HABRI Central

The trade in, and private keeping of, reptiles as "pets" raises several ethical concerns regarding animal welfare (associated with handling, storage, transportation, intensive captive breeding, captivity stress, injury, disease, and high premature mortality); public health and safety (associated with zoonotic disease and animal-linked injuries); species conservation and environmental degradation (associated with wild capture); and ecological alteration (associated with invasive alien species). Also, many captive reptiles are fed other animals, raising broader ethical questions. Misperceptions about reptiles by proponents of their captivity mean that these animals are subject to conditions that would likely be considered unacceptable for dogs or cats.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

1. Animal diseases
2. Animal ecology
3. Animals
4. Animal transport
5. Animal welfare
6. Biological resources
7. Breeding
8. Conservation
9. Environment
10. Ethics
11. Health
12. Introduced species
13. Invasive species
14. mortality
15. peer-reviewed
16. Pets and companion animals
17. public
18. Reptiles
19. Resources
20. safety
21. Social psychology and social anthropology
22. Stress
23. trade
24. trauma
25. vertebrates
26. Zoonoses