FourPawHouse

Future service Pup, Calcifer the cat, and  Pocket and Jasmine the Bunnies.

[feferi]

THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN FUCKING SAYING

[talesfromtreatment]

And all these dogs are super fear-aggressive towards strangers as well. The vast, *vast*, majority of dogs a year old or less that we have come in for my shelter’s spay/neuter services are either borderline-traumatized fearful and shut down or they are trying to bite me for the crime of existing within 10 feet of them.

It is not ‘normal’ for a 4 month old shih-tzu puppy to be growling at me from 5 feet away.

It is not ‘normal’ for a 7 month old aussie to lunge for my face when I offered him some food.

It is not ‘normal’ for the 9 month old lab mix to be completely uncontrollable by the owners, up to and including grabbing their arms with his mouth when they tried to put him on the scale and literally knocking them over and dragging them away.

It is not ‘normal’ for the 6 month old golden to be cowering and urinating in fear.

This is a major issue that every level of veterinary and animal care professional is going to be dealing with for the next 15+ years. I sincerely believe that in a few more years, the rate of behavioural euthanasias is going to skyrocket and we’ll be seeing massive increases in incidences of dog bites.

[defilerwyrm]

Far too many people get dogs without any comprehension of the simple fact that dogs are living creatures who need to be taught things. They think “Everyone says x breed is a Good Family Dog™️! Y breed is tiny, they can’t hurt anything! That means I don’t have to train or socialize them, they’re AUTOMATICALLY good/harmless!” and then downplay the fact that the dog they raised is an aggressive, neurotic, anxiety-riddled train wreck who destroys their home and bites people every chance they get.

These people are blithering fucking morons.

Getting a dog is like having a child in that you are taking on the responsibility to TEACH that creature how to behave, how to communicate, and how to interact with others. Like can you imagine a human child that was kept at home all the time, never taught language, and never allowed to play with others? They’d be fucked up for their entire life! Now give them sharp teeth and claws. That’s the dog you raised, fuckwit.

TRAIN AND SOCIALIZE YOUR FUCKING DOGS OR DON’T HAVE THEM AT ALL.

[drferox]

Why don't you support TNR programs?

There are lots of reasons why I don’t support Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs in Australia, and neither does our RSPCA.

TNR programs aim to stop a cat population from growing, in the hopes that it will shrink over time as the cats die a ‘natural’ death. Firstly, a ‘stable feral cat population’ isn’t an appropriate goal for most of Australia’s ecosystems, eradication of feral and roaming cats is, as much as that’s harsh to say. Secondly, a ‘natural’ death is without human intervention, and that’s not as pleasant as it sounds, especially in a country full of venomous things and very large birds of prey.

TNR programs can only work, to the degree that they do in the first place, if you couple it with public education about responsible pet ownership and low cost desexing of owned pets. It can never work on its own because the cat population will be continuously topped up from the owned cat population.

Given we have limited resources, we generally put most of those resources towards public education, desexing vouchers for those on low income, and trap and euthanise or shoot feral cats.

Sounds harsh. But our feral cats are often outright dangerous to humans, and if released they continue to eat wildlife. A desexed cat needs to eat less and will occupy territory that a younger, non-desexed cat now can’t have, potentially reducing their reproductive ability which is why some places still do it. But these animals are generally not just housecats that are ‘lost’. They’ve been adapted to our environment for multiple generations and we shouldn’t have any of them, especially with their ability to spread toxoplasma through our wildlife.

In suburban scenarios, for example where we have lots of factories, there are local council incentives for factories and businesses to take ownership of local cats they’d been feeding, whether for company or rodent control. These cats get desexed and microchipped, with the understanding that the business is responsible if it’s sick or injured and needs vet care. They often don’t get much care, but coming in for euthanasia beats dying slowly in a corner somewhere.

For the amount of time, money, professional services and effort we would need to apply to run TNRs successfully, we could better allocate that to targeting the owned cat population and removing the feral cats as much as possible. It’s tempting to think ‘all cats must be saved because they’re cats’ but the scale of the problem is just too big for that sort of one on one solution.

People also like to feed ‘stray’ cats because it makes them feel good inside, even though they never take responsibility for the rest of the cat’s health and welfare. Just giving an animal food is not enough to be caring for it, in my opinion. I find it really quite foreign that TNR seems to be such a big thing in the USA, but I guess you already have native feline predators. We don’t.

‘Feral’ cats in my experience are either semi-adapted wild things which will continue wreaking damage on the environment, or they’re really housecats out of their depth that desperately need a human custodian. It’s not fair in either situation to just release them back to the ‘wild’ to fend for themselves. Either they will do badly and suffer, or they will do well and cause our wildlife to suffer.

So our current solution is just to attempt to remove them from the wild. Rehome what you can, but don’t release anything back.

[drferox]

@ephuyrie

Can’t tag you because you’ve blocked me over this post. Thanks for doing that any trying to prevent me seeing the atrocious language in your reply. I had hoped you mistakenly thought you were being funny with that, but I guess not.

I have not done the research, I have read the research. Seen it presented at conferences. You’d probably be interested in them.

Sure, Australia has large predators that can eat cats, but not terribly many do.

Our birds of prey are geared towards herbivores, and will go for a rabbit before a cat. Cats prefer forested areas where the larger raptor species have a harder time hunting anyway.

Dingos are not everywhere or ubiquitous. They will hunt cats, but interestingly the cat population changes its behavior to only hunt when the dingoes are less active. There are still cats there hunting, it’s just at different times of the day and subsequently different things.

In fact, research suggests and basically proves that for improving biodiversity in Australian ecosystems and protecting our endangered mammals, removing the cats is the single best thing you can do, followed by introducing real dingoes. (Dingoes affect the larger grazers which eat the habitat of the smaller herbivores)

Most ‘dingoes’ running around Australia are really feral dog hybrids, which is a whole other problem. While they can kill a cat, cats are not their preferred prey.

Our crocodiles are only in a tiny portion of our continent. Also ambush predators, they hunt whatever comes to the water edge and given the choice, a larger thing is easier to grab and hold.

Areas of Australia, Tasmania for example, don’t have any predator bigger than a Tasmanian Devil, and their population is struggling enough as it is, so cats have a completely free reign there.

Just because a predator is capable of killing a cat, doesn’t mean they do so at a significant rate to suppress the population. If they did, maybe we wouldn’t have such a massive problem in the first place.

The spread of Toxoplasma is also a significant issue because Australian native animals have not co-evolved alongside that parasite. Cats can have impacts on our mammal populations beyond just predation.

And I did specify in Australia in the very first sentence of the post.

[drferox]

There have been some good points and questions raised in the reblogs that are certainly worth discussing, but I didn’t wish to reblog a particular comment chain with some choice words.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t have feral cats roaming wild. I don’t think anyone disagrees with this, but we are affording these animals extra rights just because they’re cats and we like them. Nobody wants to kill them as a first choice, but when it comes down to feral, introduced cats versus their native or endangered prey, something has to give. And as much as I found euthanising all those ferals in Tasmania unpleasant, it was the better solution at the time. It’s not the cats’ faults, I have no malice against them, it’s human society’s systemic failures that put them there, and we’re just trying to clean up.

There is an alternative to both TNR programs and culling. It’s just extremely labor intensive.

As an example, the Big Ears Animal Sanctuary has cat enclosures for feral cats. Some cats are just unwanted, but many are feral, and are contained within a series of enclosures that have both an ‘inside’ house replica and an ‘outside’ area. They cannot hunt wildlife. They have food and shelter. The occasional one becomes more tolerant of people over time. They get care for the duration of their lives to a certain extent (anything that requires twice daily medication for life is a significant challenge in an untouchable cat).

So the cats aren’t hunting wildlife or spreading disease but still get to live out their lives. So what’s the problem?

Money.

You could do this with every feral cat if you wanted to, but the space, time and money to do it with just isn’t currently available. Animal management unfortunately often comes down to what resources you have available to fix the problem, and usually it’s not quite enough.

[pangur-and-grim]

I get a lot of questions about cat genetics, so here’s a handy reference for everyone wanting to learn more! 

one thing that will help you understand the diagrams: dominant traits are represented by capital letters (D/D), recessive traits are represented by lowercase letters (d/d). you only need one copy of a dominant gene for it to express (D/D or D/d have the same expression), but you need two copies of a recessive gene for it to express (d/d)

these are all from the Labgenvet page of cat colouration, which you can visit for detailed explanations of these diagrams

[pangur-and-grim]

I’ve been told that female orange tabbies are as rare as male calicoes. Is this true? How does the gene get passed along?

oh they're definitely more common than male tortoiseshells!

to put it simply, tortoiseshells happen when one x-chromosome carries ‘orange’, and the other one carries ‘black’. they both express at once, giving the cat a funky blended appearance!

I know you specified ‘calico’, but a calico is just when a tortoiseshell has a large amount of white spotting

unless a male cat has an extra x-chromosome, it can't be tortoiseshell. it's easier for a male cat to be orange, because it only needs 1 copy of the 'orange' gene.

for a female cat, both x-chromosomes need to carry 'orange' for it to be expressed, making it less common!

[chickiefoo]

my less common orange girl :)

[pangur-and-grim]

oh friend, that is not an orange cat!!

you see how the lefthand kitten is grey (aka ‘blue’), and the righthand kitten is black? that’s because the lefthand kitten has two copies of a dilution modifier

in the same way that blue is a dilution of black, cream is a dilution of orange. your cat is a lovely cream!

[fourpawhouse]

This is bringing me Right back to my coat colour genetics hyperfocus of long past! I focused on dogs and rabbits, so cats are new to me!

Calcifer, my female cat, is tortishell with tabby stripes, and I don’t know how tabby patterning works! but I’m guessing it’s dominant? But it’s a pattern, not a coat colour expression?? Just guessing here, I’d love to hear how tabby actually works!

[fjordfolk]

our weekend in a nutshell

[fjordfolk]

this gave me a tiny chuckle. my goal summit this year is 1425masl 🤭

[nefja]

[cyberdramon]

I actually had to do this once, though it was more like what you would do with a baby who needs CPR(I was stressed and it was what came to mind) and it does in fact work. Obviously the quicker you realize a dog needs CPR, the more likely the CPR will work but it's very good to keep in mind if you are ever in a situation that calls for it

[kathleenbrook]

I love the dog's expression. He's like 'CPR again? Fine, but I better get some treats out of it.'

[killbarbie]

why do some big dog owners have such an attitude toward small breed owners who just want to keep their pet safe? 

i saw a tiktok earlier of this girl whining about owners and their small dogs crossing the street to avoid her pitbull who is super kind and has never hurt anyone or anything. and like ok? that’s awesome that you have a dog with a good temperament and you are a good owner. but complete strangers with small dogs do not know you and your dog, so we don’t know if the dog is safe. sometimes we can’t tell if you’ve noticed us and have a good hold on your dog. sometimes we’re not sure if you’re the entitled type of dog owner that makes no effort to restrain a dog you have trained to be on the defence.  as small dog owners, most of us have had our share of near catastrophes or have had a catastrophe. some of us have lost small dogs to bigger dogs. some of us have had to care for our injured pets after a run-in with an aggressive bigger dog. that is no fault of yours, nor is it your dog’s fault, but we have every right to be vigilant. we don’t know you. we don’t know your dog and its’ nature. my chihuahua, who is not aggressive at all, has been attacked twice by larger dogs. once by a german shepherd and once by a pitbull mix. once was because the dog was unleashed and ran after him from a park across the road and another because the dog got out of a young girl’s hands and came after him in my building’s parking lot. i literally had to swing him around on the leash to keep him from the dog. it was traumatizing. i don’t want to have to go through that again if i can avoid it. not to mention moments where i have approached with my dog to a larger dog that was meant to be friendly, to have my dog be snapped out or growled at or chased away unprovoked. i’m too fearful to take chances on my dog’s life so that i don’t offend you. i’m sorry, but i’d rather protect my dog’s safety than your feelings. 

[boofblr]

this!! additionally, sometimes people will cross the street to avoid your dog because THEIR dog may not be friendly on leash, or may have a tendency to be rude or overbearing when meeting other dogs, or they may simply be fearful or aggressive themselves. some people seem to forget that while their dog(s) may be judged harshly by others due to their appearance, it is generally common to judge all dogs by their appearance. no behavior is guaranteed — a bully type dog isn’t always aggressive, a lab or golden retriever or doodle isn’t always great with kids, a border collie or any other “smart” breed isn’t always “easy” to train, a small dog isn’t always friendly, etc.

[doberbutts]

I also really don’t understand the entitlement like- I have a breed that most people are afraid of, that’s big, that commonly ISN’T dog or human safe, and if someone is passing with a dog I move off the sidewalk and put my body between my dog and theirs to help them feel better. If someone is showing signs of being afraid but doesn’t have a dog I do the same. It’s common courtesy? I’m being polite?? And most of the time people thank me???

And now that I also own two dogs that fit in the mouths of most large breeds, I *absolutely* pick up my dogs or otherwise avoid strange dogs from large breeds when out on a walk. My dogs are literally 5lbs and 3lbs? One chomp and they’re dead? Idc what breed you have if your dog bites mine my dog WILL be severely injured AT MINIMUM. I’m keeping my dog safe and if that hurts (general) your feelings idgaf

A client of mine with a chihuahua just got attacked by her neighbor’s GSD and thankfully she did pick up her dog to prevent him from being bit.. because the dog bit HER instead and she’s got a nice chomp on the back of her leg where the dog grabbed with its whole mouth. HER CHIHUAHUA FITS IN THAT SPACE. It’s bad enough that she got hurt but can you imagine if she got hurt WHILE TRYING TO PULL HER DOG’S LIFELESS BODY OUT OF THAT GSD’S MOUTH. Because that’s EXACTLY what would have happened if she HADN’T picked her dog up to protect him from an oncoming strange large breed dog.

[therestlesswitch]

🏳️‍🌈🍄🏳️‍⚧️✨Pride Mushroom Update!

✨Order here until May 3rd!

[fourpawhouse]

🍄Not dog related, but check out my current offering to support my local LGBG+ organization! 🏳️‍🌈🍄🏳️‍⚧️

[therestlesswitch]

🍄🏳️‍🌈✨Pride Mushroom Preorder is Live!✨🏳️‍🌈🍄

25% of the total price will go to Fierté Simcoe Pride, a local LGBTQ2IA+ organization that does a lot of great work for the queer community in my region! 🏳️‍🌈These toadstools are meant to be handled, touched, squished! Or hang them as tree ornaments, in your rear view mirror, use them as stimtoys, stick them in a fairy garden, or hang them in a window! No matter where you put these little colourful wonders, they'll bring you the joy of a Pride celebration! 🍄As per usual, an automatic discount of 15% off is applied when you order 3 or more items! No code necessary! 🏳️‍🌈If you don't see your flag represented, please message me! I'll create one and add it to the listing! 🍄I started making these little guys as a distraction from depression and anxiety symptoms. In the same way that fungus works in natural ecosystems to digest decaying plant material and in turn make those nutrients bioavailable for the plants again, these mushrooms seem to eat up that stagnant energy and bring joy in return. I hope they bring your space as much happiness as creating them has brought me. 🏳️‍🌈Help support a Queer Ace Lass and my local LGBT+ community, and get yourself some gay af mushrooms!

️‍🍄They start shipping on May 3rd so they home to you in time for Pride Month! Find them in TheRestlessWitch's Shop!

[fourpawhouse]

🍄🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️This isn’t petblr related at all, but!

🍄🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️check out the Pride Mushrooms I’ve designed to support my local LGBT+ support organization! They can be decorative, hang them in your car, or use them as stim toys!

🍄🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Help me make this project a success, and order a mushie before May 3rd!

[meangirlnurse]

the most effective means of preventing dog homelessness are 1) providing material support to impoverished and marginalized pet owners and 2) preventing and addressing behavioral issues before they become cause for relinquishment 

but that’s far less fun and takes way more effort and human compassion than self-righteously chirping “adopt don’t shop!” 

[meangirlnurse]

there are a lot of people in the notes of this post making really condescending comments about spaying and neutering pets, and like, all else aside, i want to show you guys one thing.

this is a map showing the ratio of puppies ending up in shelters and rescues by state (x). it is a useful metric for measuring which areas are ending up with a surplus of unwanted puppies. yellow states have a high ratio of unwanted puppies, blue states have a low ratio of unwanted puppies.

this is a map (x) showing the percentage of people living in poverty in each state. darker-colored states have a higher percentage of people living in poverty.

do you notice any similarities between these two maps?

smug lectures on social media are not a meaningful solution to the underlying issue here. 

if you want to address dog homelessness, please consider supporting organizations like Beyond Fences, Kane’s Krusade, and other local resources that are providing non-judgmental, material support to dog owners in need. 

[kedreeva]

Feel free to unfollow me right now if you believe it’s okay to endanger your house cat or the local native fauna it absolutely will kill by allowing it outside unsupervised/off lead.

Outdoor cats have a lifespan of 2-5 years. Indoor cats regularly live 15+, even getting up to 20+ sometimes. Unsupervised indoor-outdoor cats often don’t make it past 5 and the ones that do are a very lucky exception. Why?

They get hit by cars. They get attacked by other animals (predators or other pets like dogs) including other cats. They eat things that are toxic to them. They get killed by other humans. They contract diseases like FIV and FelV.

Even if your cat DOES live longer than 5 years, cats that go outside are responsible for the deaths of billions of birds and other small fauna per year. There have been studies done on this. It’s not people pulling stuff out of their asses, it’s something scientists literally studied and reported results on. Don’t believe me? Google “do cats kill wildlife” and have a read. They’re on the IUCN’s list of worst invasive species and have contributed to the extinction of 60+ species, and they continue to cause a problem for other threatened species of small animals.

If you think it’s okay to expose your cat to these hazards and potentially cut its lifespan by more than half, if you think it’s okay to allow your cat to kill native fauna to indulge it’s “natural instincts” instead of, I don’t fucking know, playing with it with toys literally designed to allow it to safely indulge those instincts, then you have no business following me.

I’m not here to indulge your whimsy about how cats “need” to be outside unsupervised to be stimulated and lead a happy life- I can assure you, they don’t. There are p l e n t y of enrichment devices and structures people can buy or make to ensure that their cats lead happy, full lives indoors to the ripe old age they are supposed to live to.

You also have the option of lead training your cat if you really believe they need to go out. This is something that proponents of “let cats go outside” ignore almost completely. They somehow believe that it’s all or nothing- either the cat lives 100% indoors without ever seeing sunlight OR it’s let outside without supervision where it can be injured, killed, or cause harm to the environment. Those aren’t the only choices. Cats adapt to leads very easily. They don’t like it the first couple of times, usually, but also usually when they figure out lead=outside, they get over it and the best of both worlds gets to happen- your cat remains safely under your supervision where it cannot come to or deliver harm, and it gets to go outside.

TL;DR Letting your house cat outside unsupervised is extremely dangerous both for your cat and the local wildlife and people arguing otherwise can see themselves out the door because I’m not about people endangering animals out of willful ignorance. You, along with every other pet owner out there, have a responsibility to protect your pets to the best of your abilities, and choosing not to do so in some misguided attempt to indulge their whims is poor animal husbandry. Any argument to the contrary is just an excuse to continue doing things which put animals in danger.

[vulcanette-deactivated20260506]

fucking goldfish tiktok made me cry bro

[solarpunkcast]

humans be like “is anyone going to nurse this animal back to health?” and not wait for an answer

[beabaseball]

A summary of everything repeated in the notes:

The black color is natural for a black moor goldfish, but they do often change color as they age, sometimes in response to tank conditions. In this case, the vibrancy of the color is more important to note than the color itself. The scales begin very dull and then as Monstro recovers they become vivid.

Monstro is probably suffering from either chemical burns, dropsy, or both. Fish can probably become depressed in a fish way, but it is not the reason he stopped swimming.

Dropsy is an infection of the swim bladder which helps fish float. The water changes help reduce the inflammation and aquarium salt makes it harder for bacteria to grow in the wounds while he fights off the infection.

The chemical burns are probably from living in a too-small or badly filtered tank. Goldfish produce a lot of waste including ammonia, which in large amounts can cause the burns. The water changes are again helping reduce the ammonia level and keeps the water clean while he's recovering, like how for humans with chemical burns we flood with saline.

Because of the amount of waste they produce, goldfish need 10-20 gal each absolute minimum, but still think of that as living in a bathroom as a human. Even this setup may need to grow a bit larger as monstro and it's friends age

Goldfish can live 20/30 years, humans just are Extremely Bad at caring for fish the way we do other pets. Most goldfish need a whole pond and friends to be happy. The goldfish bowl was a temporary viewing object in China to show off the fish to guests in their rooms, and was misunderstood by European visitors to be how the fish were kept all the time.

Fish (and most cold blooded animals and birds) are exempt from most animal abuse protections and retail pet stores are almost fully unregulated in their treatment of animals. Woo!

Idk support well cared for animals including fish and while the bigger the tank the better, don't like.... Try to release your fish or any other animal into the wild. In this case, surrendering Monstro to the pet store was probably the best thing the former owner could've done upon realizing they didn't know how to care for them .

[fandomsandfeminism]

An excellent reminder that there really is no such thing as an "easy" pet. All animals require knowledge and care, including fish. (I have a personal vendetta against those tiny betta box bowls myself. Horrific.)

[wheremyscalesslither]

This is the standard of keeping ball pythons. Its the most common technique, and it IS widly spread.

We can do better than this. This kind of stuff doesnt allow for a range of natural behaviors. It makes us look like animal abusers. Yes, the animals survive, but they cannot thrive in this setting. There’s literally not enough room for even one of them to stretch all the way out.

We can do better. We have to do better because this isn’t good for the animals health wise, or even mentally. It also gives HSUS and PETA more grounds to ban reptiles as pets.

Enrichment provides animals with an outlet for natural behaviors and promotes healthy animals. There are tons of studies on the benefits of enrichment- it’s not an extra step- it’s necessary for the good of the animal and is part of proper husbandry.

Dont be like this picture; dare to do more.

(image source purposely withheld)

[moth--ball]

Do remember that ball pythons in particular are largely sedentary and would prefer to be holed up in a small, closed, dark place. I don’t think size is the issue here. I’ve never used newspaper as substrate but I have used paper towel and I feel like it’s more of a pain than something like reptichip. Odors/soils quickly. I can’t give an input on whether it’s actually harmful though because I’ve never used it but I notice my reptichip always smelling much more fresh. Idk sitting in ammonia can’t be good! Even if you change the newspaper daily, chances are you’re not going to get to it as soon as the snake urinates… I would assume that might cause health issues. Again though, I’m not certain, just speculating lol.

Other species, like carpet pythons, I really don’t like tubs for. Using carpets as an example, those guys are active and move a lot and will make full use of the space provided to them. Balls really won’t.

IMO it’s subjective like that. I’d like to see more enrichment in tubs overall (substrate, perhaps a hide just in case, maybe foliage) and I’ve been doing that myself but I wonder if it’s more for me than it is for the BP lol. I dunno! I like this conversation though, so please do interject, we all might learn something.

[rainbowsnakes]

Ball pythons have got themselves this reputation as being “pet rocks” in the hobby partly because of the persistent myths that they only live in termite burrows which they never leave in the wild. However, they are quite active at certain times of the year (breeding season) and males in particular are documented climbers, feeding off avian prey and even having very different parasite burdens in the wild compared to females because of this.  Of course, ball pythons are also nocturnal. So even given the opportunity to make use of space and climbing things in captivity they often won’t be doing it at when the keeper is watching them. Reinforcing this idea that they “don’t do anything”. 

Rack systems like the one in the picture are popular because they save money, time and space for the keeper when compared to setting them all up in fully furnished vivariums or large tubs. Giving them more space would address the concerns with them sitting in ammonia… If an animal does not have the ability to move away from its own waste that should be alarm bells that the enclosure is definatly not big enough (Though I know snakes love to sit ontop of it for no reason sometimes but at least they should have the option to be sensible). 

But  the issue is not JUST space because ball pythons are such a shy secretive species giving them more space also means they need proportionally more hides and visual barriers ect to feel secure… just scaling this tub up and saying “ta da- now you have more space” won’t work. So if you have a larger number of snakes…. That just starts to add up to a LOT of cleaning, a lot of space required and a large expense. 

The ball python industry wants to hold on to the outdated opinion that ball pythons “are scared of space, never move, and thrive in tiny barren tubs - Just add water!” because it’s how they turn profits… They also promote it to new people getting in to the hobby because otherwise that would be admitting they are not doing the best they can… This is also why its not something thats disscussed rationally in facebook groups either. It angers/upsets people that are in too deep to change their ways without going to huge extra costs or dramatically reducing the numbers of animals they have to make room for fewer better enclosures… So they would rather deny any is wrong to avoid that .. The argument also gets wrapped up with irrelavent details or oversimplified to “tanks vs tubs”… or “vivs vs tubs”.. or “naturalistic  looking vs non naturalistic looking”… 

At the end of the day this is an issue about good husbandy, good enclosure design and good animal welfare..which is not always cheap, nor is it always good for “productivity”. The truth of it is that there is NO scientific studies confirming that small barren tubs allow snakes to thrive and PLENTY of evidence that environmental enrichment is beneficial for their welfare. Restricting stimuli captive animals are exposed to is not good for their physical and psychological well-being and can negativly impact behavioural expression,neural development, learning ability, activity levels and even lead to chornic stress, immunosuppression and thus increased disease susceptibility. 

Ball pythons are victims of their own hardiness and adaptability…they may not show stress or appear to suffer when kept like this as much as a more active colubrid might…. But that still doesn’t make it an acceptable standard. They still eat, shed, poop and breed, which is all well and good, but not necessarily an indicator of good welfare.

It also sets a worrying trend for how the hobby itself measures and assesses reptile welfare and quality of life…. Already the model of  “ if it eats, poops, sheds and breeds then its thriving” has spread and is applied to keeping other more active species… I’ve seen arboreal asian colubrids in the same 6″ high tubs with no climbing stuff, even etbs, gtps, atbs, kept in similar barren set ups…..retics and other large constrictors in boxes they can not even stretch out half their length in ect ect…unless they drop dead or rub their faces off in stress the individual animal or even the whole species, will get the stamp of approval for “doing fine in a tub!”.  

This is not how animal welfare scientistis assess welfare. And as @wheremyscalesslither  mentioned when our hobby is under attack from animal rights groups we have GOT to do better… and promote husbandry based on science. 

TL: DR,  You said you made the effort to provide some enrichment yourself. Rest assured it is not just for you, and will absolutley benefit your animals! If you are interested to read more about it I also have an article on it here 

https://rainbowsnakes.tumblr.com/post/119229812584/environmental-enrichment-for-reptiles-what-why

[wheremyscalesslither]

i know i seriously just reblogged this a minute ago but it is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT that im doing it again.

[vet-and-wild]

I also want to add that studies on diet composition for ball pythons has shown that birds make up a significant portion of their diet (for males in particular). And not just birds, but tree dwelling birds. Nestlings. Not ground nesting birds, but species that they would have to actively seek out and hunt in trees. Even a lot of the mammals that they eat are tree dwelling, or bats. If they truly spent all of their time hiding underground, how would they consume so much arboreal prey? This is a cool video from Reptiles and Research about why ball pythons can even be considered semi-arboreal and includes both peer reviewed articles and keeper experience.

One thing I find super interesting is that it has even been shown that reptiles kept in enriched enclosures actually adapt faster to new/stressful situations than those kept in barren enclosures. Not to mention all of the really fascinating information coming out on UV and full spectrum lighting for snakes and other species that were thought to not “need” UV.  We are even learning enough about their behavior and welfare to know that keeping snakes in enclosures where they cannot fully stretch out seems to contribute to the development of stress related behaviors. Reptiles are much more complex and intelligent than we give them credit for. Promoting minimalistic keeping only benefits mill type breeders that care more about profit than actually caring for their animals.

[pangur-and-grim]

Please dont imply that pitbulls are destructive/agressive. It just reinforces the negative stereotype that they are a 'bad breed' or something of the like just because of a few trained by terrible people.

eh? the American Pitbull Terrier is predisposed to agression toward other dogs. it’s genetic (meaning training can only do so much), and is absolutely something someone should know about before taking home a puppy 😂

EDIT: this isn’t a topic I have personal interest in (ask me about rabbits or cats instead lol). if you want to discuss this further, I’m gonna ask that you make a separate post rather than reblog this one

[lady-whitethorn-deactivated2020]

I am so disappointed, I have been a huge fan of yours for a while but this is rediculous. If you have no experience then don’t comment on dog breeds. Especially when you have no experience and don’t fact search. First of all Pitty breeds are not agressive unless trained to be. They were actually a nanny breed until people started using them as fighting dogs. The only time a Pitty is agressive is if they have had to defend themselves, they are nowhere near as agressive as Labs and Retreivers. Spreading misinformation is how dogs get killed.

Just because a dog owner isn’t prepared to train their own animal and therefore has an anxious, insecure animal, does not mean that the breed is naturally so.

Please actually research before you post such lies again. People spreading lies is how breeds get banned, and treated with extreme prejudice. It’s not fair to a dog to be treated the way these poor babies do. Stop allowing yourself to be a mouthpiece for dog racists.

Gotta say you definitely lost a follower over this one.

[fractiousrvt]

Before you tell someone else to do their research, do your own. The ‘nanny dog’ is a myth. Even this very pro-pibble website calls it exactly that, and state that is started because they can be extremely affectionate with their families which includes the children of the household. But no dog, none, not a single one ever, should ever be left alone with a child ever because even a loving dog can be provoked into a bite on accident, such as a child tripping and falling onto them.

http://love-a-bull.org/resources/the-history-of-pit-bulls/

https://www.thecut.com/2017/03/how-both-sides-of-the-pit-bull-debate-get-it-wrong.html

https://badrap.org/breed-info/breed-history

Pitbulls are very well known for having a high prey drive, this was bred into them in the beginning of their history and is present *in their bloody name*. Pit. Bull. A dog that would be put in pits to fight bulls. They also have a long history of being used as fighting dogs. This was genetically selected for. They are terriers. Terriers hunt, instinctively.

But. Animal aggressive and human aggression are not the same. But *both* can be genetically selected for and if someone liked how ‘fiercely’ their dog protected their property and chose to bred it, well, that trait starts to become fixed in that particular lineage if that continues to happen.

https://badrap.org/breed-info/monster-myths

Important quotes from this:

Don’t Pit Bulls have to be TRAINED TO FIGHT?

Does any dog? Pit bulls are terriers, and terriers have a tendency to be scrappy with other animals if unsocialized, poorly managed or otherwise left to their own devices.

Should adopters look for puppies and avoid adults with UNKNOWN HISTORIES?

Not necessarily. Nature has much to say as Nurture with personality style, so we can never know what a pup will be like when he finally matures into an adult.

~~~

Now, I love pitbulls. The vast majority that I’ve met have been amazing. But they’re also high energy, high drive, and highly sensitive, and when I have met some scary ones they’ve been fucking terrifying because they are so strong and tenacious.

Trying to say that pibbles don’t have an increased propensity for aggression towards other animals is like trying to say that huskies have the same energy level as a chihuahua.

It’s *your* sort of claim that is the reason about a third of the dogs at my shelter are pitbulls. People don’t know what they’re getting into and then can’t handle the dog’s natural, normal behaviour.

[kaijutegu]

Pibble mommies think their breed is immune to hundreds of years of selective breeding just because they think their dog is special. By not understanding the reality of what bully breed mixes are- loyal dogs that are usually very sweet to humans and with a high drive to go for other dogs and animals- they’re setting their dogs up to fail. That’s not fair.

[agro-carnist]

Time and time again people advocating for outdoor cats accuse the other side of being judgmental close minded Americans. Makes my blood boil. I live in rural Europe I have close up experiences with outdoor cats , because that is the norm here, and I see the consequences of lax attitudes towards cat saftey and husbandry. Most of them die way too early and a lot of them die unpleasant deaths too, no coyotes required. I could not put my animal out to just wander around. I know these people do not give a fuck about small wildlife, but not having a rational reaction to multiple tragic loss of pets is baffling.

Yeah a lot of people won't listen to me because "but you're a dumb american!!" As if America is the only place with dangers to cats. The UK literally had so many dying outdoor cats they made up a kitty serial killer

[weebsandwobs]

This is an anime character and I cannot be convinced otherwise

[fjordfolk]

oh wow this new Hound of the Baskervilles adaptation looks great

[meangirlnurse]

i know literally nothing about dogs/adopting dogs but i've grown up thinking adopt don't shop is good/breeders=bad. if you don't mind explaining a lil bit about your pov i'd love to hear it

hey! i’m happy to explain. some of this may be slightly boiled down 

so like, right off the bat, my central ethos about dog ownership/adoption is that 

people should get dogs who are the right fit for them as a person, for their household, and for their lifestyle. not every home is good for every dog and not every dog is good for every home. 

all dogs deserve to be in circumstances that maximize their likelihood to have a home. this means making sure that dogs end up in appropriate homes to begin with, that dogs are successful in their current homes and don’t need to be rehomed, and that if they need to be rehomed, they have the highest possibility of quickly finding a new home

another right-off-the-bat statement: for many people, a dog at a shelter or rescue will be a wonderful fit, and that’s great! homeless dogs deserve homes. there is no argument here that is anti-dog adoption for those who want a shelter dog.

so like, two key points here:

not all dogs are interchangeable and not all homes are interchangeable

responsible and reputable breeders contribute positively to both ethical principles i mentioned above

what you have to understand about dog homelessness is that it’s not just, like, an arithmetic problem. it’s not like there’s, let’s say, 5 million dogs coming into existence and 4 million prospective adopters and if we could just have a million fewer dogs then all our problems could be solved. 

the reasons dogs become homeless (and the reasons dogs have trouble finding homes) could frankly be their own essay. i do want to particularly note marginalization, impoverishment, and a lack of resources for vulnerable dog owners – sometimes keeping a dog in a home can be as simple as fronting someone the money for a pet deposit. 

other reasons include things like behavioral issues, health issues, and breed. 

in many areas – like mine – the issue is not necessarily that there are all these adopters simply choosing not to adopt all these available dogs who would be a good fit for them, but that there are not many adopters for whom those dogs would be a good fit. 

for some people who are buying a dog for a specific reason, notably service dogs and other working dogs, like herding dogs, a purpose-bred dog is most likely to succeed in their situation. 

for other people, they need a certain amount of predictability or stability and can’t take on the risk of a shelter dog who won’t be appropriate for their situation. 

and some people are just passionate about a specific kind of dog and that’s the dog they’re going to be happy with! i don’t think those people should be obligated to get an animal they don’t want out of guilt.

so really quickly, i want to define what i mean when i talk about a responsible breeder. a responsible breeder:

performs all of the health tests that are appropriate for their breed

breeds temperamentally sound, relatively predictable dogs

has a clear purpose and vision for their breeding program (why are they breeding this breed? why are they breeding these dogs in particular? what are they hoping to accomplish?)

screen their owners to ensure that they and the dog will likely be good fits for each other  

are willing to take back their dogs at any time should the dog need to be rehomed (many breeders require this)

are actively working on early socialization and behavioral development – the first 12 weeks of a puppy’s life are developmentally crucial, and breeders have an extraordinary ability to set their puppies up to be successful down the line

are a resource for their puppy buyers for the lifetime of the dog (i deliberately chose a breeder who i think is more knowledgeable and a better trainer than i am!)

breeders who do these things are not a part of the dog homelessness problem, they are part of the solution.

they are choosing homes for their dogs where they are likely to succeed and are unlikely to be rehomed. 

they are willing to provide the dog a home if the dog should become homeless. 

they are providing their dogs a foundation in terms of health and behavior that will make it most likely that the dog stays in their home or is adopted if the dog should be rehomed. 

they are giving puppy buyers guidance to raise dogs that are likely to be well-adjusted and healthy, which maximizes the likelihood of the dog staying in the home or being adopted if the dog should be rehomed.

if all dogs were bred under these circumstances, or even most, it would be a net positive for dogs individually and as a population. supporting good breeders is, for me, an arm of preventative animal welfare along with behavioral care and access to low-cost resources. 

hope this helps! i know it’s long lol

[meangirlnurse]

@agirlcalledfrost