mexican accent 🤣

I agree 100% man.. stuff like what you talked about is why I dont really talk about my animals just to avoid people like know it alls and stuff like that, and I work at a pet COmpany and see abuse all the time man it is hard.

I just saw about the FWC thing yesterday, made me feel sick and really really angry. I can’t begin to imagine how I’d feel if someone walked onto my property and did that to any of my animals. I’m a new reptile owner, I got my first snake, a BP , channels like yours and Green Room pythons have been so helpful in gathering information about snakes before I got one myself, along with the reptile store and friends who are experienced reptile owners themselves. Since getting a snake I’ve realised how much misinformation there is out there and how the public image of snakes is really tainted especially with the amount of viral videos from creators that antagonise snakes. It’s pretty sad actually.

Dude just found you and love your perspective. I am an avid outdoorsman (hunting, fishing, etc…) but I approach my lifestyle with respect for the things that allow me to keep living. I prefer to get my own hands dirty, also a passionate but amateur gardener. But so much of what you describe is straight up wrong and I got your back!

I am scared to death of reptiles but I love watching your channel 😂😂😂 you and snake discovery!!

I agree on all fronts. I've got someone arguing on my last video that intentionally stunting crocodillians is perfectly fine. There's all kinds of levels to the bad in the hobby but I do think we're growing as a community and the folks with all the bs, bad keeping and all the other nonsense will end up on the wrong side of history in the very near future. I like the direction were going, to add a postive to it all

The name calling and backstabbing i have seen in the last couple months on RU-vid videos. Instead of reporting facts they report their opinions as facts and nothing to back it up. In the end it makes all parties involved look bad and has made me doubt the honesty in one RU-vidr that i had once thought honest. It makes the reptile community from the outside look bad . Keep spreading positivity thank you for a great video

As a European venomous keeper in a country where it's legal the one thing I hate the most are people that free handle venomous snakes. People see this and think no one should have this. Me and a friend that also studied reptile care always make fun of Chandlers wildlife for example especially when he got bit by a Cuban croc after getting into the water with it. And the people around him were noticably not amused.

I am kinda a know-it-all but not to correct people, but because I love to learn about things like animals. When someone talks about somthing I reasurched hard-F***ing-core, I will love to join in and add facts. Mostly to show what I know and prove I'm smart to myself cause I don't belive it half the time. I also just love sharing stupid or ulsess facts about animals too. Plus educating people is super fun!!

Dude, I felt the Latin name thing in my core. Anytime I say the Latin name of something in a video I say something like “Just a reminder, mispronouncing things in Latin is my thing” or “Latin is not one of my areas of expertise.” Even still, I’ll get the know it alls correcting me. 😂

I love watching your videos! I can’t wait to have a bigger reptile collection!😊

Thank you Adam for addressing this. I call the ones who don’t care hobbyists, you can’t be all enthusiastic with it for a week and then let it sit, it’s not a plastic model or a Lego set. It takes work! I am struggling with keeping crickets alive :( but happy to report that I have one beetle and a pupae in my mealworm colony :)

I love your videos you make my week 100 times better I can't wait for a hognose snake video!❤❤❤❤❤

I feel like Adam had some different words he would rather use on this one than "silly goose stuff".

I used to be terrified of snakes an thought they were super aggressive but your videos have opened my eyes, keep up the great videos always so interesting and informative

So helpful. Setting up my first ball python enclosure and looking for all the info!

something extra toxic to the community: releasing pets into the wild instead of finding a proper home

Also on the peta note, they had a kill all pit bull petition a while back, pit bulls are some of the sweetest dogs I know

I got one for you. People who aren't even in the hobby, like neighbors who despite being told otherwise and despite her kids playing with my snakes, insists on telling the neighborhood that my ball pythons are venomous and deadly...

Great video brother. Thanks for being willing to say this.

I think a big problem is the community is incredibly toxic full of know it alls and jerks. There are some who pile on but do it out of csre for the aninals, but sonetines I think some people get an ego boost out of it. Lots of hubris Everyone wants to crucify someone for making a small mistake and its why I left the community. I keep reptiles but I dont commubicate with it. Reptile amino had people telling others to kys and encouraged brigadiny

My big pet peeve is sensational live feeders. Honestly even live feeding bugs if they are all like "oooh listen to the crunch" or "look at the guts" as a bug or worm gets shaken or fanged I dont like it. Im not against live feeding at all and know for some animals that is 100% needed. But filming it explicitly for the gore and posting it is in bad taste imo. There are some youtubers that I generally like, butI skip their feeding videos. I love animals (including invertebrates) and while I know some animals die so that our pets can live, I dont think watching it happen is necessary. Pre killed feeding is fine because then you can make sure the animal being killed is dying in a humane way. I have a dog, if I took a video of my dog killing and eating a cat, Id probably get canceled. It shouldnt be any different for our scaly pets.

i had nooo idea about what the FWC does.. and those brief clip’s brought me straight to tears.. i wish there was a way to really get rid of these people and organisations :(

Well said Adam, especially the fake snake attacks, it's pathetic fake and just ridiculous, we all know who does this. Thanks my man and keep up the great work. Thanks 👍

If FWC cared about reptiles, they’d ask reptile keepers to help educate them about what the laws SHOULD be! I live in south Florida and can’t have a Super Dwarf Retic because FWC doesn’t understand Retics😡

Hi Wickens I love your videos I'm thinking about getting a leopard gecko

Excellent video, topic and points and thank you ;o)

While researching snakes before getting one, I accidentally clicked on a fighting channel video with a misleading title. Horrified doesn’t even describe how I felt. I couldn’t believe it was even allowed to exist. Disgusting.

Ugh disgusting humans!! Just ugh heart breaking. 😔 I have 2 reptiles and 2 cats and I am always afraid I am not doing right or I leave them I worry and then I make vet appoinments. I also do my researched and look at people like you as a help guide. I worry for my reptiles and cats with love haha! You are a goodie and love your channel you made me join the reptile world and I am ever so grateful!! 🥰 keep doing your best!!!

Those "fight" channels and videos really are disgusting. I report them every time I run across one, but so many of them have been up for YEARS and it's so disheartening. Especially crazy because in China and Korea, that very practice was considered a black magic ritual that could create a curse so powerful that it was eventually declared a crime worthy of the death penalty. If only it would curse the people who now consider it entertainment... Another kind of video I run across all too often are sensationalized live feeding videos. They're very similar to the fight videos, but are usually just pairing a pet snake or frog with a rodent in a way that's very clearly not being done ethically, but with that same sick goal of "entertainment" in mind. I grew up watching every animal documentary I could get my hands on, I'm no stranger to the reality of natural predation, and I'm certainly not opposed to live feeding when necessary, but the people who set these videos up clearly don't regard their pets as /pets/ if they're willing to endanger and stress them out for views. And lastly, as someone relatively new to the reptile hobby, it can be quite the turn-off to see so many breeder channels that just.. kinda treat their animals like pokemon cards. Like they're pulling out all these morphs to show off while having no regard at all for the animals' obvious signs of stress and anxiety, flinching at every touch and trying to flee or hide. That combined with wall-to-wall opaque and tiny racks... to anyone outside the hobby, and particularly those coming from the mammal side of the pet industry, it gives off pretty extreme "puppy mill" vibes. To say nothing of the types who, when tragedy strikes and they lose a bunch of their animals to something or other, just talk about it as only a loss of money instead of also being a loss of the lives of animals they care about, and then go on to act cagey when questioned on what exactly even happened. It sucks because it really doesn't have to be that way, and I've seen plenty breeders, large and small alike, who aren't like that.

Nothing is worse then PURPOSELY stressing out an animal you're suppose to keep safe and taken care of. How do you sleep at night? That's some psychopath shit.

Glad you mentioned the realities concerning peta