williamk34
Hatchling Member
So first off if everybody could share this post around because I would like to get as many opinions as I possibly can and also their thoughts on the subject.
So I've worked with reptiles for most of my life and started privately owning them about 2 years ago I have three bearded dragons and two ackie monitors right now I have my exotic reptile license a crocodilian license the only thing I don't have is dealing with snakes just not a snake person. But I think we've all heard this story before it usually goes I went to buy my child or grandchild a pet reptile and they always seem to get over their head end up asking what they are doing wrong and whenever you tell them these are the things that they need it's usually responds of I'm not allowed to get primary food source my parents won't buy this or the classic this is a lot more than I thought I was getting into just a lot of general bad research. In my opinion this goes for any animal you shouldn't get one unless you know what you're really getting into personally I do not think reptiles are really suitable for children even bearded dragons one thing that always bothered me is whenever I see somebody go after a monitor lizard and have no idea what they are getting into. We all know that pet stores will lie just to sell whatever it is but some of them should not be selling some of these larger species I have even seen Nile monitor lizards at some pet stores and if you know anything about monitors that is one of the more difficult monitors that have but they always start out as look at this tiny baby lizard they think it will stay that small. I know we all have to start somewhere even when I started with bearded dragons I will admit that a lot of the research that I did initially was not very accurate. I personally do not think that children and of course their parents should be getting them these pet reptiles unless they really know what they are getting into and the child should be old enough to understand that this is a living animal and they can't be hard and play with it like they do a toy or even a dog and a cata bearded dragon can even cause some pretty nasty damage if it actually wanted to they have some strong Jaws as we have found out by accident a few times. Even my ackie monitors being one of the smaller species of monitor lizards can give you some serious stitches not to mention that all monitor lizards are mildly venomous it won't bother you unless you're one allergic to it or you let it chew it into you that is how they give you a dose of venom most of them are blood coagulants or work off of the nervous system but even if they get a dose they tend not to bother people but a child I could see some potential issues not saying that they will die or anything but you don't want to see anybody get hurt especially the animal itself because of bad handling and keeping.
I would just like everybody's thoughts on this sort of thing do you think children should be allowed to purchase or if they should even have pet reptiles until they are at least a certain age and have the responsibility.
So I've worked with reptiles for most of my life and started privately owning them about 2 years ago I have three bearded dragons and two ackie monitors right now I have my exotic reptile license a crocodilian license the only thing I don't have is dealing with snakes just not a snake person. But I think we've all heard this story before it usually goes I went to buy my child or grandchild a pet reptile and they always seem to get over their head end up asking what they are doing wrong and whenever you tell them these are the things that they need it's usually responds of I'm not allowed to get primary food source my parents won't buy this or the classic this is a lot more than I thought I was getting into just a lot of general bad research. In my opinion this goes for any animal you shouldn't get one unless you know what you're really getting into personally I do not think reptiles are really suitable for children even bearded dragons one thing that always bothered me is whenever I see somebody go after a monitor lizard and have no idea what they are getting into. We all know that pet stores will lie just to sell whatever it is but some of them should not be selling some of these larger species I have even seen Nile monitor lizards at some pet stores and if you know anything about monitors that is one of the more difficult monitors that have but they always start out as look at this tiny baby lizard they think it will stay that small. I know we all have to start somewhere even when I started with bearded dragons I will admit that a lot of the research that I did initially was not very accurate. I personally do not think that children and of course their parents should be getting them these pet reptiles unless they really know what they are getting into and the child should be old enough to understand that this is a living animal and they can't be hard and play with it like they do a toy or even a dog and a cata bearded dragon can even cause some pretty nasty damage if it actually wanted to they have some strong Jaws as we have found out by accident a few times. Even my ackie monitors being one of the smaller species of monitor lizards can give you some serious stitches not to mention that all monitor lizards are mildly venomous it won't bother you unless you're one allergic to it or you let it chew it into you that is how they give you a dose of venom most of them are blood coagulants or work off of the nervous system but even if they get a dose they tend not to bother people but a child I could see some potential issues not saying that they will die or anything but you don't want to see anybody get hurt especially the animal itself because of bad handling and keeping.
I would just like everybody's thoughts on this sort of thing do you think children should be allowed to purchase or if they should even have pet reptiles until they are at least a certain age and have the responsibility.