TikTok is filled with a bunch of kids and teenagers who just don't know how harmful these videos are for animals, so such childish reactions aren't surprising.
Literally! I specialize in hamsters and I have had to actively ignore hamstertok because every time a video goes viral of a hamster in a shitty cage or dangerous situation as soon as you say something everyone goes “oh wow tiktok vets!!! Their pet is fine!!!”
I think I know where they're coming from tho, some exotic animals are actually rescues. I'm scared now that because of this video kids will start calling any exotic animal owner, that knows their shit about how to take care of the animal, an abuser.
My fiancé is a practicing veterinarian and for a while I attempted to correct TikTokers who I witnessed putting out harmful and incorrect pet care information. I had to stop because the amount of hateful attacks I got was outrageous. These people don’t want to learn or change, they’re beyond helping.
Whose @? My fiance? He’s not on TikTok, he works 10 hour days actually caring for animals and doesn’t have the time. I used to show him some of the crazier TikToks I came across where pets were being mistreated and then relay his advice to the people posting. They never took it to heart and always came for me “this bitch thinks she know something bc her “fiancé’s” a vet- you don’t know anything, my way is right, my dog trainer said so” blah blah, it was so stupid.
@@brookehenson1201 A dog trainer for a exotic pet? That's actually new, I didn't know Tiktokers could be that stupid to the point they're getting a DOG TRAINER for something like a orchid mantis or so
Im so sorry you got attacked for being smart and acting appropriately. How anyone can actually support the mistreatment of exotic and house-pet animals is just insane. It makes me sad. Tik-tok needs something to be done about it
The fact that you tried is great though, I don't use tictok anymore and have way to much social anixety to do that especially since there is just going to be a conflict. I've done a tafe course that focuses on the study of animals (cert III in animal studies) only have a partial completion though as I failed a little bit of 2 units. In aus that leads into vetinary nursing studies though I know that's not the career i want to pursue. I love working with animals but as a carer, someone who provides and maintains I wish to go into zookeeping/animal education (even though %99 of the job is cleaning i still love it) so when I see misinformation being spread around it does make my blood boil.
@@KoreaMojo I've come across vodes where people think it's funny that their hamster just jumped out of their hands (obviously very stressed about being held in the first place) and laugh about it without even being concerned if the hamster was okay. (They were fortunately, but I would panic if one of my mice did that, let alone a hamster.)
I’d argue that the fish community in TikTok is worse. Some crazy person put a betta in a bottle of Vodka, it instantly died. Hamsters videos are bad in TikTok, but at least most of them acknowledge it’s a living creatures, fish are pretty much just decor to most of these people.
@@ChrisChurch161 don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean having exotics inherently is wrong, I have like a dozen inverts from all over the world and have owned an orchid mantis in particular in the past. The problem is people who do no research but get a pet they don’t know or care enough about to care for properly because it’s trendy- think of the rabbits around Easter or Finding Nemo issue. These kinds of people get pets, exotic or not, for the novelty, but unfortunately exotics do seem to suffer disproportionately. Omg, the amount of people I see complaining about the price of necessary equipment ALONE is crazy as though veterans care is going to be less expensive is crazy. Too many people see the well being of animals they’re responsible for as secondary to their own wants.
@@PepsiObsessiI was half joking. I have a monitor I don’t post bc the states view changed. That being said he is bad ass, but I’d rather keep it and not share video of it again. Would suck to lose a lizard I expected to keep close to 30years. I do go herping though and share those trips. It’s what I’ve enjoyed doing for 30+ years, why not share it. And I hope my care is something that helps the trade rather than hinder the progress we currently see.
What's cooler than owning an exotic pet? Making sure their natural habitat is safe and doesn't get destroyed People also seem to forget pets are a commitment, I have cats and they have hurt me in the past (biting, scratching..) and they're still with me because i know I probably did something in that moment and they reacted to that, they arent always gonna love you and be lovely and nice
A lot of snakes also live incredibly long, people have no idea of the commitment they’re signing up for. The ball pythons they sell at petsmart and places like that live around 30 years. You could be 10 when you got it and 40 when it dies, just think about that
Ikr, I love my cats, and it pains me to see how many people hate cats because they’ve gotten scratched ONCE. Like come on, would you like it if some random person came over and started trying to hug you and show you affection? Of course not. Cats are very human-like, you have to bond before being too affectionate! And I’m glad you have some common sense and kept your cats.
@@daikonlegs2726 legit it’s always “dog people” too who just like having dogs because they’re submissive to them, but when their dog acts out and hurts other people it’s fine because “he’s just a puppy”. But GOD FORBID a CAT bites them (which isn’t nearly as bad as a giant bulldog tackling you to the ground)
@@lambybunny7173 what an assumption... U clearly haven't met enough people. I have a dog, golden retriever, he's absolutely lovely. Also I don't expect him to do anything but behave ok walks... Like of course they need to obey or someone could be in danger and get hurt. That is why there's so many deaths by Bulldogs and Pitbulls because people they strong dogs that they don't know how to train or handle. I don't see what you're saying here... But when it comes to cats, u just have to go with the flow. The only reason I can't have a cat is because I can't handle the smell of their urine. I can smell it everywhere in the house and I can't stand it. Plus a cat peed into my shoe for no reason lol. I don't hate cats but I'll never have any.
I work at an Invertebrate zoo and recently we have a hard time getting our own educational insects and have had more people abandon insects at our facility. I shudder to think of the exotic species released outside. It's a gross trend.
Can I ask if you have an issue with people owning exotic inverts at all? I try very hard to be well informed, get from responsible and legal sources, never release or do anything risking a release, know what I'm getting into and am committed to keeping my animals for their entire lives, or rehoming them with a responsible keeper should circumstances come up that mean I am unable to care for my animals. I also try to encourage anyone who asks to do their research and be responsible when they make the decision to get any animal. I was keeping inverts before I ever got on tiktok, so I didn't do it because of a "trend", and I spent a long time researching, deciding, and making sure I would be comfortable keeping inverts.
@@JackTheVultureSorry for being three years late but since no one responded I will. There’s nothing inherently wrong with owning exotic invertebrates, I owned a Spiny Flower Mantis. But the problem many people have with that trend as far as i’m aware was that people were immediately buying exotic insects and other animals just to have them and treat them like an object you have in a house, which led to many to deprive of those animals of what they need to survive which is just straight up cruel. If people are going to buy exotic animals like reptiles or insects, they HAVE TO devote their time into proper research to provide them with a proper environment and diet to keep their pet friend healthy. There are other exotic animals that aren’t endangered species and are perfectly stable population-wise, such as Giant Prickly Stick Insects.
As someone involved in the exotic bugs hobby for the last 12 years, it's EXTREMELY worrying to think that not only the raised in captivity stock of insects as delicate as the orchid mantis is being cleaned out by tik tok kids who can't even care for a goldfish, but that the wild populations are being damaged by this stupid social media trend
I certianly agree, my partner and I had a few different mantids a couple of years ago, they're lovely little creatures but it's so easy for things to go to badly with them and I don't want to imagine what could go wrong if they don't do their research.
Another mantis keeper here, NOBODY should get an orchid mantis because it’s “pretty”. They can perish so easily without good care, slight changes in humidity and heat can kill one off easily and they only eat flying insects as ground insects can make them terribly sick. Anybody who wants one should either do proper research first and make sure they can care for all its needs or better yet try a less demanding/more hardy species first.
another fellow mantis keeper here, I only stuck with the beginner friendly mantids when I got some. Orchids were always catagorized as needing experienced owners, not for beginners because their requirements can be very specific. So seeing them on tik tok videos have me feeling all kinds of worry.... how many kids are being influenced to get one? are they doing their research before hand???? I adore Orchid Mantis, they DO indeed look pretty but even after having had matids before, I still don't qualify myself as experienced enough to own one!.
FINALLY. People keep telling me how "sensitive" I am or how I should "mind my own business" whenever I point out about how those caracal memes are super harmful because the animal isn't being properly taken care of and is both in danger and a danger to others.
@@genetsandjazz "Oh hey me, a decent human being with a functioning moral compass, should just totally ignore when an animal, a living, breathing, thinking creature with a soul, is being mistreated by humans." If you see a dad abusing his child, you would also be worried about the child and try to get the dad away from them. Oh nevermind, you're not going to do that! You're just going to "mind your own business"
@@genetsandjazz Keeping a Wild endangered/exotic animal in a cramped home where it has no space and outlet for running around freely, isn't given its proper food diet and generally isn't living in an enclosure where it can be happy is in fact animal abuse. Ever heard of research?
@@NOTDeezy. Here's the thing you never SAID that. You simply stated the act of owning a caracal is abuse. I don't know why you assume every caracal owner or exotic pet owner is doing something wrong. What "research" makes you know how someone is caring for a pet?
I’ve noticed TikTok’s obsession with exotic frogs has gotten pretty out of hand along with other amphibians like axalotals. I don’t understand how people can treat these animals like collectible toys when they’re sentient creatures who are often of an endangered species
With store-bought Axolotls, they're often captive-bred and not taken from their native habitats. Due to this, they've been hybridized with tiger salamanders in their genus and are too distinct from the wild populations to reintroduce. Reintroduction could cause a lot of problems, mostly due to diseases that could be introduced into native populations. Axolotls ARE endangered but it's mostly due to human land-use changes and climate change. I still don't necessarily agree with owning them, they're used to big ponds or wetlands and tanks just don't cut it :/ Hope this was informative !
Although frogs definitely need specific care and a lot of research to take care of, the most popular pet frogs, whites tree frog, Pac-Man frogs, and African bullfrogs are almost always captive bred and whites and African bullfrogs are of least concern and Pac-Man frogs are near threatened in their conservation status so none of those are endangered. I don’t know if those are the frog species u r referring to but these types of pet frogs don’t have a negative environmental impact and as long as they have proper care they can thrive in captivity. That being said i haven’t used tiktok and don’t know if there r other endangered species of frogs being shown but as far as I know most frogs that u can actually buy as a pet on reputable sites r captive bred and are typically not endangered. Hopefully that clears some things up as although they are an exotic pet, that doesn’t mean they come from the wild, just that they require some more specific care. I do agree that showing them on tiktok is still not good because it can inspire ppl not willing to do the research to provide proper care to get pet frogs, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with owning them if from a reputable source and with proper care.
Mika's life makes me cry. Why can't people just get a dog or cat that would have stayed in the shelter otherwise. Or not get a pet at all. They clearly don't know how to take care of them.
They shouldn't even have pets. If they abuse exotic pets for clout, there's no doubt they won't do the exact same to common pets, because most of tiktok sees animals as an aesthetic item in the house more than a sentient living breathing damn animal.
It also makes me absolutely sick, I don't have tiktok but I have heard a lot of these kind of videos and saw a small compelation about them here on TH-cam and they make me lose faith in humanity like wtf is wrong with them!! They're not only taking wild animals out of there habitat but also treating them poorly and the worst of all getting away with it!!! Like here where I live you can get into jail for owning animals like Mika, it even went on the news once they had caught an owner!!! so I basically got a heartattack when I saw her in that cage, I really hope that one day the poor thing will be able to be free in nature where she belongs!
I remember calling out someone on tiktok saying “why spend $12,000 for an exotic animal when you can use that money to save their habitats?” And then everyone started attacking me 💀 the world is FKED
@Captainzilla418 eventually when they grow up and their brains develop they will realize how dumb they look bringing up things like someones personal life and business when they have no real argument or stance to add to the situation. When you have no argument go for easy “ low blows “. Takes absolutely no brain power. If you want to actually make someone feel bad try harder lol
Every spring you see people getting baby ducklings on TikTok, but you never see them past a few videos.... people impulse buy ducklings, because they are cheap and cute, but don’t understand the level of care they need long term.
Fr.. same with chicks :( Ive never owned ducklings but I raise chickens and people do not realize how much goes into making sure they grow up alright. They need a heat lamp, a brooder, clean water (chicks, and I can assume ducklings as well, dirty their water quite quickly) and require frequent monitoring to check for illness, pasty butt, congenital diseases etc. Not to mention five chicks alone will eat 75 lbs of feed during their childhood! After they're chicks then there's the issue of having a coop and safe place for them to forage, rooster laws and much much more! Seeing people purchase chicks as toys or temporary pets makes me furious. Chickens (and ducks!) Are such rewarding pets, and they deserve so much better than what we put them through.. (sorry for the rant I just really hate how chickens and ducks are treated in tiktok, Im glad to see there's someone else who agrees)
@@gingaswagger7969 no, it makes me mad too. I’m a duck person, but they are much more messy than chickens, but, they carry less diseases and are more hearty, they can take more extreme temps, however, when it come to consumption, ducks are more greasy due to the extra fat on their bodies, and their eggs, tho higher in protein, have more cholesterol than chicken eggs. There are pros and cons to each, and a lot required in their care, some you can prepare for, some you learn as you go.
Ducklings are incredibly hard to take care of, some dumbasses buy ducklings and baby chickens toghether and keep them in the same enclosure which results in all of the baby chicks dying, ducklings love water so they step inside the water you give them so they can drink, later they step ontop of the baby chickens with their wet feet and they get sick, sadly our family had to learn it the hard way... (note we have a ranch to look after them we didnt buy them for entertainment )
@@captainpotatord6984 I totally get it. I thought I was 💯 prepared for pet ducks... I talked to a lot of people, read everything I could get my hands on, built the Fort Knox of duck habitats... and when I was finally ready to bring home some baby ducks..... I learned I knew nothing. 😬
@@Sorvea Sigh i wish it was easy to learn how to look after ducks/chickens we thought we were ready we bought a bunch of chicks and some hens and roosters the next they they're all dead, martens ended up killing all of them after a couple of years we bought chicks and now they are fully grown and laying eggs ;) and most importantly we got a dog, we learned we couldnt have any chickens/ducks without a dog since martens dont come close to areas where the dogs are, we buy animals and we look after them feed them keep them safe while these people just buy them as toys and when they're done with them they just leave them out in the wild to die or leave them in a park where they also die its very sad and heart breaking how people could do such foul things ;(
remember when Finding Nemo was a story about a young animal being stolen from it's home and sold as a pet? but after it came out, the sales of clownfish skyrocketed edit: yes, i was thinking about blue tang (Dory) and the damage caused to that species. people saying that clownfish can be bred are, i believe, correct.
And people wanted to put Nemo and Dory in the same tank even though those species cannot cohabitate together. It is horrifying to think of all the fish that died because of that. Not to mention the amount of people that buy fish with no prior knowledge of the species or how to properly set up a tank. It isn't just throwing some water in a tank and starting the filter. edit: they cannot cohabitate in small to medium sized tanks
what's wild to me is how people watched the entirety of tiger king, saw the shit that man has done and went like "damn this is a cool guy im gonna follow him on tiktok"
A lot of people also watched Finding Nemo and thought "wooo, time to go buy a pet clownfish!", so it's quite obvious that the general population cannot be trusted to make sensible decisions
I tried watching tiger king because people hyping it up said it's super funny and entertaining. But i stopped after the second episode due to the animal abuse. I get where the fans are coming from, it's like watching characters of south park in real life. But they are also using real tigers whom habitats are getting destroyed, they are almost extinct and are being treated horribly in captivity. It's hard to enjoy such entertainment
@@CocoaPuffss The sucky thing is there's not alot of their natural habitat left. I mean we could just unleash them all in Flordia, I think everyone's good with that right ?
I remember when i watched someone dying their Ferret's fur. And the poor furball ended up passing away. And almost EVERYONE called them out for it The girl claimed that the dye was "pet safe" ... even though she used chalk. And also. Dying Ferrets are a BIG nono. It dries their skin and + they lick themselves clean. Meaning they lick up the chemicals.
I don't even own a ferret but they have natural oil in their hair to help with dry skin right? Which is why you shouldn't wash them often... The whole thing makes my head hurt a bit Don't get me wrong as a kid my sister and I drew eyebrows on our golden retriever, but jeez (we got in trouble but it was funny at the time). My sister used to dress the dog up in clothes a lot as well. We were lucky Bella was such a good sport about it lol Reminds me of the fish abuse tictocs. I "accidentally" flushed my live fish, shit for example. Which makes me big mad. Even if it's a goldfish, someone's gotta feel bad for em
Also.... Chalk???? That's like when my sister used to dye her hair with koolaid packets.... maybe koolaid would've worked better tf (*JOKING, please don't attempt to dye your ferrets*)
As a ferret owner this breaks my heart. But I am not surprised. Our current 3 boys and girl are from a ferret shelter. Brother and sister where kept in a cage by their previous owners with no playtime outside and not fed, to the point where they started eating their own feces. And our other boy lived alone In a small rabbit cage for 2 years outside in a garden. He didn't know any other ferrets and was quite shy when we got him, as well as lethargic. It hurts so much to think they suffered like this through the hands of people who didn't think about what it means to own ferrets. But it's good to see how happy my babies are now.
If the exotic pet is acting hostile and scared of the person who's supposed to take care of her, that's when you know they don't know what they're doing. My sister loves talking about getting a cool pet but doesn't even take care of the dog and cat we have. She loses interest in things so quickly, I'm glad my parents never acted on her wants
I wish my parents were like that :( my mom is a bit of an impulse shopper and once she bought like ten live snails for my little brother (who was around 8 at the time) as pets, only for them to get dumped on me as their caretaker (I was like 14 at the time and didnt know anything about snails) long story short I had a nervous breakdown when they began to reproduce lile crazy and I had tiny snails everywhere. Long story short my family let them loose (we live in a place where snails cant survive so I know they all died eventually :( and they laugh about how much I panicked about the snails like they didnt force the responsibility upon me.
My sister wanted a dog for like idk a month and my brother got one cause she got so ANNOYING and guess what? She doesn't take care of him she only uses him to pet him and get cute pictures meanwhile I'm here wanting a fish for 2 years doing so much godamn research and with nothing
The only time an animal who is properly taken care should be scared of its owner is if it’s come down with an illness, if it’s new, if something happened recently (like another animal attacked it), or if it has some anxiety disorder
I mean I have a dog my maid mostly does the feeding but I help bathe the dog every now and then and my maid comes with me to always the dog while I don't hold the leash I at least come with him
@Crackhead Energy LITERALLY the whole definition of karen changed. its like anyone who cares is a karen. like “oh you care about that girl? yoUrE a KarEn” like no kYLe, i’m a decent human being.
@@alysatran3852 "Kyle" should be a term used for people who think they're acting "cool," but they look like complete idiots and misuse the term "Karen" when a situation doesn't pamper to their views/needs/wants. Lol. Actually, I'm gonna start using that for now on-
I just found out that some hamsters hibernate so some hamster owners thought their hamster was dead when they were just hibernating and buried them alive
Saw a tiktok asking for stories of how people got their hamsters killed (how they died) and thinking it’s super funny. The majority of the people in the comments are just like that little girl from nemo, but literally at an age where they should know better. They don’t even see the issue with not feeling any remorse for these pets, they are just playing with lives at this point. The fact that they think so little of that small animal makes me puke
There are problems about common pets too. For example, a lot of people are buying Akitas recently bc of its popularity in the internet but it’s a hard breed to train and not anyone can handle one. The same goes for Huskies, Rottweilers, Chow Chows and many more. Once this dogs get old and they are no longer cute puppies a lot of people realize that they are not ready for such dogs and the dogs end up on shelteres. Some of them are put down while there bc there is simply no space for all of them.
Cats too. People buy a "posh" cat that fits their aesthetic, such as sphinx or bengal, which are fucking expensive too... and then the cat is loud (as bengals are known for, and even looking up the name will probably tell you that almost immediately) or the person is too invasive with the cat and doesnt listen to the boundaries the cat is putting down. Cats will tell you if you piss them off. They almost never attack for no reason. People get scratched by cats because they are hurting the cat. They then decide the cat is "dangerous" and then off to the shelter or to be put down. Its not the cats fault, its the way that the people are doing NO research for the breed they buy. Its not a pot-luck. The different breeds are going to act differently and have different needs that YOU havent done adequate research on.
@@RookMurphy My family had a bengal and I had no idea they were a typically loud breed…. I thought he was just dramatic and talkative, lol. I would have never even dreamed of treating him the way these people treat their cats, though!!! It makes me so sad and angry!!!!
@@RookMurphy Dont forget about how some owners declaw their cats simply because they dont want their furniture scratched, like bro if you dont want your furniture scratched, dont get a cat, get a beta fish or something
dude you have no idea how bad it is. These smugglers will watch scientific publications looking for new species being discovered, or new populations of existing rare species, and then fly to that location and clean it out. It's gotten so bad that there are talks within the community of keeping all location data hidden from the public entirely, which will hurt study of these species. It's horrible what these disgusting smugglers are doing.
government focuses on drug smuggling way more thsn bug smuggling. which, i mean both are bad but bugs are important to the ecosystem, keeping these species in their natural habitat and keeping then alive is very important for global warming. because even the smallest bug plays a massive role in the ecosystem, even if their role is just being food. that especially goes for pollinators because theyre important for plant growth. without them so many plants would die, including plants humans eat.
Captive breeding of insects and spiders is at an all time high as well. The problem isn't that people want pets like mantids, it's the people who buy wild caught rather than captive born ones. Influencers who want to show off their pet should encourage people to buy only captive bred but they can't be blamed for what unethical people do.
Exotic parrots are the 3rd most popular pet but #1 to be rehomed. I have a 4 year old galah that had 4 homes in 3 years. She's my sweetest bird because I put in the effort. The bird trade is getting so much worse now. Didn't y'all learn from rio?
No, I learned from my mom. She told me parrots are some of the most sensitive animals alive, prefer to stay in bonded pairs and can live to be 100. I always knew better, or knew to be in a place of bonding with and having one until my death, and then a secure place for it to live on after if it were to outlive me. Movies can't be in charge of raising these people. I think the most obvious trope about all of this tiktok mess is that none of the people who had these kids had any business having kids. At all. There truly are some people who were not meant to have them. People are having kids for the same reason they're doing this exotic pet thing, aesthetic. So the kid sits around the house on the phone looking at tiktoks like these all day. Maybe watching Rio, but yeah, not with a parent or anyone to help them siphon the intellectual value out of it.
I loved Rio when I was younger and had no idea it was about trying to show light onto the topic of those birds going towards extinction, and I was actually heartbroken when I found out the last one of the species was killed. People literally cannot take hints. Edit: I have just found out that the blue macaw isn’t actually extinct, but only has 53 left :(
@@grunklecream6046spix and blue macaws are the same thing depending on where you are from. There are in fact a few left (52 as of 2020) that they are trying reintroduce into the wild. They are receiving back lash though. "The ACTP is footing the bill for the Spix’s macaw reintroduction program, including building a $1.4 million facility in Bahia, but it’s not clear where the money is coming from. The Brazilian government, as a partner in the program, has also not provided details about the terms of the agreement, and is reportedly pressuring local breeders to send their birds to the ACTP in Germany.--In December 2018, Britain’s Guardian newspaper published an in-depth article on Martin Guth and the ACTP that had major international ramifications. For six months, journalists Lisa Cox and Philip Oltermann had investigated Guth’s past, raising serious suspicions about his work, including possible involvement with the illegal wildlife trade and the use of the ACTP to launder money for European organized crime." sorry for the long response tldr. they think the birds are being traded again.
while my bird may not be exotic, i think he still fits into this conversation Chiko, my 7-year old cockatiel, has been through at least 4 homes/places. He was bought by one person, treated terribly, and then picked up by a rescue. After that, there’s a chance someone adopted him who immediately decided they did not want him and sold him to a woman. Chiko lived with her for a good amount of time until she had to move away, eventually leading to us having Chiko. I am so glad we have him. His health has improved so much! The woman we got him from said he never would fly again since his wings were clipped and never grew back due to poor nutrition. But he proved her wrong with our help. parrots are not to be traded and passed around like an item at show and tell. They are pets. They feel the pain when you love them one day, and you’re gone the next. Parrots are amazing pets but please do your research and do not get one if you are just going to pass them around.
even reputable exotic owners (rescues, rehabers, etc) on tiktok have a really hard time with viewers wanting the same animals. Even on posts where they’re stating why they aren’t good pets are met with “idc i want one”
I have a Chinese water dragon and every single post I make about him says “THESE ARE NOT EASY PETS” they sell for like $25 at petsmart but these dudes get up to 3 feet long and they need a semi arboreal semi aquatic enclosure that is bare minimum 5 ft high 3 ft deep and 4 ft wide. A $25 cute baby lizard grows into a $1000 enclosure
Same is happening with houseplants, especially cacti and other succulents. There are reputable nurseries that grow certain threatened and endangered plants... but when photos of those ethically sourced plants hit social media demand inevitably surpasses supply. This indirectly fuels poaching and smuggling from the plants' native habitats. Now a third of all cacti are theatened, in part due to the rare houseplant collecting craze.
Alot of people seem to confuse rehab/rescue with having a pet. I saw some article talking about "How to hold an opposum as a pet" cuz the site that wrote it looked at video and never realized these people just raise injured animals to return to the wild
Of course Tik Tok doesn't care about the exploitation of exotic pets, the same way they don't care about underage kids being sexualized on their platform. As long as the tiktokers make content people like it makes them earn money 🤑
I was luckily one of the fortunate kids who has parents who are experienced with a lot of exotic animals and more money compared to the average person, such a blessing, I hate poor people and their stupid decisions
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 last time I checked being poor has nothing to do with abusing pets, hell, rich people might abuse exotic pets even more because they have the money to buy them
This makes me think about my axolotl, I recently started rearing one from just a juvenile. Rescued him from a cramped tank with another juvenile that was eating him. He was just a sad little thing tucked in a corner with barely any gills and no limbs at all. I'm raising him in his own nursing tank with an airstone and regular changes, he's not only doubled in size and gotten his limbs back, but he's surprised me with long, fluffy gills! He's made a full recovery and turned into a very social axie, rushing to the front of his tank when he sees me walk in with the bloodworm cup! Once he's ready, I'll be letting his tank cycle then adding him once I have a strong enough biofilter going. I'd never share him around on socials. No videos or anything! My irl friend saw him and immediately bought one, and I feel so bad for it. Being kept with this bright red gravel in a lit up tank, it's gills got so thin and it looks like it's in poor health. I've told them how to take better care of it, I even offered to help or take it, but of course they wouldn't listen or let me help saying they knew what they were doing. It lead to a huge fight and us falling out because they said I shouldn't have tried telling them what to do. I've owned two others when I was just a kid, and I'll admit I went wrong and they wound up ill. That's why I'm so adamant on researching, keeping proper care, watching water parameters and temperature. It's all important. Please, if you want an axolotl.. Do your research. You can even ask me questions! I've spent months studying and researching, watching videos, documentaries, everything to make sure I can take care of my axolotl.
Axolots, fish, hamsters, and other pets commonly kept by children really aren't pets for children. They require lots of research and aren't easy to care for. I don't blame you for not caring for your two, it's on your parents for letting you get one in the first place, but even then the idea of getting these pets for children is so normalised I can't even really say it's their fault
@@fanpet3912 Precisely. I still regret the decision I made, but now I've grown with a strong concept of the concept of taking care of your pets or facing the consequences The juvenile axolotl I've been raising is doing spectacularly right now though! He's grown nearly two inches in length and seems in wonderful shape
Folx getting pets that are biologically designed to eat meat, then refusing them meat because they (the owner) is vegan is such a pet peeve of mine. You're slowly killing your pet, but sure. Humans can absolutely thrive on a properly balanced vegan or vegetarian diet. Your cat will die.
@@x10sam it's forsurely abuse and I don't know how people don't see it that way ..I'm vegan and I just get my ferrets ethically sourced small batch whole prey/rmb/organs...it really ain't that hard to also just feed a higher quality kibble that's meat based smdh
@@x10sam im vegan myself, but i have carnivorous pets, i would never abuse or neglect my pets because i dont like an industry. my hedgehog needs a meat and insect based diet and being vegan for me is because im an animal lover. animal lovers KNOW basic biology and know carnivorous animals need a meat based diet. the fennec fox story broke my heart because of the sheer ignorance and abuse that owner brought upon their pet. its very upsetting.
the worst possible thing you can do with most exotic animals is to "free" them. Unfortunately Burmese pythons and some other animals are hard to care for and dangerous to the owner as adults so people who aren't up to the task end up with a giant snake they can't keep.
Finally someone speaks out about this. Orchid mantis originates from my country and it sucks seeing them not in the wild or admired greatly, they're reduced to a prop for tiktok videos
And they make it so obvious, it’s always some person in a small house having animals in a small enclosure, I hate how people don’t even care about the animal itself but only it’s looks.
I’ve thought and researched a lot about getting one. But ultimately I decided I’m not nearly skilled enough for it, and atleast the places I looked were captive breeders. To think that now a lot more are being taken from the wild is so sad.
it honestly sickens me seeing people reduce them to nothing but a prop for clout, like you’ve said. i’ve researched and anticipated owning different species of bugs-different kinds of tarantulas, millipedes, and mantises specifically-for years (i’m autistic. insects and bugs have been one of my lifelong special interests and fixations and i have an overwhelming amount of bug knowledge to spew onto people completely unprovoked, lol). i have spent what i would guess is around a decade making sure i’d be ready to own these bugs if i ever got the chance to have one. i have an interest in the more educational/biology-related side of it, along with bug pinning; i’d love to keep those beautiful little bugs after giving them the absolute best life i possibly can. the fact that so many people have purchased these creatures not only impulsively and when lacking the proper care, but have done so from people who would take them out of their natural habitats honestly does make me sick. it breaks my heart that orchid mantises especially have been sensationalized by tiktokkers looking for clout and some animal crossing players who just want to use them as a display because “uwu pretty pink,” rather than looking at them as what they are: living, breathing creatures.
Even common pets on tiktok aren’t safe. I’ve seen so many people put fish in vodka bottles or bongs (then use it WHILE the fish is inside) or flush live fish down the toilet. Those who express their concern get hate and called the fish police smh 🙄
I hate how people have little to no regard for fish's feelings. It's been scientifically proven over and over again that fish are intelligent and can have complex feelings. Above all, though, they feel pain. It's sad that among the exotic pets that are tossed around fish alongside insects are the most neglected. I remember seeing a clown triggerfish (not on tiktok, it was in an exotic fish store) that had some sort of issue swimming. It couldn't orient itself and kept spinning around whenever it would try. I always feel so bad for these babies when I see em.
These comments have proven to me that these arent misguided children who don't know any better, but legit adults gaslighting children into animal abuse.
@@npcimknot958 I think you're wrong about that. I predict that in a few years we will see leaks pointing to either KF or Ledditchan weens being behind this ultimately, mark my words. Love em or hate em, the extreme left isn't known for openly supporting animal abuse at the individual level that's kind of the extreme rights MO.
This is great. Honestly I think people dissociate pets from animals so much that we hardly even raise dogs and cats responsibly. The same reason we have awful puppy breeding farms and poachers is because people start seeing pets as products, as aesthetic, not animals.
Precisely!! I absolutely loathe the way i see puppies are advertised like they're just a toy or some kind of product. I keep seeing ads for puppies with a 'bundle deal' or promotion with other pet products and it sickens me that they dont see it as a living animal
All animals are seen as products if they have the potential of financial gain. The ones that don't are useless. That's how some people think, unfortunately.
@@amusasai8920 that's why normal people don't see animals as products, aside from farm animals maybe, because they don't stand to gain anything from owning them
Yes and when you do the most even basic care for your dog or cat they start screaming how dogs are children and it's like, well you're taking care of the animal, feeding bathing taking to a doctor????
My younger sisters have bought exotic fish, crested geckos, hedgehog and a few other animals because of tiktok and now they want frogs and snakes! They’re the type of teens that like something because it’s popular but once it gets old or they get bored of it they push it to a corner, their crested geckos are literally in their closet. I had to do my own research on their animals to care for them and to make sure they aren’t neglected. They aren’t responsible enough to have animals and I hope I can find actual responsible pet owners that know more able these animals and can properly care for them.
I was an internet influenced teen too who got into reptiles because of tumblr and youtube. I made lots of mistakes too because I impulse bought a lot at first, thankfully I never lost interest and I am still deep in the hobby. Not every teen that’s influenced by the internet is going to be a bad owner, but there are signs that they will be like: only likes the current popular ones, wanting to get it very fast, has history of neglecting pets, likes the idea of showing off their pets more than caring for them, stops researching after they feel educated enogh.
I’m not defending your sister and I honestly think she needs to be responsible. I’m just pointing out that not every teen that gets an exotic pet is bad.
@@leslievasquez54 my parents don’t buy them, my dad has actually told them multiple times they weren’t allowed to have anymore pets but my sisters buy them without telling my parents and sometimes we don’t know they have new animals until we go into their rooms.
yeah! some things (or most things honestly) are better to be respectfully appreciated from afar in their natural habitat! influencers need to be more aware of the platform they have and set a better example, like they gotta take responsibility for the consequences and ignorance that their actions can breed! i’ve been an animal lover my whole life, and i know if tiktok had been around when i was younger, i definitely could have been swept up in this mentality due to not knowing any better.
I read this as etymologist and was like „sure, if the name sounds unfamiliar even to you, you should probably research that animal a bit more before committing to it“ but I have to admit, your comment makes a lot more sense now. Agree though!
@@jester6623 Hey! Have you heard of isopods (or roly polys)? They are great pet bugs and fantastic for beginners. look up “armadillidium vulgare gem” isopods. This kind comes in a variety of colors and are very easy to care for. you can feed them fish flakes & bits of fruit and veggies so they are very inexpensive. They like semi moist soil with lots of leaves and bark to hide under!
Animals are being abused and even killed for social media a lot (it even happens on the dark/deep web) and it seems like there isn't just a lack of repercussions, but they're also getting a lot of likes because people are thinking this is okay. Great video.
I'm sorry lol but isn't dark/deep web supposed to be the one that's not 'even'? Like obviously dark/deeb web has animal abusers but EVEN non-dark web (normal web we all use) has animal abuse shown. ik it's a nitpick but i'm just pointing this out w/o trying to be a grammar nazi or whatever
@@papasscooperiaworker3649 I've seen pages where people kick dogs and flick at hamsters and rabbits and even saw someone shaking the body of a dog they just choked to death ON INSTAGRAM!! It's so horrible and the only thing you can do is reporting them and spreading the word, telling others to report them. After that we can only hope that the company actually does something.
I saw a video on TikTok of someone who literally picked up a cat. And threw it against the wall..... the people there were just laughing and recoding it. It’s so sick
Here's a tip: If you want to keep insects, arachnids, or reptiles, always use a trustworthy breeder and only own what's legal in your state. I know, I know, a 20 ft killer snake is tempting, but those laws are there for reason. Also always look into breeders before buying from them, make sure they are getting animals from legitimate sources and are properly caring for animals they breed.
I mean I’m all fairness, the large constrictor bans are based largely on prejudices that have little basis in reality. Very few people are killed by large constrictors. That’s not to say your average Joe should have one, they can seriously hurt or kill you if you don’t know how to read your snake or how to properly take care of it, obviously, but my point is more that the “reasons” for those anti-snake laws are more often than not bullshit. Don’t go out and get a Burm or retic, they need a lot of space, need specific food, and need someone who understands how they work and knows how to respect them. If you know what you’re doing, and you are willing and able to care for it, do your research and then maybe get one but don’t get any animal on a whim. One of my dream species to keep is the Barbados Brown Velvet Worm, but they are very hard to get (legally or illegally), and they have a small captive population. I managed to get into contact with the guy who legally imported them into North America and breeds them, and I don’t plan to get any until I know I can take good care of them and I’m able to breed them, so that more of them don’t have to be taken out of the wild.
"those laws are there for reason" - ehhh many laws are stupid, spain banned... tarantulas because they're apparently dangerous or something, despite the fact that you're way more likely to die because of your cat (in fact there isn't a single recorded case of someone dying from a tarantula bite and bites are extremely rare, meanwhile cat scratch disease could be fatal), and my country's laws seem to think that a green anaconda, a giraffe, or a grey wolf are less dangerous than a tiny spider
I admit I've thought I wanted certain exotic "pets" due to seeing them on social media. I was always deterred after further researching the animal. The care, habitat, time, and money they require is beyond ability. As I'm sure it is for 90% of the people that own these animals. My desire to own exotic animals quickly disappeared after briefly educating myself. I wasn't even aware that improper care is only half the issue. Thank you for taking time to shed light on this important issue! Also, the creators of Tiger King really did such a disservice to the animals. Truly a missed opportunity to actually advocate for these animals. Instead they just sensationalized the owning and trading. Plus gave terrible people a large platform.
As a kinda exotic pet owner I try to rescue my animals from people who cannot care for them or don't want them after I have done sufficient research and I'd say most people do no research just look at Messi the cougar the owners admit they saw the cat wanted the cat bought the cat without doing ANY research but still think they give better care than experts (they don't). And tiger king did exactly what it wanted to it was a promotion of the exotic cat trade permit application for these and other exotic mammals have gone up in some places something like 2000% and where there's people going the legal route there's thousands more going the illegal one.
@@asherkarr5096 Didn't Messi come from a former petting Zoo that shut down? I think they talked about it in one of their videos, can't remember it. It would surely explain his short legs. The dude also has shown videos of training him and he seems to obey just as well as a well trained dog, and take them regularly on walks or places they are enclosoured well enough. Haven't watched every video though.
@@huhhuh9598 wild animals are more than intelligent enough to learn tricks, doesn't mean they should be pets. There's an old video (idk where to find it tho) about a woman who owned a bear from it being a cub and she's getting interviewed about it. The interviewer asks if the bear ever makes her nervous and she laughed and said "no hes harmless" after she said that the bear swung at her and batted her head off. It doesn't matter how "well trained" they are, they are still wild animals
@@tabithavanderpool418 even people or domesticated animals like cats, dogs often do something violent in anger, even if they are usually calm. So a bear, or any other wild animal will obviously much more likely to do so, especially since they live in forests, or open plains where there aren't any boundaries, so closed space probably stresses them out. So while any wild animal is dangerous, big ones like bears, large cats, or even deer can knock you out or outright kill you in a couple blows, keeping them as pets is just waiting for natural selection to happen
Warning, rant incoming!: As someone who owns exotic pets(snakes and lizards) it absolutely sickens me when people purchase exotic pets just because someone on tik tok does. The trend that I often see, is the accumulation of Ball Pytbon morphs, especially Bananas and BEL's. It's really the "cute" aesthetic that these morphs possess. BEL's are solid white and appear pure and every way, while the bananas look Pastel in a sense. The moment they encounter one problem, they rehome them. They are all over craigslist, which is the result of someone seeing something cute and appealing and growing bored. Don't get me started on the Frog and Ferret promblem...Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!👍
As someone who also owns a ball python I see this a lot too, there’s a friend my girlfriend has that literally impulse bought All of her reptiles and will have to rehome all of them come the end of the college school year, people are so irresponsible
it really is gross how people impulse get pets because of tik tok and dont do their research first. i have a leopard pastel ball python and my mom has a spider ball python (its also sad that this beautiful morph has such a heart breaking neurological problem) i wanted a snake for years and back in 2019 i finally got one. i made sure to do my research and i even had bought a 40 gallon tank just to make sure when he got older he would have plenty of room. and made sure the temp and humidity was regulated properly before we got him and let him into his new home. my cat jumped onto the tank while i wasnt paying attention and broke the mesh so hes in a 20 gallon now but he has been doing great in it! i want to move him into a 30 gallon because there is barely any room in there for him imo.
even regular pets are being casually abused & exploited all over tiktok :( like ive seen countless videos of hamsters in extremely small cages trying to hurt themselves or escape, & theres this girl w a fairly big platform who makes 'cute' vids of her handling her frogs w no gloves & w long acrylics, occasionally poking the frogs w her nails. she holds them way too high up, & she even dropped one of her frogs once, & only deleted the video after she received backlash. anytime someone points out the abuse on her page we're flooded w replied abt how we dont know what we're talking abt or how we're just being rude, & this is all from ppl who have never even been near frogs before & just find her frogs cute. its disgusting.
I keep an exotic pet its a blue tongue skink that breed in captivity and his name is potato. I think it is ok to keep exotic pet as long as the owner knows how to care them
I mean this is pretty much laser accuracy targeted hate, animal abuse on the internet is older than google itself just remember dolphinsexdotcom, its the whole internets problem not only tiktok
@@MiguelAngel-go4ck i was naming an example, but i didnt mean to make it sound like thats the only form of animal abuse! this is just a recent & fairly well known example i know some ppl might recognize :)
Someone got mad at me for telling people that 2 bearded dragons should not be allowed near each other and I got attacked for defending the only person who got that lol
That’s strange. I worked at a nature center where we had a few that we’d put together for feeding with no issues. I’ve also known breeders who keep a male with multiple females with no problems. Do you mean they shouldn’t keep males together?
@@davish.2726 probably but then the owner has to tell the difference. Keeping bearded dragons apart is a good rule of thumb unless you know it's safe and are watching for signs of aggression.
I don’t use Tiktok, but my fiancée used to. The amount of times she has reported videos for animal abuse is astonishing, and not one time has tiktok removed the videos in question. Every time they respond saying it doesn’t violate their TOS, even when it’s literal abuse, like throwing a live rabbit into a snake enclosure. It’s disgusting what they will let people get away with on that app
Like how they refuse to ban the woman who STILL SINCE 2020 has her premature babies corpse in every video and u can see its rotting and obviously stinks. Tik Tok only takes down videos of people doing something or showing things that are actually interesting.
@@Trollestiatumblur *Yep* There's literally a woman who's had her premie babies rotting corpse thats purple with holes in it *and they still havent banned her*
I once found a video of a girl dissecting her dead hamster on vídeo beacuse she wanted to see the size of its heart, i reported it but tik tok said the same bs that it didnt go against the tos, i ended up deleting my account and i installed the app.
i don’t own a frog myself but holy shit the amount of people who see people who own frogs and want one for their own terrifies me on tiktok. i always see cute frog videos from educated owners and the comments say “WHERE DO I GET ONE?” and when i mention that’s not a good idea because it’s most likely an impulse buy and the animal won’t get proper care they say “mind your business” or “i can do what i want”. it’s gross
Tiktok has a huge problem in impulse buying animals. Frogs and orchid mantises are hard pets to keep. I'm getting a frog at some point this year and have already been preparing for months even though I probably won't get it until around October. I also keep mantises, not orchids, but I know a lot of people who DO have orchids and I know they're very sensitive and die easily, especially under the care of beginners to the hobby. I was also given goldfish the other day as a gift, but I know they're hard to take care of and I'm not prepared at all so I'm rehoming them. A lot of research is required to get these animals, but on tiktok people just see cute animals and buy them immediately. It's gross.
@@fanpet3912 i own 3 birds (budgies) and did months of research and preparing before even getting my first budgie. budgies are often known as one of the easiest parrots to maintain and keep but i still did a long process of preparing. i see these videos on my fyp all the time of people showing off their beautiful exotic pets which i love but at the same time it’s so worrying because if they’re viral they’ll encourage more and more people to get said pet, eventually resulting in more impulse bought pets often from the wrong/unethical sources too. i’m currently still rather young (i turn 13 in a few months) and it’s incredible the amount of people years older than me that don’t have the common sense to do proper research
I have a dream to own black eyed tree frogs but the day of the aquiring is not coming any time soon. I want to be SURE I can care for these pets and give them a good life, therefore I will research a lot and prepare myself whenever I plan to get thrse little babies~
It actually can be completely okay to purchase a captive-bred orchid mantis from a reputable breeder, HOWEVER you should NEVER buy an orchid mantis if you don’t have the proper experience. I kept 8 varieties of mantises for a year before I even considered keeping one. It’s not only about research, but also experience. And about 85% of the people who buy orchids have zero experience, whatsoever.
i swear to god if orchid mantises go extinct because of tiktok like bro they’re gorgeous and also the inspiration for my favorite pokémon and yeah it’s a dumb reason but i love the hell out of these things, but i’m fully aware that they should be left in their habitats
@@genghisfarn by getting cbb individuals you are not contributing to poaching, even so, if you start breeding them, you are going against the poaching by creating more cbb availability. I have no idea why people would poach orchid mantises because any mantid breeder worth smth breeds them... so not that rare
@@taph0philia mantises are good pets, but orchids aren't. They're hard to keep and die easily at small mistakes. I don't know why they're still a common pet in the mantis community
"Orchid mantis are extremely rare", I don't know why, but I suddenly felt very guilty, because at one point in Animal Crossing, I had one in every room.
As long as it never actually happened in real life there's is no need to feel guilty, besides even if hypothetically you wanted to have one you know better now.
@@marleymars2223 People underestimate how much work bunnies are. Definitely less maintenance than a dog or cat, but most are held in spaces so small its already animal cruelty. We and our neighbours were one of the few people to actually follow space measurements etc. Which only worked because we had them in 2 big diyed together hutches in the garden with all of the terrace and a big chunk of grass to be on (6 or 5 square meters over all I think) when we could supervise them. (Being a prey animal they need alot of space to run in during free roaming) Most people hold them in tiny cages indoors. Bunnies can grow really big, which most people somehow dont know, since theyre way smaller as babies. Not quite dog or cat sized, but they were around 50cm/0,5m/196'' stretched out once fully mature.
and chicks and ducklings. i happened to get my baby chicks right around easter and the guy we bought them from were sold out of all the 'pretty' ones. they're gorgeous little guys but it makes me sad to think that these people are buying one chick at a time and just leaving it isolated
While i dont own pets myself the sheer amount of malice i feel for those who use extremely exotic and rare species for nothing but attention and views cannot be overstated great vid thank you for addressing this issue
If axolotls go extinct because of tiktok I will cry Edit: why are yall yelling at me, you guys are assuming I know everything about them, all I said way that I didn't want them to go extinct💀
@@CourtneyHammett they're not bad to have it's just that they're exotic and most people that want one (people from tiktok) dont do enough research on them and they dont treat them correctly
Pet axolotls that are captive bred are actually hybridized with tiger salamanders so it doesnt affect the pure wild axolotl populations (since they are so available captive bred as pets I dont think they are being poached to be pets)
If you want an “exotic” pet get something similar! Want an orchid mantis? Go catch a praying mantis outside. Want a wildcat? Head to ur local animal shelter and get a lonely cat! They are just as cute and you can get them easily
I do think the main issue with a lot of people who get exotic animals is impulse buying and the lack of research. Which could also harm more normal pets. :( I do agree with tho that people should just try to settle with something more similar that fills the same ”need” that the exotic animal fills.
Why would you catch a random insect outside and keep it as a pet? I’ve think we’ve all had a tragic childhood experience where our pet inchworm that we caught died.
@@pepearown4968 I own a millipede and two centipedes caught from outside, they're thriving and becayse they're local, they're adapted for my environment. The question is, why WOULDN'T you?
as someone who just learned about orchid mantis’ and thought “ooh, pretty! would love one myself!” i’m glad to have seen this video! it’s reminded me that just because everything can be made into a pet doesn’t mean we deserve to have it as a pet or that it can adapt to being a pet. i am not swearing off of owning one ever (orchid mantis) but i’m definitely going to be doing a lot of research if i do and treating the decision as seriously as it deserves, more seriously than “ooh, pretty”
I have an orchid mantis, they actually are quite nice but my recommendation is to buy an Indian flower mantis instead. They’re just as pretty in my opinion, but about a thousand times easier to care for. After this you can move onto spiny flower mantises, also gorgeous, and after gaining lots of experience and keeping lots of species, THEN do your research and purchase an orchid mantis. I also recommend joining a mantis keeper discord server in order to gain proper knowledge, it’s the best way to get proper info.
@@guccipucci2560 that was kind of my thought process, work my way up to being able to properly care for a pet that is not meant for beginner mantis owners / do research, and have a group of other mantis people to rely on once i get it
@@angrybuddha7613 yeah absolutely, I’m glad you’re being responsible with the choice because mantises are just genuinely amazing pets as long as you’ve done the research required
@@guccipucci2560 agreed, they’re pretty amazing. ever since doing even just a little more research on them (mantises in general, not just orchids) i’ve found a deep fascination with them and want to make sure when i get my mantises they are given the love, respect and proper care that they deserve and are entitled to
@@angrybuddha7613 it’s really nice to see people that think the way you do, because mantises are just so special and deserve so much respect and love. Even after reading about them, actually having one just amazes you with how much personality they have and how different they are from anything else in the world
I had seen one where a guy had three axolotls out of the water outdoors. He wasnt keeping them as pets or anything he just had them in the background on a rock. One of them was moving around, another, one was gasping for air, and the last one was dead. These are animals that are critically endagered. When I called him out on it he said they were alive and others said it wasnt a big deal.
What the hell!? They have gills. GILLS! I know they're amphibians but the literal visible gills ON THEIR FACE should clue you in that they shouldn't be out of water for that long and you should assume that if the things they USE TO BREATHE are slicked back against their face they FUCKING CAN'T
Fortunately, it’s a domestic axolotl, not the critically endangered on. But still horrifying, people adore making animals suffer for their amusement, so this doesn’t truly surprise me.
I own a chinchilla Hes about 10 years old now and from my parents chinchillas from when i was a literal infant I know how to care for a chinchilla. I know how easily they die. How prone to injury they can be in improper environments. Every times someone sees my boy and goes "oh hes so cute i want one!" I tell em of the many requirements they have and common health issues, the problems that come with the litany of bad breeders ect, by the time im done those people dont want a chinchilla anymore I cant imagine how many fluffy good boys and girls have needlessly died to ill equipped owners and people who reccomend them without informing anyone of the care they need. And thats just chinchillas. There's pets with greater more specialized needs recklessly bought, sold, and recommended to people who cant keep a cactus alive. I love my spuds, i would never just reccomend someone buy a chinchilla if they are ill informed. Ive seen too many die to bad owners in my lifetime. I will not contribute to the death and pain of exotic animals.
I see a chinchilla couple “chinchilling” at the pet store near me and they’ve lived there for years. I feel terrible for them. They’ve been in good health for all that time from what I can see, but it hurts my heart to see them in that cage. But I’m glad nobody has bought them and treated them worse.
I have two chinchillas that are only around 2 years old and the way we got them was kinda sad. The past owner of them had two adult chinchillas in the same cage and didn’t know they’d breed. So when the baby’s came the set the cage outside in October while it was like 40 degrees for h o u r s. Luckily a friend lived around this neighborhood and saw them and asked us to if we could help them. (We had no prior knowledge of chinchillas and didn’t know what we were doing) but now there safe and happy and live in a cage that is probably 5x the size of there old one and they get spoiled ☺️ (there names are Franklin and Faraday)
Chameleons are the most fragile, ridiculously delicate species with the most intensive care requirements and they sell them at Petco. I hate that so much. I don’t know why they sell these animals with such extensive care requirements. You know some 10 year old is talking his mom into getting him a chinchilla right now. It’s sad ):
The same with chameleons. These animals are delicate and its terrifying to see how ignorant people choose to be on the ethics of keeping any animal without proper research and care.
What I hate is when someone (not just animal abusers) calls someone who is against their actions a Karen. They know they're doing wrong they just want to paint themselves as someone who does no wrong
Yeah like imagine this on tik tok “OMG GUYs IM A CATFISH BREEDER HERE IN FLORIDA COMe BuY ONE” **it’s actually an invasive species called a snakehead** and then someone calls them out and then the guy says : “YOURE SUCH A KAREN 😡”
@@czechoslovakia1090 if your the wrong color you’ll be called a Karen for acknowledging any bad behavior, or bad decision, god forbid you actually need to report a legitimate crime like child abuse, domestic violence, physical assault, sexual assault, stalking, gang violence, or a knife fight.. some would stoop so low they’d harass your family even after you die…
I hate when people just impulsively buy pets and then don’t know how to take care of them. My friend has several dogs and a cat that they don’t take good care of because their dogs get excited when going for a walk bc of the lack of walks it gets and they don’t train it not to pull on the leash. They trap their cat in a bedroom without any toys for the cat because the rest of the family doesn’t want the cat. They also recently got ducks :/
if the dog only pulls cause of lack of walks the pulling might just stop by itself if the dog gets regular walks. my dog was similar, not really training needed, just exercise. i hope u can talk to ur friend abt how u feel about it
I got a friends that I really feel bad for their pets because she has a cockatoo and it’s always in a small cage and their cats don’t go outside and one even got a infection and they didn’t get it treated so it died and it genuinely breaks my heart
I'm not saying owning exotic pets is horrible but when people make videos on exotic pets, they need to further educate their audience because too many people on the platform are misinformed and don't know the consequences and the responsibilities to owning an exotic pet.
Two years ago I went to a restaurant and some girl bring a red baby monkey and she was showing the monkey to her friends. It make me wanna gag! My sister asked " don't I want one? " like everyone know I'm an animal lover but hell no I'm not taking away any baby away from their mother
Apparently, there is such a thing as service monkeys. Like a service dog, but it would be in monkey form. I know this because when I was working in retail and as long as it had the vest, service monkeys were allowed.
I had this one friend in middle school who had a tiny turtle. The poor turtle was put in a plastic container (definitely not a terrarium) with just a little bowl filled with water to swim in. but the worst thing is it was REMOVED from its natural habitat during one of my friend’s summer trip with her family. They were like “oh turtles! they look so cute, let’s grab one and bring it home”. Like wth??? I didn’t quite get it at that time but now when I think about it, it drives me so mad.
My cousins has 2-3 turtles in a fish tank with some water in one of the bathrooms. That’s it. I always felt bad for them because it’s clear they aren’t getting much attention besides being feed, and I don’t even know how often they do it, because their food thing on top of it feels as heavy as it was the last time I’ve been there. To make matters worse is that I know for a fact they were interested in the turtles for a while then lost interest. I know that because few years back he got a pit, and when he got to big the poor dog was just locked in his way to small cage before their dad took him just left the dog in a field.
As an experienced mantis keeper, orchids are actually really hard to keep and the worst mantis for beginners. They can die from small mistakes and these people impulse-buying them from tiktok is such a bad idea. I actually live in a country with only two mantis species, and others aren't allowed to be brought in (and rightfully so!) so I've never kept anything but those two, and I'm happy to do so. But I'm in a lot of mantis communities and so I know a lot of even experienced keepers struggling with orchids. Personally, I don't see the appeal. I know this isn't the point of this video, but I figured it was worth something to add. All of these animals aren't easy to keep, but people see these cute videos and buy them. It's stupid and dangerous.
@@genetsandjazz yes, they typically only live for up to a year. But that doesn't mean they should have their lives cut short because of their owner's inexperience/incompetence, especially considering how expensive they are (not that their price determines their value, just saying that most people don't want to buy an expensive pet only for it to die a month later because they didn't know how to care for it properly)
@@fanpet3912 Well, ethically speaking, they are no more deserving of life than the bugs that are fed to them. I can't find any evidence that the pet trade is harming orchid mantis or that the smuggled ones are wild-caught. It's funny that I can't get people to stop killing wild bugs for no reason but put one in a cage and the anti-exotic pet mobs descend upon you. I mean really.
@@genetsandjazz Ethically speaking, I agree with you, but it really has nothing to do with the conversation? Mantises are killed unnecessarily by poor care conditions, while the bugs that they eat at least provide calories for another being. I believe that the pet trade probably is harming orchids in some way, as the pet trade usually harms most animal species involved in it, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be kept as pets. People just need to not be stupid and be sure to buy them from trustworthy breeders. There's no inherent problem with keeping them, as long as you're responsible about it.
@@fanpet3912 There's a lot of speculation going in here. I think orchid mantis are still very uncommon as pets. I believe those who choose to keep them are very involved with bug keeping. I _highly_ doubt the pet trade is harming wild populations, particularly as I found one researcher suggest they are "rare in the field", which I can't figure out if that means they are hard to find or their populations are tiny. It doesn't make sense to me with the latter since bugs lay presumably hundreds of eggs. If they are rare to find, however, it would be hard for collectors to find them and captive breeding would be easier. Frankly even if you accidentally kill them, generally bugs lay so many eggs because most don't make it to adulthood so they'd be living longer with you.
Slow lorises are also one of the only venomous mammals and their teeth are taken out to make sure they don’t hurt their handlers in the traumatic process.
You aren't slandering influencers by exposing them, you are simply holding them accountable. Anyone who refers to themselves as an "influencer" should know what the word means. If you call yourself an "influencer", you are looking to influence the behaviours, tastes, and purchasing practices of others. And you will influence people with your words AND your actions. So, any influencer who's behaviour is encouraging (implicitly or explicitly) others to participate in questionable activity, should definitely be held to account. Slow loruses aren't the only animals that die in heartbreaking numbers due to smuggling...most exotic animals don't survive the smuggling process. Seeing all those huge insects in tiny boxes and jars brought tears to my eyes. People end up with pets that they can't control, so they release them into the wild, assuming that they'll adapt, with no understanding of the animal's natural habitat and dietary needs. Not to imagine ignoring that you have now released a domesticated (or semi-domesticated) animal into an alien environment where it doesn't know how to fend for itself. The whole thing just makes me so angry and sad!! Why do people think that exotic animals and insects are just toys for them to play with until they get bored?? They are living, breathing creatures with (in the case of animals) feelings. Animals feel happiness, loneliness, fear, confusion, and depression...and I'm sure they feel the last 4 in abundance when they are ripped away from their mothers, stuffed in dark boxes, and shipped to somewhere completely foreign during a tortuous trip with others of their kind dying all around them. They are not meant to be living toys for the rich and clueless. For crying out loud, there are enough animals in shelters and rescues in every country around the world. It's too bad that so-called influencers can't use their platform for something good, like encouraging their followers to adopt pets in their own countries that need a loving forever home.
Raising orphan domestic cats and going into exotic animal rehab and vet med the exotic trade of mammals is extensively cruel considering 99% of them are seperated from my before 1-2 days of life causes a infant mortality rate close to 75% not to mention they commonly forceably wean them too early (going from formula to solids) which can also kill them or at the least be very unpleasant and even painful and also the breeders encourage people to incorrectly feed and house them as well as purposefully tell people to keep extremely social animals such as primates away from others of their spieces otherwise they will not bond with the owner also on the topic of primates one of the biggest threats to wild primates is killing the mom for meat than selling her infant into the pet trade which will rarely make it past 2 due to horrific care.
Insects are animals too; if it's not a plant, a fungus, a bacteria, a protist or an archaea, it's part of the domain of Animalia. Insects experience feelings too, some more than others but all of them to my knowledge have the basic feelings required to live, like fear and stress which motivate them to defend themselves against threats. If the animal reacts to being in contact with their environment you know they have feelings of some kind, and for example you can know many types of insects can experience joy on some level because they favour certain foods over others. If they didn't experience those feelings there would be no reason to favour something and seek it out and even choose it over foods that are easier to obtain. Like ants could simply eat aphids but they chose to become symbiotic instead because they prefer the sugar they secrete over the taste of the aphids themselves. Kinda pointless but my pet peeve is that people think insects aren't animals 😅
Most of these people aren’t “influencers” or claim such title. We give them those titles because we choose to. All they do is post videos online. They have no responsibility to be a role model.
@@jorgevaldes756 you don't live in a bubble, EVERYONE has the responsibility to BE RESPONSIBLE... With these people it includes not advertising their pets like they're accessories instead of living beings.
It's crazy how there are a number of animal owners that will go to great lengths to get social media content at the expense of the animal. I own a hamster and it is incredibly unsettling as to see how many videos exist on TikTok or TH-cam that exploit hamsters and put them into dangerous situations. From putting them into extremely small cages because they decided to get them on a whim or make them go through a maze with other animals (i.e. crabs) or harmful traps, it is just sickening. It seems that unless an animal is being hit or starved, that a lot of people will not see other harmful actions as animal abuse.
I just got a hamster a few weeks ago and I care for her with my life. My dog recently passed away, so I'm making sure that the hamster stays for as long as I can.
A while back I interned at an exotic vet and (unfortunately) was able to witness the necropsy of a young serval who had been kept as a pet by a local family. The cat had visible malnutrition, with its skin clinging to its rib cage and its size way smaller than it should've been. During the necropsy, scraps of cloth, plastic, and other foreign objects were found in its stomach. It was absolutely devastating. I remember the vet looking so dejected the whole way through and needing some time alone afterwards. All of these videos, like with mika, just remind me of that and it hurts so bad
I’m so sorry, Gila. I hope you’re healing from it, and may that poor serval rest in peace. It’s disgusting how so many TikTokers and people in general just see an exotic animal and go “oooh I wanna keep it!” and not even bother to do proper research.
My sister is a vet tech, so she has seen a fair amount of stuff in the clinic she works at. She works with normal house pets, most exotic thing she has cared for in the clinic are chickens and as pets she has ducks so that's how far it goes. Though seeing animal abuse in exotic and domestic animals is horrible. When I picked her from work one day she was fuming and ranting about how her boss had to convince a woman to surrender her dog. She went in to euthanasie the dog because she couldn't keep it and it was skinny as well as abused. She said if she couldn't have it then she didn't want anyone else to have it. She ended up giving it to the clinic and the dog is doing much better from the last update my sister gave me. It is just sick what some people do and seeing stuff like this is even more sad. I hope you recovered from seeing that.
The owners probably thought "this is cat we feed one cup dry food per day and call good yes?" And ignores the fact its not a house cat and thought it's normal for it to be skin and bones
These people baffle me. The most 'exotic' pet I've ever owned is a cockatiel that I've had for the past five years. He's the first bird I've had, so I did my research for _months_ before we found him. I read every book I could on cockatiels to learn how to take proper care of him, and I'm still learning to this day! I'm happy to say that I haven't made any real mistakes though, and he's never once gotten sick and he's perfectly happy. It scares me to think what could happen to him in the hands of one of these people. He's a pied male, so he's got the rather flashy cheek patches and is much more yellow than gray, so I could totally see someone buying him just for his pretty coloration and not considering his needs. He's really cuddly, so he needs to be out of his cage for most of the day, and lots of petting. He can't eat a lot of seeds because they're not healthy. He needs mostly veggies and greens and grains, with _some_ seed and pellets. Someone like these people would probably just grab the first bag of birdseed they find at Petco and either over or under feed him. And they probably wouldn't give him the attention he needs and deserves, so he'd be in his cage for most of the day, screaming his head off because he's lonely. Then the owner would get fed up and pass him along. By then, he probably would've started feather-picking due to stress, and he could get an infection from that. That kind of thing happens all too often with parrots, because the owners only see a pretty bird they can show off and not a real animal with needs.
@iivavii I got him when he was already a year old and had been living with previous owners, so he was already well accustomed to people. I was still pretty young at the time so my memory’s a little fuzzy, but I think I just hung out with him a lot and didn’t push him to stay out of his cage for too long while he was still adjusting.
I work at an animal shelter that takes in basically any kind of pet (not just cats/dogs). We get in various reptiles fairly regularly, and it's safe to say that the majority of the ones we receive have health issues because the owners had no idea what they were doing. Severely underweight lizards, turtles with shell rot, etc.
Oli Gilligan, roblox minecraft fortnite and more People can tell that you’re a child from your videos and your name. And she’s right - you shouldn’t be on TH-cam comment sections as a kid. There are a lot of bad people out there, and some conversations just aren’t suitable for kids. I know that as a kid, you don’t want to hear that, but really bad things happen to kids on the internet. There’s a reason TH-cam only lets people 13 and above on the platform. It’s not suitable - and even dangerous - for those under that age. Do your parents know that you’re on TH-cam?
YES! Ferrets are a great example of pets that aren't really dangerous but greatly mistreated by almost everyone on tiktok. I saw a video of one of the owners coloring their Ferrets fur when just using normal soap on their skin makes it burn and get them to have a really bad rash and heck, even hairless.
As an "exotic pet owner" myself, I can say that the crowd that flocks to videos like this on TikTok should not be just watching a short 30 second clip and going out to buy a burmese python. True, my "exotic" pet is not nearly as exotic as a slowloris or as dangerous as a caracal; it's a just a leopard gecko. But, even that, a rather easy to take care of, popular, non-venomous, 8-inch long reptile still takes a lot of research to provide the proper diet and enclosure for. And, while I'm sure that most ecosystems in the US are safe from them due to how they don't handle humidity or cold well, it is an undertaking to provide for one, and no one should buy one on a whim. Same goes for crested geckos, bearded dragons, ball pythons, box turtles... any pet really. I bet people would be shocked if they did research on how to keep a dog or cat healthy - they're such a common pet, that I feel like a lot of people just take for granted that it's easy to take care of these animals, and that it doesn't require a lot of effort. But, really, especially if you live in a city, it can be more difficult to provide what these pets need than you might realize. That's not to say that no dog or cat owners do the research and put the work in; I'm just pointing out that they're such common pets that there are bound to be a lot of owners that aren't fully informed on the topic.
especially without hands on practice. ALWAYS when available should you go to a rescue for training or questions, like parrot rescues here in Oregon allow foster care or temporary stay before making the decision.
owning exotic pets is just selfish. just go to a shelter and adopt a cat or a dog. shelters have so many pets that need a hope and you’re probably gonna be happier because cats and dogs are easier to care for than a big cat or a monkey.
*some exotic pets* Im a firm believer that the more tame exotic pets are perfectly fine to own as long as you do the work and the research to give them a good life.
I think that depends on the pet. For example, all bugs are, by most definitions, exotic pets. This does not mean they are unethically obtained, many are captive bred and ethical breeders take a great amount of care in assuring their wellbeing while raising and during transport. If you have the means, the knowledge, and the time to take care of an ethically obtained exotic, I don't think that's a problem. Some animals just shouldn't be pets though. Monkeys, many parrots, big lizards, foxes, etc. are just bad pets. Keep them in the wild.
Yes. If your pet had to be smuggled into the country it's not supposed to be in your home. Jane Goodall loves chimpanzees but doesn't have them as pets. If you love nondomesticated animals so much you have to possess them it's not love, it's selfish.
@ngan dinh yes im aware thats what youre talking about, i know someone who owns a fox who has been domesticated since birth, it has a 0 chance of survival out in the wild and "releasing" it into the wild would be the same as executing it
I remember my friend was moving to another country so she was looking for people to take care of her pets, one of which was a little corn snake. She asked me if I was interested and I knew my family was incapable of taking care of one so I said no. However, I did offer to ask my mom if she knew anyone who could. My mom then said she might know a person but also mentioned that my dad had said he wanted one. Knowing my father (and my family in general tbh) I immediately knew that he probably wasn't being serious but for some reason she still mentioned it to him. He immediately said he wanted her (the snake) but then I said that a snake is a big responsibility. He claimed that "His office has a snake that he takes care of" and showed me a picture of a - and I shit you not - *dead* snake. We got into a fight because I kept saying that he isn't fit for it and that he only wanted a snake for the sake of saying he could have a snake (when I told him that the number one snake rule was to not take them out of the container because then they could escape he quietly asked "Not at all?" because he wanted to fly to another country and take pictures of her on a beach!) as well as the fact that their main diet are mice that 1) My mom is afraid of and 2) I actually like and am completely uncomfortable seeing it in the middle of our freezer. Apparently my words had hurt his pride because he just kept insisting when he made 0 effort to research anything and said that he WILL get a snake whether I like it or not. The worst part is that my brother asked why do I care when it wouldn't even be my pet and honestly, knowing from past experiences with our dog my family only sees pets as objects and nothing else. Fortunately my friend decided to just give her back to the breeder they got her from but honestly I regret even bringing it up to my mom in the first place.
Bro, your family is so cruel, inhumane, and heartless 😭😭😭💔💔💔 Sorry you had to deal with that. Thank you for standing up for these animals, you have a good heart 🥺🥺🥺 I hope your family never owns a other animal again 😩😩😩
lol I have many exotic snake species including venomous and you're wrong on a couple of things! you can take your snakes out of their habitat whenever they're comfortable! I often take mine out to give them exercise. snakes aren't difficult at all actually! they're easier than any other pet, ESPECIALLY cornsnakes.
An example of an actually good exotic influencer is snake discovery, she takes very good care of her rescue reptiles and she preaches so much about proper care and husbandry!
Clint's Reptiles is another really good one, he covers a lot of weirder species and rates them on how good they would be to keep as pets. And he's very honest when they're not xV
Go herping also. If you ever want to see what can go wrong with reptiles, watch one of his unboxing videos. He rescues and rehomes animals, and trys to coordinate them arriving (because weather), and when he does he records himself taking them out, and checking them over. So much metabolic bone disease, stuck shed, and otherwise poorly cared for animals. So many bearded dragons. Occasionally it's well cared for animals that their owner can't keep anymore, but there are a lot of sad looking animals.
Her story with Rex is so so helpful to making people understand why these shouldn’t be pets, and she’s always so willing to take in pets that viewers could no longer handle. She also raves about snakes that are actually manageable to normal people (she loves hog noses and garters, which are both small easy snakes, and garters are local to the US) and I can’t wait for her new store and zoo!
@@itmakessenseincontext889 I like go herping, and he usually has a lot of good points in his videos, but he’s so aggressive in his attack some times it comes off as rude and “holier than thou”, and feels like he forces everyone to provide the absolute maximum they can to their pet if they shouldn’t have it, which is like telling someone if they can’t mush their husky they shouldn’t own an old rescued husky that’s never seen a day of sledding. Sometimes less than perfect is okay and does no active harm to the animal.
I own exotic pets, but just geckos and tarantulas. I call them observatory pets because, like fish, you're not meant to cuddle with them or put them on your face. The kind of people on tik tok that show off these animals, by putting them in dangerous situations, clearly don't care. I also don't understand why anyone would want to be responsible for a rare species or put a predator in your home. Like seriously, it hurts like hell when my tiny cat gives me a tiny scratch🙃
@Wattle Yeah :( The local pet store owner has an African Grey Parrot. My friend use to work there and said she rarely bonded with the bird and that they need that too. It just sits there at the store in a small cage with very little feathers. I think it picks at itself :( It breaks my heart because they live for so long and I'm sure they understand what's going on
repeating what Wattle said but for geckos if anyone sees this: it depends on the gecko, my crestie will jump on my hand & loves exploring the room but many ppl have geckos that don't like being handled. Just know the signs of stress & keep your buddy's boundaries in mind.
Don’t forget it wasn’t just the hurricane that made the snacks live in the Everglades. So many owners released their pet snacks that it greatly contributed to the fact that the Burmese python is such a large invasive species
While people releasing Burmese pythons into the Everglades is not good, there was never a steady breeding population until the hurricane lead to the escape of a captive breeding population.
Individuals releasing snakes was pretty meaningless. If one person released one snake, sure it would eat some shit, BUT it wouldn't find a mate. This problem is solely because of the hurricane. There's no real reason to stop individuals from owning these snakes, and instead we should be worried about breeding facilities, and punishing the businesses who caused this. I own snakes, and most people who own snakes also know to not release them into the wild. The only people who are releasing them into the wild, are probably the same people who would travel to a different state, buy the snake, and take it back to Florida. Making a blanket ban on animals is not the way to go and instead things like forced licensing on exotics or microchipping them, so you can be punished, if they're found in the wild. Seems like the best way to go IMO. I'd bet this ban hurt more than it did good, since people who previously owned these snakes WERE NOT grandfathered in, and instead had to get rid of them. If you can't find someone to take them, what are you gonna do? Keep it? Kill it? Or release it?
I was always concerned why people who weren’t owners of sanctuaries were keeping caracals. I’m glad someone else has realised the weird glamorisation of keeping so many exotic pets.
I personally have experienced a lot of individuals claiming to be sanctuaries when I was rehoming exotic animals from a private home. They were claiming to be sanctuaries/rescues, but when I checked their social media I saw exactly this type of content: exotics roaming their home, no separate enclosures, cuddling with them, etc. They were very quickly crossed off my list.
As much as people like Floppa and so on it really worries me since the guy making the videos seems to be russian, and they tend to not have some animal protection laws there
@@LynaaXyihn Just like roadside zoos or places that offer cub petting or photo ops with newborn big cats or bears, and say it's to promote conservation.
Great video. This is super reasonable to do. Exotic animals should be in nature. Not homes of people who don't even know how to take care of them. They do die quicker in homes of not responsible. Thank you so much for speaking up about the blatant abuse towards these animals.
People shouldn't make profit of any endangered animals unless it's for a good cause like trying to save them. If it's like that then it's for an amazing cause but just filming them for money is down right greedy. This is my Ted talk :>
Its upsetting because as someone who wants exotic animals, people who don't do the research make those who have effectively taken care of them, look bad. I want these pets being taken care of, and these people not being transparent about the process, lead for kids wanting them without knowing the cost. Tldr: I just want these animals being taken care of, and sourced reputabley. And the tick tokers make the process look easy by not being open about the trade. Which inspires uneducated people to get ones.
I keep reptiles and I would literally defend my animals with my life if someone tried to take them. Arrest people who abuse their animals. Leave my fucking pets out of this
Its not only tiktok, so many youtubers show of their rare exotic animals and they get nothing but love, it feels like people are too stupid to understand that these animals should not be in captivity since its very stressful, these wild cats are suposed to roam huge areas in the wild but instead they are forced to live in houses or tiny pens.
Animals such as big cats should not be in captivity, however some “exotic” animals actually do much better in proper captivity then the animals in the wild do. For example leopard geckos, they have been captive bread for over 60 generations and do much better in captivity then they do in the wild. So it just depends on the animals :)
Im a fan of channels like 2CANTV where despite YES owning exotic birds, he preaches and PREACHES about NOT SEEKING TO OWN ONE. how they're bad pets. how they can and are often very aggressive. how the wild population suffers due to the illegal trade and really just aims to promote the idea of NOT owning toucans. His first 2 Tocos (now passed) were both from other homes where they were neglected and especially his second one had a slew of medical issues. His other rehomed one is so put off by humans in general that she'll never be able to properly interact with them.
In my opinion, I think it's perfectly fine to keep exotic pets (with papers) (purely captive bred) as long as they meet their daily needs and is kept happy, and be a responsible owner. I agree though, it is sad that there are many out there that are abusing their exotics and not even giving a damn just for clout in social medias.
true i have the same feelings for example axolotls which you can get from reputable breeders are endangered in the wild but not in captivity. Like other "exotic" pets poor axolotls get abused a lot now especially since minecraft released the update
It’s ok if the ideal conditions exist… The problem is that, the ideal conditions are rare to happen… People are stupid, and more than often, they think that wild animals are like normal pets or toys that look cute.
I've always liked caracals, even before they became more well-known. They're supposed to be able to jump about 3 meters into the air to catch birds. When I watched the uprising in people buying these cats and making them fat, I was really unimpressed. How do you expect that to just 3 meters high? Did we not breed cats to be domestic for a reason? That's so you can have your own mini "caracal."
ikr? Say what you will about dog/cat breeds, but there's such a variety that people really don't have to buy an exotic animal to "have an interesting pet".
I’ve seen that some universities are starting to create “exotic animal clubs.” Now don’t panic. It’s actually for students who really care about exotic animals, and some tend to be biology students. It seems like many have it where they get to create enclosures somewhere on campus, and then they have either rescued exotics, and/or ones they are rehabilitating. What I have seen so far is really great. Students learn about the best husbandry, and also go teach others about good husbandry. These clubs typically get to have either free booths at reptile expos or reduced rates.
I gotta also mention, a famous youtuber once owned a Fennec fox who she claimed to "have chosen" (the fox had chosen) to be a vegan. She fed the fox fruits and veggies diet which resulted in malnutrition, fur shedding, runny nose and more. Thankfully, the pet was removed by an organization to prevent from further abuse.
Heyo florida girl here! I figured I let you know there is a town down near the Everglades that does a yearly contest. People (typically hunters) sign up to go hunt down the invasive pythons. There’s a prize for most pythons killed, and I think you get a trophy 🏆 too.
@@paulviskup2786 my question was if they were open season I'm aware of how invasive they are and how devastating they are to farm animals I just wasn't sure if they were open season in Florida I know in Texas they are
In Arizona there’s a bird called the peach-faced lovebird that is invasive from pet birds escaping their owners, this shit really does happen and impacts the environment for centuries
@@SlapstickGenius23 for sure, they actually do have them in zoos here! Not sure how they would even go about eliminating the species without eliminating other species so I don’t think that ppl normally just exterminate invasive species (at least I hope they don’t! 😬)
If I remember correctly they're not actually a big problem, since Arizona is so arid they're restricted to cities so they don't actually have a big effect on the native habitats
@@therealsamsclub2325 im pretty sure theyre just classified as non native. Theyre not harmful since they aint taking anyones food. The people give them food. And they live in the hole of cactie of other bird.
yup, they're a big problem especially near parks like Granada. They take over the habitat of native birds, and compete with them for food. They should be completely removed from these places, through either euthanization or capture for zoos.
meanwhile me scared to get plants bc i won’t be able to care for them bc depression and i’m moving dorms and the plants will die in storage over summer
that’s a rlly reasonable way of thinking tho! a big part of the tiktok-exotic-pet-issue is people not taking their current mental state and life/work commitments into stock, or considering the work of taking care of another living creature and whether they are capable of providing it with the high quality of life that it deserves. so even though it might sound silly, thinking ahead on whether now is the best time to get plants for you is a good, caring thing to do :))) for both your own well-being and your potential future plants’ well-being too! sorry 4 the ramble- good luck w moving! ps. i hope this comment didn’t sound condescending- as someone who has struggled in the past, your comment just resonated w me x
@@katiebaliki8331 no it didn’t; i ramble too, that’s why i don’t have a pet yet. My goal is to have fish tanks with real plants and stuff, plants, cats, dogs, birds(only ones that won’t live longer than me) maybe a frog i dunno
I totally understand this! As someone who also suffers from a mental illness that makes it really hard to take care of yourself, let alone something else, my pothos is my pride and joy. A pothos doesn’t care if you’re not giving it the perfect kind of watering or light, it’s like a weed, if it’s not pitch dark and incredibly dry it’ll grow, won’t be the thickest most luxurious plant, but it doesn’t care, it doesn’t have feelings. Idk if tok live through storage but I say go for it next semester!
@@Oli.V same with my orchids. They were my husband’s first gift to me so they were the only thing that didn’t suffer through my depression. They still tried to kill themselves by lying to me but they’re still alive and in bloom despite themselves
As an aspiring zoologist who plans to get a crested gecko from a known responsible breeder, I agree with everything you said. However, it should be noted that even common pets - cats and goldfish being notable culprits - can cause just as much harm to the ecosystem as a Burmese python. Cats have literally destroyed multiple bird sanctuaries and are known to be one of the biggest invasive species around the world. Goldfish are ravaging ponds in the United States and their waste causes algal blooms and eventually dead zones. When it comes to species that don't generally harm humans, it's not about the species, it's about the owner behind it. There are plenty of great burmese python owners out there just as there are many great cat owners out there. A pet that is truly responsibly cared for should not cause harm to the ecosystem. Don't let your cat outside, don't release fish because a movie told you to, and don't let your snake slither away.
As someone who owns a gargoyle gecko that I got from a very responsible breeder I completely agree with you No matter what you do when you get a pet even if it’s a goldfish you should always do your research and get it from a responsible source Which by the way pet stores are not a responsible source. I only go to pet stores to grab supplies for my animals you should never ever get animals from the pet store since they are very irresponsibly source.
@🌊OceanMan🌊 oh ya that stuff, I saw one where they put like baby rabbits in eggs and broke them open and it had millions of likes and people believed it like my god what is this world
I once really wanted a parrot, like a macaw or something. It took me only half an hour of research to realise I wouldn't be able to care for such a creature. I would never want to keep a pet and have it suffer. These people make me sick.
I once had a bearded dragon that i had, and it was sick when we got it, eventually we nursed to back to health but eventually i was starting to have less time to care for it and had to find a good home for him. People need to know when their pet isnt getting the care it needs and find someone who can care for their pets. You can get rid of pets and still be a good pet owner
@@obi-wankenobi8927 That’s true for reptiles, but since birds bond so much with their owners the process of changing homes can be really traumatic. That’s another reason parrots are so difficult to take care of. Whether it’s a parakeet (budgie) or a macaw they both require a lot of social interaction and time, along with the fact that parrots are quite long lived, with some being a 80 year time commitment.
@Wattle I have a parrot and he lives in the perfect environment and gets a minimum of 4 hours a day of interaction. Every time before I offer him some of my food, I do research on if it is safe. No dairy, no seeds, nothing that is toxic. Caring for my bird is difficult, and some people do not realize that. It takes a lot of effort to keep a healthy and happy parrot, but it can still be an awesome companion. I don’t think people should be against everyone who owns parrots, only the careless and abusive owners.
Especially chimps, they can be really violent and angry, especially males, and people still keep them around like they're their kids. There's a case of one literally ripping a woman's face off over an elmo doll
Fun fact: if you want an exotic (not illegal) pet, get a guinea pig. They are native to peru and other parts of South America but also make good small pets. They can be great for people ranging from children (though I would advise waiting until the child is ten years old since they can get spooked easily) or they can be perfect for someone who wishes they owned a capybara. They are also very social and don’t mind being in large groups. There is a TH-cam channel called “Little Adventures” that is very helpful for taking care of them.
Also, my dad bought an albino Burmese python who lived for 16 years before recently passing away. My dad took goog care of him for the most part except the tank he lived in was small. I promise the breeder was trust worthy as it came from a pet store that was well known and up to date in breeding and animal care.
@@cplova333 yes they do, my guinea pig would even poop in his food it was so weird and I cleaned his cage about three times a week. Very messy little guy.
Tbh, while I agree with guinea pigs being fun pets; the sentence ‘perfect for someone who wishes they owned a capybara’ is not right. Don’t get animals because you wanted another animal but it’s not an ‘easy’ animal, and it’s substitute is. If you want a capybara, research it, put in the hours, and then either get one or not. Don’t get substitutes, that’s how people lose interest in animals.
This reminds me of the uptick in clownfish/blue tang purchases after the release of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, which were trying to spread the opposite message.
Me, as a parrot owner/private rescue; Thank you soo much for bringing attention to this. Parrots are one of the most common exotic pets that are completly mistreated and often are impulse bought by people who are completly undeducated. A bird that may live 20+years gets shoved in a tiny cage, fed the WORST diet of most often only seed, and given very litte mental stimulation.
This is also a massive issue with reptiles, animals are wild caught, sold for cheap, and people just go "its just a lizard" and put them in a small cage with no special lighting or nutrients (which can cause various permanent diseases including MBD) and are fed dried out dead worms for their whole life I was honestly disgusted to see someone in my neighborhood who owned a bearded dragon This 70 year old woman had her adult male bearded dragon in a 25 gallon tank, no special lighting, and a heat pad inside his tank which was buried under aspen and she was feeding it exclusively dead crickets Bearded dragons are basking animals, they need around 100°F on the hot side of their enclosure coming from a light source, bearded dragons require at least a 60 gallon tank, and they are omnivores and should be eating live insects I had to go home and have some alone time with my bearded dragon
@@itsurfrind oh my god, I 100% agree with you. Reptiles and amphibians. Even my mom is guilty of doing the exact thing with a red-ear slider and ot made me soo upset. No mater how hard I tried she always said "he's fine. He's still alive right?"
@@emilykas961 aaaaahh my first reptile was a red-eared slider, i hadnt done any research, i just said "i want a turtle" amd my grandma bought me one, i was too young to research anything by myself and my grandma likely assumed a turtle would be easy, ill always feel bad for the little thing, i gave it to a friend a few years later and he gave it to someone else, i wonder where they are now I had no interest in reptile keeping for a few years and then randomly went "i want a lizard" and spent several weeks researching reptile care, i now own a bearded dragon and leopard gecko, next year im getting a hognose snake and corn snake, i want to better my understanding of reptiles and one day be able to breed them and go to elementary schools to teach kids the importance of researching the animal, the results of improper care, and teach them about ecosystems
@@itsurfrind that's exactly what I had planned to do with my parrots. Except my "modle" bird was taught to swear by a family member who thought it was funny 😒. The others still have a lot of work before they are able to be worked in a group of people, but they're getting there. The thing with rescued birds (and any highly intelligent pet really) is their emotional baggage.
in 2019 in the town i live in, everyone was on high alert for an escaped 20 some foot long albino python some guy owned illegally and somehow lost, they never found the thing but EVERYONE I know was friggin freaked out for a solid 3 months (there were constant reputable sightings in neighborhoods and stuff but they never caught or killed it)
What concerns me is that kids use Tiktok. What are they gonna be like when they're older? We're going to have a whole generation of people who think it's cool to not care... :(
i think its a double edge sword. social media is a really good way to connect, or be exposed to people that are different from you. hell, i was born in 2001, and i grew up using media like youtube and deviantart. while i know things back then were different, there are a lot of similarities to things i see now, if not worse for my gen (due to lack of censorship of the internet at the time). i really dont think rather niche content is the soul thing defining kids personalities. on the other hand, people owning these pets is a terrible example. i just hope the other people these "exotic animal" videos are appealing to, are young enough to unlearn that this is any good before theyre able to go out and buy these animals
There are plenty of people who do care, and I think as they grow up they'll learn and understand what's right and wrong. There are stupid people in every generation
These make me sick, I had a hedgehog and bought him the biggest cage, many toys and many treats and felt so bad cause I didnt have the energy to play with him everyday so I gave him away. I dont understand how they can just live on abusing animals like that😔
I did a presentation on the lionfish for a class last year after hearing about them in a documentary, we were supposed to find something good our animal did for their ecosystem but it's so invasive the only thing I could come up with is that they make a good meal. I'm a little surprised you discussed the lionfish as a bad pet since I saw pages flat out advocating for pet ownership to get them out of the ocean.
What annoys me more is when people point out these issues (even with common pet/animals), they get flooded with "The TikTok vets are here wooooow!"
TikTok is filled with a bunch of kids and teenagers who just don't know how harmful these videos are for animals, so such childish reactions aren't surprising.
Literally! I specialize in hamsters and I have had to actively ignore hamstertok because every time a video goes viral of a hamster in a shitty cage or dangerous situation as soon as you say something everyone goes “oh wow tiktok vets!!! Their pet is fine!!!”
exactly, you can't call out animal abuse anywhere online without someone complaining that you're "ruining the fun"
It's so funny they'll claim to care about wildlife but than buy wild caught endangered animals
I think I know where they're coming from tho, some exotic animals are actually rescues. I'm scared now that because of this video kids will start calling any exotic animal owner, that knows their shit about how to take care of the animal, an abuser.
My fiancé is a practicing veterinarian and for a while I attempted to correct TikTokers who I witnessed putting out harmful and incorrect pet care information. I had to stop because the amount of hateful attacks I got was outrageous. These people don’t want to learn or change, they’re beyond helping.
What's his @ if you can give it? I don't have TikTok. I'm just curious.
Whose @? My fiance? He’s not on TikTok, he works 10 hour days actually caring for animals and doesn’t have the time. I used to show him some of the crazier TikToks I came across where pets were being mistreated and then relay his advice to the people posting. They never took it to heart and always came for me “this bitch thinks she know something bc her “fiancé’s” a vet- you don’t know anything, my way is right, my dog trainer said so” blah blah, it was so stupid.
@@brookehenson1201 A dog trainer for a exotic pet? That's actually new, I didn't know Tiktokers could be that stupid to the point they're getting a DOG TRAINER for something like a orchid mantis or so
Im so sorry you got attacked for being smart and acting appropriately. How anyone can actually support the mistreatment of exotic and house-pet animals is just insane. It makes me sad. Tik-tok needs something to be done about it
The fact that you tried is great though, I don't use tictok anymore and have way to much social anixety to do that especially since there is just going to be a conflict. I've done a tafe course that focuses on the study of animals (cert III in animal studies) only have a partial completion though as I failed a little bit of 2 units. In aus that leads into vetinary nursing studies though I know that's not the career i want to pursue. I love working with animals but as a carer, someone who provides and maintains I wish to go into zookeeping/animal education (even though %99 of the job is cleaning i still love it) so when I see misinformation being spread around it does make my blood boil.
Even more common pets are being horribly abused on Tik Tok, the hamster side of Tik Tok makes me sick.
What happened? I refuse to download tiktok.
@@KoreaMojo just keeping them in very poor habitats with little room to play and just breathe
@@macroshamyham4429 Oh, I see. Thanks for the info.
@@KoreaMojo I've come across vodes where people think it's funny that their hamster just jumped out of their hands (obviously very stressed about being held in the first place) and laugh about it without even being concerned if the hamster was okay. (They were fortunately, but I would panic if one of my mice did that, let alone a hamster.)
I’d argue that the fish community in TikTok is worse. Some crazy person put a betta in a bottle of Vodka, it instantly died. Hamsters videos are bad in TikTok, but at least most of them acknowledge it’s a living creatures, fish are pretty much just decor to most of these people.
These people don't care about animals or the environment. They care about having cool accessories to show off.
this puts it perfectly
Oh hell yes I do. lol
Although if that was the case my monitor lizard would be shared. I’d rather keep him though
@@ChrisChurch161 don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean having exotics inherently is wrong, I have like a dozen inverts from all over the world and have owned an orchid mantis in particular in the past. The problem is people who do no research but get a pet they don’t know or care enough about to care for properly because it’s trendy- think of the rabbits around Easter or Finding Nemo issue. These kinds of people get pets, exotic or not, for the novelty, but unfortunately exotics do seem to suffer disproportionately. Omg, the amount of people I see complaining about the price of necessary equipment ALONE is crazy as though veterans care is going to be less expensive is crazy. Too many people see the well being of animals they’re responsible for as secondary to their own wants.
@@PepsiObsessiI was half joking. I have a monitor I don’t post bc the states view changed. That being said he is bad ass, but I’d rather keep it and not share video of it again. Would suck to lose a lizard I expected to keep close to 30years.
I do go herping though and share those trips. It’s what I’ve enjoyed doing for 30+ years, why not share it.
And I hope my care is something that helps the trade rather than hinder the progress we currently see.
What's cooler than owning an exotic pet? Making sure their natural habitat is safe and doesn't get destroyed
People also seem to forget pets are a commitment, I have cats and they have hurt me in the past (biting, scratching..) and they're still with me because i know I probably did something in that moment and they reacted to that, they arent always gonna love you and be lovely and nice
A lot of snakes also live incredibly long, people have no idea of the commitment they’re signing up for. The ball pythons they sell at petsmart and places like that live around 30 years. You could be 10 when you got it and 40 when it dies, just think about that
Ikr, I love my cats, and it pains me to see how many people hate cats because they’ve gotten scratched ONCE. Like come on, would you like it if some random person came over and started trying to hug you and show you affection? Of course not. Cats are very human-like, you have to bond before being too affectionate! And I’m glad you have some common sense and kept your cats.
@@daikonlegs2726 legit it’s always “dog people” too who just like having dogs because they’re submissive to them, but when their dog acts out and hurts other people it’s fine because “he’s just a puppy”. But GOD FORBID a CAT bites them (which isn’t nearly as bad as a giant bulldog tackling you to the ground)
@@Oli.V I have a 15-year-old ball python named Butterball
@@lambybunny7173 what an assumption... U clearly haven't met enough people. I have a dog, golden retriever, he's absolutely lovely. Also I don't expect him to do anything but behave ok walks... Like of course they need to obey or someone could be in danger and get hurt. That is why there's so many deaths by Bulldogs and Pitbulls because people they strong dogs that they don't know how to train or handle. I don't see what you're saying here... But when it comes to cats, u just have to go with the flow. The only reason I can't have a cat is because I can't handle the smell of their urine. I can smell it everywhere in the house and I can't stand it. Plus a cat peed into my shoe for no reason lol. I don't hate cats but I'll never have any.
I work at an Invertebrate zoo and recently we have a hard time getting our own educational insects and have had more people abandon insects at our facility. I shudder to think of the exotic species released outside. It's a gross trend.
Also have to worry about invasive species because of people doing these things.
Edit: Oh lol he mentions it in the video
What zoo do you work at? I wanna go
Can I ask if you have an issue with people owning exotic inverts at all? I try very hard to be well informed, get from responsible and legal sources, never release or do anything risking a release, know what I'm getting into and am committed to keeping my animals for their entire lives, or rehoming them with a responsible keeper should circumstances come up that mean I am unable to care for my animals. I also try to encourage anyone who asks to do their research and be responsible when they make the decision to get any animal. I was keeping inverts before I ever got on tiktok, so I didn't do it because of a "trend", and I spent a long time researching, deciding, and making sure I would be comfortable keeping inverts.
@@JackTheVultureSorry for being three years late but since no one responded I will. There’s nothing inherently wrong with owning exotic invertebrates, I owned a Spiny Flower Mantis. But the problem many people have with that trend as far as i’m aware was that people were immediately buying exotic insects and other animals just to have them and treat them like an object you have in a house, which led to many to deprive of those animals of what they need to survive which is just straight up cruel. If people are going to buy exotic animals like reptiles or insects, they HAVE TO devote their time into proper research to provide them with a proper environment and diet to keep their pet friend healthy. There are other exotic animals that aren’t endangered species and are perfectly stable population-wise, such as Giant Prickly Stick Insects.
As someone involved in the exotic bugs hobby for the last 12 years, it's EXTREMELY worrying to think that not only the raised in captivity stock of insects as delicate as the orchid mantis is being cleaned out by tik tok kids who can't even care for a goldfish, but that the wild populations are being damaged by this stupid social media trend
I certianly agree, my partner and I had a few different mantids a couple of years ago, they're lovely little creatures but it's so easy for things to go to badly with them and I don't want to imagine what could go wrong if they don't do their research.
Another mantis keeper here, NOBODY should get an orchid mantis because it’s “pretty”. They can perish so easily without good care, slight changes in humidity and heat can kill one off easily and they only eat flying insects as ground insects can make them terribly sick. Anybody who wants one should either do proper research first and make sure they can care for all its needs or better yet try a less demanding/more hardy species first.
another fellow mantis keeper here, I only stuck with the beginner friendly mantids when I got some.
Orchids were always catagorized as needing experienced owners, not for beginners because their requirements can be very specific. So seeing them on tik tok videos have me feeling all kinds of worry.... how many kids are being influenced to get one? are they doing their research before hand???? I adore Orchid Mantis, they DO indeed look pretty but even after having had matids before, I still don't qualify myself as experienced enough to own one!.
Why can't these kids just stick to having orchid mantis in their animal crossing game and leave the real ones alone. Damn.
Yeah orchid mantis is beautiful but I don't know how to take care of them and if I'd like to you gat to do research
FINALLY.
People keep telling me how "sensitive" I am or how I should "mind my own business" whenever I point out about how those caracal memes are super harmful because the animal isn't being properly taken care of and is both in danger and a danger to others.
@@genetsandjazz wait, why? Should you not call out animal abuse when you see it??
@@genetsandjazz "Oh hey me, a decent human being with a functioning moral compass, should just totally ignore when an animal, a living, breathing, thinking creature with a soul, is being mistreated by humans."
If you see a dad abusing his child, you would also be worried about the child and try to get the dad away from them. Oh nevermind, you're not going to do that! You're just going to "mind your own business"
@@NOTDeezy. Here's the thing you fool, keeping a pet is not animal abuse.
@@genetsandjazz Keeping a Wild endangered/exotic animal in a cramped home where it has no space and outlet for running around freely, isn't given its proper food diet and generally isn't living in an enclosure where it can be happy is in fact animal abuse. Ever heard of research?
@@NOTDeezy. Here's the thing you never SAID that. You simply stated the act of owning a caracal is abuse. I don't know why you assume every caracal owner or exotic pet owner is doing something wrong. What "research" makes you know how someone is caring for a pet?
I’ve noticed TikTok’s obsession with exotic frogs has gotten pretty out of hand along with other amphibians like axalotals. I don’t understand how people can treat these animals like collectible toys when they’re sentient creatures who are often of an endangered species
With store-bought Axolotls, they're often captive-bred and not taken from their native habitats. Due to this, they've been hybridized with tiger salamanders in their genus and are too distinct from the wild populations to reintroduce. Reintroduction could cause a lot of problems, mostly due to diseases that could be introduced into native populations. Axolotls ARE endangered but it's mostly due to human land-use changes and climate change. I still don't necessarily agree with owning them, they're used to big ponds or wetlands and tanks just don't cut it :/ Hope this was informative !
Although frogs definitely need specific care and a lot of research to take care of, the most popular pet frogs, whites tree frog, Pac-Man frogs, and African bullfrogs are almost always captive bred and whites and African bullfrogs are of least concern and Pac-Man frogs are near threatened in their conservation status so none of those are endangered. I don’t know if those are the frog species u r referring to but these types of pet frogs don’t have a negative environmental impact and as long as they have proper care they can thrive in captivity. That being said i haven’t used tiktok and don’t know if there r other endangered species of frogs being shown but as far as I know most frogs that u can actually buy as a pet on reputable sites r captive bred and are typically not endangered. Hopefully that clears some things up as although they are an exotic pet, that doesn’t mean they come from the wild, just that they require some more specific care. I do agree that showing them on tiktok is still not good because it can inspire ppl not willing to do the research to provide proper care to get pet frogs, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with owning them if from a reputable source and with proper care.
@@larrywu5346 hi! I was talking about captive bred salamanders, but your points were really interesting anyways
@@angelinagalvan8345 haha mb i was responding to eddie manships comment about frogs on tiktok, but i definitely agree w u
i like frogs a lot but i could never buy one just to show off,something is really wrong with ppl
Mika's life makes me cry. Why can't people just get a dog or cat that would have stayed in the shelter otherwise. Or not get a pet at all. They clearly don't know how to take care of them.
They shouldn't even have pets. If they abuse exotic pets for clout, there's no doubt they won't do the exact same to common pets, because most of tiktok sees animals as an aesthetic item in the house more than a sentient living breathing damn animal.
They wouldn’t get a normal pet, they’re just owning an exotic pet for clout, and a normal housecat wouldn’t bring in the like bucks, so they’d refuse
I rather they just don't get pets at all
It also makes me absolutely sick, I don't have tiktok but I have heard a lot of these kind of videos and saw a small compelation about them here on TH-cam and they make me lose faith in humanity like wtf is wrong with them!! They're not only taking wild animals out of there habitat but also treating them poorly and the worst of all getting away with it!!! Like here where I live you can get into jail for owning animals like Mika, it even went on the news once they had caught an owner!!! so I basically got a heartattack when I saw her in that cage, I really hope that one day the poor thing will be able to be free in nature where she belongs!
Cuz they don’t do it for the pet, they do it for the attention
I remember calling out someone on tiktok saying “why spend $12,000 for an exotic animal when you can use that money to save their habitats?” And then everyone started attacking me 💀 the world is FKED
at least they’ll live with the regret of attacking a person for no reason
that's so true though! saving the habitats is a far better use of money. definitely going to say this to the next exotic pet owner i see.
@Captainzilla418 well, some people may
@Captainzilla418 eventually when they grow up and their brains develop they will realize how dumb they look bringing up things like someones personal life and business when they have no real argument or stance to add to the situation.
When you have no argument go for easy “ low blows “. Takes absolutely no brain power. If you want to actually make someone feel bad try harder lol
FKD indeed
The “it’s my money I do what I want” or “it’s my pet I do what I want with it” type of people should never be allowed to own animals period
Every spring you see people getting baby ducklings on TikTok, but you never see them past a few videos....
people impulse buy ducklings, because they are cheap and cute, but don’t understand the level of care they need long term.
Fr.. same with chicks :( Ive never owned ducklings but I raise chickens and people do not realize how much goes into making sure they grow up alright. They need a heat lamp, a brooder, clean water (chicks, and I can assume ducklings as well, dirty their water quite quickly) and require frequent monitoring to check for illness, pasty butt, congenital diseases etc. Not to mention five chicks alone will eat 75 lbs of feed during their childhood! After they're chicks then there's the issue of having a coop and safe place for them to forage, rooster laws and much much more! Seeing people purchase chicks as toys or temporary pets makes me furious. Chickens (and ducks!) Are such rewarding pets, and they deserve so much better than what we put them through.. (sorry for the rant I just really hate how chickens and ducks are treated in tiktok, Im glad to see there's someone else who agrees)
@@gingaswagger7969 no, it makes me mad too. I’m a duck person, but they are much more messy than chickens, but, they carry less diseases and are more hearty, they can take more extreme temps, however, when it come to consumption, ducks are more greasy due to the extra fat on their bodies, and their eggs, tho higher in protein, have more cholesterol than chicken eggs.
There are pros and cons to each, and a lot required in their care, some you can prepare for, some you learn as you go.
Ducklings are incredibly hard to take care of, some dumbasses buy ducklings and baby chickens toghether and keep them in the same enclosure which results in all of the baby chicks dying, ducklings love water so they step inside the water you give them so they can drink, later they step ontop of the baby chickens with their wet feet and they get sick, sadly our family had to learn it the hard way... (note we have a ranch to look after them we didnt buy them for entertainment )
@@captainpotatord6984 I totally get it. I thought I was 💯 prepared for pet ducks... I talked to a lot of people, read everything I could get my hands on, built the Fort Knox of duck habitats... and when I was finally ready to bring home some baby ducks..... I learned I knew nothing. 😬
@@Sorvea Sigh i wish it was easy to learn how to look after ducks/chickens we thought we were ready we bought a bunch of chicks and some hens and roosters the next they they're all dead, martens ended up killing all of them after a couple of years we bought chicks and now they are fully grown and laying eggs ;) and most importantly we got a dog, we learned we couldnt have any chickens/ducks without a dog since martens dont come close to areas where the dogs are, we buy animals and we look after them feed them keep them safe while these people just buy them as toys and when they're done with them they just leave them out in the wild to die or leave them in a park where they also die its very sad and heart breaking how people could do such foul things ;(
remember when Finding Nemo was a story about a young animal being stolen from it's home and sold as a pet? but after it came out, the sales of clownfish skyrocketed
edit: yes, i was thinking about blue tang (Dory) and the damage caused to that species. people saying that clownfish can be bred are, i believe, correct.
And people wanted to put Nemo and Dory in the same tank even though those species cannot cohabitate together. It is horrifying to think of all the fish that died because of that. Not to mention the amount of people that buy fish with no prior knowledge of the species or how to properly set up a tank. It isn't just throwing some water in a tank and starting the filter.
edit: they cannot cohabitate in small to medium sized tanks
Exactly this!
Just proof that people have been irresponsible with animals for a long time, even before trends and such
@@TinyGhosty some abused fish don't even get a filter, just tap water in a bowl 😬
Just imagine millions of Darla's 🤦🏻♀️
what's wild to me is how people watched the entirety of tiger king, saw the shit that man has done and went like "damn this is a cool guy im gonna follow him on tiktok"
Yup, not to mention Doc Antle is arrogant as fck every moment he is on screen smh
A lot of people also watched Finding Nemo and thought "wooo, time to go buy a pet clownfish!", so it's quite obvious that the general population cannot be trusted to make sensible decisions
my thought exactly! that documentary did more harm than good.
I tried watching tiger king because people hyping it up said it's super funny and entertaining. But i stopped after the second episode due to the animal abuse. I get where the fans are coming from, it's like watching characters of south park in real life. But they are also using real tigers whom habitats are getting destroyed, they are almost extinct and are being treated horribly in captivity. It's hard to enjoy such entertainment
@@CocoaPuffss The sucky thing is there's not alot of their natural habitat left. I mean we could just unleash them all in Flordia, I think everyone's good with that right ?
I remember when i watched someone dying their Ferret's fur. And the poor furball ended up passing away.
And almost EVERYONE called them out for it
The girl claimed that the dye was "pet safe" ... even though she used chalk. And also. Dying Ferrets are a BIG nono. It dries their skin and + they lick themselves clean. Meaning they lick up the chemicals.
I don't even own a ferret but they have natural oil in their hair to help with dry skin right? Which is why you shouldn't wash them often... The whole thing makes my head hurt a bit
Don't get me wrong as a kid my sister and I drew eyebrows on our golden retriever, but jeez (we got in trouble but it was funny at the time). My sister used to dress the dog up in clothes a lot as well. We were lucky Bella was such a good sport about it lol
Reminds me of the fish abuse tictocs. I "accidentally" flushed my live fish, shit for example. Which makes me big mad. Even if it's a goldfish, someone's gotta feel bad for em
Also.... Chalk???? That's like when my sister used to dye her hair with koolaid packets....
maybe koolaid would've worked better tf
(*JOKING, please don't attempt to dye your ferrets*)
As a ferret owner this breaks my heart. But I am not surprised. Our current 3 boys and girl are from a ferret shelter. Brother and sister where kept in a cage by their previous owners with no playtime outside and not fed, to the point where they started eating their own feces. And our other boy lived alone In a small rabbit cage for 2 years outside in a garden. He didn't know any other ferrets and was quite shy when we got him, as well as lethargic. It hurts so much to think they suffered like this through the hands of people who didn't think about what it means to own ferrets. But it's good to see how happy my babies are now.
good info
Five gum, stimulate your ferrets
If the exotic pet is acting hostile and scared of the person who's supposed to take care of her, that's when you know they don't know what they're doing. My sister loves talking about getting a cool pet but doesn't even take care of the dog and cat we have. She loses interest in things so quickly, I'm glad my parents never acted on her wants
I wish my parents were like that :( my mom is a bit of an impulse shopper and once she bought like ten live snails for my little brother (who was around 8 at the time) as pets, only for them to get dumped on me as their caretaker (I was like 14 at the time and didnt know anything about snails) long story short I had a nervous breakdown when they began to reproduce lile crazy and I had tiny snails everywhere. Long story short my family let them loose (we live in a place where snails cant survive so I know they all died eventually :( and they laugh about how much I panicked about the snails like they didnt force the responsibility upon me.
My sister wanted a dog for like idk a month and my brother got one cause she got so ANNOYING and guess what? She doesn't take care of him she only uses him to pet him and get cute pictures meanwhile I'm here wanting a fish for 2 years doing so much godamn research and with nothing
The only time an animal who is properly taken care should be scared of its owner is if it’s come down with an illness, if it’s new, if something happened recently (like another animal attacked it), or if it has some anxiety disorder
I mean I have a dog my maid mostly does the feeding but I help bathe the dog every now and then and my maid comes with me to always the dog while I don't hold the leash I at least come with him
People like to say “here come the tik tok vets 🙄” or “here before the Karen’s come” like pointing out animal abuse is a Karen thing to do.
right. it’s so annoying when people mock me when i say small animals need care too.
@Crackhead Energy LITERALLY the whole definition of karen changed. its like anyone who cares is a karen. like “oh you care about that girl? yoUrE a KarEn” like no kYLe, i’m a decent human being.
People have overused the term "Karen" so much that it's slowly starting to loose it's meaning.
@@alysatran3852 "Kyle" should be a term used for people who think they're acting "cool," but they look like complete idiots and misuse the term "Karen" when a situation doesn't pamper to their views/needs/wants. Lol.
Actually, I'm gonna start using that for now on-
@@GardenfRedRoses777 no one cares :)
People can't even properly care for their hamsters yet are getting full out exotic asf animals
Always some tiktoker incel who’s poor
I just found out that some hamsters hibernate so some hamster owners thought their hamster was dead when they were just hibernating and buried them alive
@@tiredamateur bruh wtf, lol
@@tiredamateur that’s so sad lol, I would cry if that were me
Saw a tiktok asking for stories of how people got their hamsters killed (how they died) and thinking it’s super funny. The majority of the people in the comments are just like that little girl from nemo, but literally at an age where they should know better. They don’t even see the issue with not feeling any remorse for these pets, they are just playing with lives at this point. The fact that they think so little of that small animal makes me puke
There are problems about common pets too. For example, a lot of people are buying Akitas recently bc of its popularity in the internet but it’s a hard breed to train and not anyone can handle one. The same goes for Huskies, Rottweilers, Chow Chows and many more. Once this dogs get old and they are no longer cute puppies a lot of people realize that they are not ready for such dogs and the dogs end up on shelteres. Some of them are put down while there bc there is simply no space for all of them.
Puppy mills are usually horrendous as well.
Cats too. People buy a "posh" cat that fits their aesthetic, such as sphinx or bengal, which are fucking expensive too... and then the cat is loud (as bengals are known for, and even looking up the name will probably tell you that almost immediately) or the person is too invasive with the cat and doesnt listen to the boundaries the cat is putting down. Cats will tell you if you piss them off. They almost never attack for no reason. People get scratched by cats because they are hurting the cat. They then decide the cat is "dangerous" and then off to the shelter or to be put down.
Its not the cats fault, its the way that the people are doing NO research for the breed they buy. Its not a pot-luck. The different breeds are going to act differently and have different needs that YOU havent done adequate research on.
@@RookMurphy My family had a bengal and I had no idea they were a typically loud breed…. I thought he was just dramatic and talkative, lol. I would have never even dreamed of treating him the way these people treat their cats, though!!! It makes me so sad and angry!!!!
there are currently eight kangals in our local shelter. in a big city. kangals do not belong in cities at all... i hate those people...
@@RookMurphy Dont forget about how some owners declaw their cats simply because they dont want their furniture scratched, like bro if you dont want your furniture scratched, dont get a cat, get a beta fish or something
"bug smuggling is at an all-time high" is a phrase I never would have guessed I'd ever hear
Same
dude you have no idea how bad it is. These smugglers will watch scientific publications looking for new species being discovered, or new populations of existing rare species, and then fly to that location and clean it out. It's gotten so bad that there are talks within the community of keeping all location data hidden from the public entirely, which will hurt study of these species. It's horrible what these disgusting smugglers are doing.
@@BeetleBuns anything for money. anything
government focuses on drug smuggling way more thsn bug smuggling. which, i mean both are bad but bugs are important to the ecosystem, keeping these species in their natural habitat and keeping then alive is very important for global warming. because even the smallest bug plays a massive role in the ecosystem, even if their role is just being food. that especially goes for pollinators because theyre important for plant growth. without them so many plants would die, including plants humans eat.
Captive breeding of insects and spiders is at an all time high as well. The problem isn't that people want pets like mantids, it's the people who buy wild caught rather than captive born ones. Influencers who want to show off their pet should encourage people to buy only captive bred but they can't be blamed for what unethical people do.
Exotic parrots are the 3rd most popular pet but #1 to be rehomed. I have a 4 year old galah that had 4 homes in 3 years. She's my sweetest bird because I put in the effort. The bird trade is getting so much worse now. Didn't y'all learn from rio?
No, I learned from my mom. She told me parrots are some of the most sensitive animals alive, prefer to stay in bonded pairs and can live to be 100. I always knew better, or knew to be in a place of bonding with and having one until my death, and then a secure place for it to live on after if it were to outlive me. Movies can't be in charge of raising these people. I think the most obvious trope about all of this tiktok mess is that none of the people who had these kids had any business having kids. At all. There truly are some people who were not meant to have them. People are having kids for the same reason they're doing this exotic pet thing, aesthetic. So the kid sits around the house on the phone looking at tiktoks like these all day. Maybe watching Rio, but yeah, not with a parent or anyone to help them siphon the intellectual value out of it.
I loved Rio when I was younger and had no idea it was about trying to show light onto the topic of those birds going towards extinction, and I was actually heartbroken when I found out the last one of the species was killed. People literally cannot take hints.
Edit: I have just found out that the blue macaw isn’t actually extinct, but only has 53 left :(
little idiot pretty sure rio is based on the spix macaws which r extinct
@@grunklecream6046spix and blue macaws are the same thing depending on where you are from. There are in fact a few left (52 as of 2020) that they are trying reintroduce into the wild. They are receiving back lash though. "The ACTP is footing the bill for the Spix’s macaw reintroduction program, including building a $1.4 million facility in Bahia, but it’s not clear where the money is coming from. The Brazilian government, as a partner in the program, has also not provided details about the terms of the agreement, and is reportedly pressuring local breeders to send their birds to the ACTP in Germany.--In December 2018, Britain’s Guardian newspaper published an in-depth article on Martin Guth and the ACTP that had major international ramifications. For six months, journalists Lisa Cox and Philip Oltermann had investigated Guth’s past, raising serious suspicions about his work, including possible involvement with the illegal wildlife trade and the use of the ACTP to launder money for European organized crime."
sorry for the long response
tldr. they think the birds are being traded again.
while my bird may not be exotic, i think he still fits into this conversation
Chiko, my 7-year old cockatiel, has been through at least 4 homes/places. He was bought by one person, treated terribly, and then picked up by a rescue. After that, there’s a chance someone adopted him who immediately decided they did not want him and sold him to a woman. Chiko lived with her for a good amount of time until she had to move away, eventually leading to us having Chiko. I am so glad we have him. His health has improved so much! The woman we got him from said he never would fly again since his wings were clipped and never grew back due to poor nutrition. But he proved her wrong with our help.
parrots are not to be traded and passed around like an item at show and tell. They are pets. They feel the pain when you love them one day, and you’re gone the next. Parrots are amazing pets but please do your research and do not get one if you are just going to pass them around.
even reputable exotic owners (rescues, rehabers, etc) on tiktok have a really hard time with viewers wanting the same animals. Even on posts where they’re stating why they aren’t good pets are met with “idc i want one”
I have a Chinese water dragon and every single post I make about him says “THESE ARE NOT EASY PETS” they sell for like $25 at petsmart but these dudes get up to 3 feet long and they need a semi arboreal semi aquatic enclosure that is bare minimum 5 ft high 3 ft deep and 4 ft wide. A $25 cute baby lizard grows into a $1000 enclosure
Same is happening with houseplants, especially cacti and other succulents. There are reputable nurseries that grow certain threatened and endangered plants... but when photos of those ethically sourced plants hit social media demand inevitably surpasses supply. This indirectly fuels poaching and smuggling from the plants' native habitats. Now a third of all cacti are theatened, in part due to the rare houseplant collecting craze.
Tik tok is filled with dumbass teenagers so they think they know everything and telling them not to do something makes them want to do it more
Alot of people seem to confuse rehab/rescue with having a pet.
I saw some article talking about "How to hold an opposum as a pet" cuz the site that wrote it looked at video and never realized these people just raise injured animals to return to the wild
Not surprised, tik tok is full of mentally challenged people
I didn't know Bobcats own such exoctic animals known as "Tiktokers"
Meanwhile in our universe:videos where animals used as toys taken sown and owners sued.
Of course Tik Tok doesn't care about the exploitation of exotic pets, the same way they don't care about underage kids being sexualized on their platform. As long as the tiktokers make content people like it makes them earn money 🤑
And as long as the CCP can continue on in their goal of the greatest data harvesting operation in the history of mankind.
I was luckily one of the fortunate kids who has parents who are experienced with a lot of exotic animals and more money compared to the average person, such a blessing, I hate poor people and their stupid decisions
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 But... why poor people?
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 last time I checked being poor has nothing to do with abusing pets, hell, rich people might abuse exotic pets even more because they have the money to buy them
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 ayo what did we poor people do
This makes me think about my axolotl, I recently started rearing one from just a juvenile. Rescued him from a cramped tank with another juvenile that was eating him. He was just a sad little thing tucked in a corner with barely any gills and no limbs at all. I'm raising him in his own nursing tank with an airstone and regular changes, he's not only doubled in size and gotten his limbs back, but he's surprised me with long, fluffy gills! He's made a full recovery and turned into a very social axie, rushing to the front of his tank when he sees me walk in with the bloodworm cup! Once he's ready, I'll be letting his tank cycle then adding him once I have a strong enough biofilter going.
I'd never share him around on socials. No videos or anything! My irl friend saw him and immediately bought one, and I feel so bad for it. Being kept with this bright red gravel in a lit up tank, it's gills got so thin and it looks like it's in poor health. I've told them how to take better care of it, I even offered to help or take it, but of course they wouldn't listen or let me help saying they knew what they were doing. It lead to a huge fight and us falling out because they said I shouldn't have tried telling them what to do.
I've owned two others when I was just a kid, and I'll admit I went wrong and they wound up ill. That's why I'm so adamant on researching, keeping proper care, watching water parameters and temperature. It's all important.
Please, if you want an axolotl.. Do your research. You can even ask me questions! I've spent months studying and researching, watching videos, documentaries, everything to make sure I can take care of my axolotl.
Axolots, fish, hamsters, and other pets commonly kept by children really aren't pets for children. They require lots of research and aren't easy to care for. I don't blame you for not caring for your two, it's on your parents for letting you get one in the first place, but even then the idea of getting these pets for children is so normalised I can't even really say it's their fault
@@fanpet3912 Precisely. I still regret the decision I made, but now I've grown with a strong concept of the concept of taking care of your pets or facing the consequences
The juvenile axolotl I've been raising is doing spectacularly right now though! He's grown nearly two inches in length and seems in wonderful shape
@@Mars-ol9pi Awesome to hear! He's lucky to have you taking care of him :) Axolotls are lovely
@@fanpet3912 Thank you for your kindness! :) They really are lovely, like your own mythical little water dragon
@@Mars-ol9pi Awwhh! That's a great way to describe axolotls, haha.
Reminds me of the foolish girl on TikTok who made her Ferret go vegan. Now the poor being is dying. Bravo sis!
That sounds very similar to some idiot who had a pet fennec fox and gave it a vegan diet, I forget her name lol
What the fuck :(
Folx getting pets that are biologically designed to eat meat, then refusing them meat because they (the owner) is vegan is such a pet peeve of mine. You're slowly killing your pet, but sure. Humans can absolutely thrive on a properly balanced vegan or vegetarian diet. Your cat will die.
@@x10sam it's forsurely abuse and I don't know how people don't see it that way ..I'm vegan and I just get my ferrets ethically sourced small batch whole prey/rmb/organs...it really ain't that hard to also just feed a higher quality kibble that's meat based smdh
@@x10sam im vegan myself, but i have carnivorous pets, i would never abuse or neglect my pets because i dont like an industry. my hedgehog needs a meat and insect based diet and being vegan for me is because im an animal lover. animal lovers KNOW basic biology and know carnivorous animals need a meat based diet. the fennec fox story broke my heart because of the sheer ignorance and abuse that owner brought upon their pet. its very upsetting.
the worst possible thing you can do with most exotic animals is to "free" them. Unfortunately Burmese pythons and some other animals are hard to care for and dangerous to the owner as adults so people who aren't up to the task end up with a giant snake they can't keep.
Finally someone speaks out about this. Orchid mantis originates from my country and it sucks seeing them not in the wild or admired greatly, they're reduced to a prop for tiktok videos
And they make it so obvious, it’s always some person in a small house having animals in a small enclosure, I hate how people don’t even care about the animal itself but only it’s looks.
Aslong as something is pink all the uwu gamer girls in a 1000 mile radius will hunt them down like a tiger.
they are one of my favorite bugs, it's so sad to see them endangered :(
I’ve thought and researched a lot about getting one. But ultimately I decided I’m not nearly skilled enough for it, and atleast the places I looked were captive breeders. To think that now a lot more are being taken from the wild is so sad.
it honestly sickens me seeing people reduce them to nothing but a prop for clout, like you’ve said. i’ve researched and anticipated owning different species of bugs-different kinds of tarantulas, millipedes, and mantises specifically-for years (i’m autistic. insects and bugs have been one of my lifelong special interests and fixations and i have an overwhelming amount of bug knowledge to spew onto people completely unprovoked, lol). i have spent what i would guess is around a decade making sure i’d be ready to own these bugs if i ever got the chance to have one. i have an interest in the more educational/biology-related side of it, along with bug pinning; i’d love to keep those beautiful little bugs after giving them the absolute best life i possibly can.
the fact that so many people have purchased these creatures not only impulsively and when lacking the proper care, but have done so from people who would take them out of their natural habitats honestly does make me sick. it breaks my heart that orchid mantises especially have been sensationalized by tiktokkers looking for clout and some animal crossing players who just want to use them as a display because “uwu pretty pink,” rather than looking at them as what they are: living, breathing creatures.
Even common pets on tiktok aren’t safe. I’ve seen so many people put fish in vodka bottles or bongs (then use it WHILE the fish is inside) or flush live fish down the toilet. Those who express their concern get hate and called the fish police smh 🙄
Besides just being cruel, flushing fish down the toilet introduces rare diseases back to wild fish.
I hate how people have little to no regard for fish's feelings. It's been scientifically proven over and over again that fish are intelligent and can have complex feelings. Above all, though, they feel pain.
It's sad that among the exotic pets that are tossed around fish alongside insects are the most neglected. I remember seeing a clown triggerfish (not on tiktok, it was in an exotic fish store) that had some sort of issue swimming. It couldn't orient itself and kept spinning around whenever it would try. I always feel so bad for these babies when I see em.
Yeah dogs and cats are not safe. Tons of stupid people on there abusing them in absurd ways.
These comments have proven to me that these arent misguided children who don't know any better, but legit adults gaslighting children into animal abuse.
@@npcimknot958 I think you're wrong about that. I predict that in a few years we will see leaks pointing to either KF or Ledditchan weens being behind this ultimately, mark my words. Love em or hate em, the extreme left isn't known for openly supporting animal abuse at the individual level that's kind of the extreme rights MO.
This is great. Honestly I think people dissociate pets from animals so much that we hardly even raise dogs and cats responsibly. The same reason we have awful puppy breeding farms and poachers is because people start seeing pets as products, as aesthetic, not animals.
exactly. obviously, ill-equipped people owning exotic animals is a problem... but tbh, a lot of people shouldn't even own domestic species!
Precisely!! I absolutely loathe the way i see puppies are advertised like they're just a toy or some kind of product. I keep seeing ads for puppies with a 'bundle deal' or promotion with other pet products and it sickens me that they dont see it as a living animal
All animals are seen as products if they have the potential of financial gain. The ones that don't are useless. That's how some people think, unfortunately.
@@amusasai8920 that's why normal people don't see animals as products, aside from farm animals maybe, because they don't stand to gain anything from owning them
Yes and when you do the most even basic care for your dog or cat they start screaming how dogs are children and it's like, well you're taking care of the animal, feeding bathing taking to a doctor????
Honestly someone released carp into my towns lake and they destroyed the local trout population and ecosystem. It’s horrible
My younger sisters have bought exotic fish, crested geckos, hedgehog and a few other animals because of tiktok and now they want frogs and snakes! They’re the type of teens that like something because it’s popular but once it gets old or they get bored of it they push it to a corner, their crested geckos are literally in their closet. I had to do my own research on their animals to care for them and to make sure they aren’t neglected. They aren’t responsible enough to have animals and I hope I can find actual responsible pet owners that know more able these animals and can properly care for them.
I was an internet influenced teen too who got into reptiles because of tumblr and youtube. I made lots of mistakes too because I impulse bought a lot at first, thankfully I never lost interest and I am still deep in the hobby. Not every teen that’s influenced by the internet is going to be a bad owner, but there are signs that they will be like: only likes the current popular ones, wanting to get it very fast, has history of neglecting pets, likes the idea of showing off their pets more than caring for them, stops researching after they feel educated enogh.
I’m not defending your sister and I honestly think she needs to be responsible. I’m just pointing out that not every teen that gets an exotic pet is bad.
Why are your parents/cargivers allowing this to happen?
Your parents need to stop buying them exotic animals. That's so irresponsible of them.
@@leslievasquez54 my parents don’t buy them, my dad has actually told them multiple times they weren’t allowed to have anymore pets but my sisters buy them without telling my parents and sometimes we don’t know they have new animals until we go into their rooms.
dude even as an entomologist I don’t even trust myself to have an orchid mantis. great video!
yeah! some things (or most things honestly) are better to be respectfully appreciated from afar in their natural habitat! influencers need to be more aware of the platform they have and set a better example, like they gotta take responsibility for the consequences and ignorance that their actions can breed! i’ve been an animal lover my whole life, and i know if tiktok had been around when i was younger, i definitely could have been swept up in this mentality due to not knowing any better.
Although orchid mantises are one of my favorite insects ever, I just know i can't have one as a pet.
I read this as etymologist and was like „sure, if the name sounds unfamiliar even to you, you should probably research that animal a bit more before committing to it“ but I have to admit, your comment makes a lot more sense now. Agree though!
HI any tips for like bugs and stuff that’s safe too get for SOMEOEN who hasn’t had one before? I rlly want a pet bug :(
@@jester6623 Hey! Have you heard of isopods (or roly polys)? They are great pet bugs and fantastic for beginners. look up “armadillidium vulgare gem” isopods. This kind comes in a variety of colors and are very easy to care for. you can feed them fish flakes & bits of fruit and veggies so they are very inexpensive. They like semi moist soil with lots of leaves and bark to hide under!
Animals are being abused and even killed for social media a lot (it even happens on the dark/deep web) and it seems like there isn't just a lack of repercussions, but they're also getting a lot of likes because people are thinking this is okay. Great video.
I’m sorry but, you’re radio rebel
I'm sorry lol but isn't dark/deep web supposed to be the one that's not 'even'? Like obviously dark/deeb web has animal abusers but EVEN non-dark web (normal web we all use) has animal abuse shown. ik it's a nitpick but i'm just pointing this out w/o trying to be a grammar nazi or whatever
@@papasscooperiaworker3649 I've seen pages where people kick dogs and flick at hamsters and rabbits and even saw someone shaking the body of a dog they just choked to death ON INSTAGRAM!! It's so horrible and the only thing you can do is reporting them and spreading the word, telling others to report them. After that we can only hope that the company actually does something.
@@papasscooperiaworker3649 you’re not being a grammar nazi, I like people correcting me when I’m wrong so thank you😩
I saw a video on TikTok of someone who literally picked up a cat. And threw it against the wall..... the people there were just laughing and recoding it. It’s so sick
Here's a tip:
If you want to keep insects, arachnids, or reptiles, always use a trustworthy breeder and only own what's legal in your state. I know, I know, a 20 ft killer snake is tempting, but those laws are there for reason. Also always look into breeders before buying from them, make sure they are getting animals from legitimate sources and are properly caring for animals they breed.
A good arachnid breeder is fear not tarantulas
Or stop supporting breeders and go outside if you want to see insects. We don't have to have EVERYTHING
I mean I’m all fairness, the large constrictor bans are based largely on prejudices that have little basis in reality. Very few people are killed by large constrictors. That’s not to say your average Joe should have one, they can seriously hurt or kill you if you don’t know how to read your snake or how to properly take care of it, obviously, but my point is more that the “reasons” for those anti-snake laws are more often than not bullshit.
Don’t go out and get a Burm or retic, they need a lot of space, need specific food, and need someone who understands how they work and knows how to respect them. If you know what you’re doing, and you are willing and able to care for it, do your research and then maybe get one but don’t get any animal on a whim.
One of my dream species to keep is the Barbados Brown Velvet Worm, but they are very hard to get (legally or illegally), and they have a small captive population. I managed to get into contact with the guy who legally imported them into North America and breeds them, and I don’t plan to get any until I know I can take good care of them and I’m able to breed them, so that more of them don’t have to be taken out of the wild.
@@user-je7pp2wg3myes... Humans Just try to domesticate everything istg.
"those laws are there for reason" - ehhh many laws are stupid, spain banned... tarantulas because they're apparently dangerous or something, despite the fact that you're way more likely to die because of your cat (in fact there isn't a single recorded case of someone dying from a tarantula bite and bites are extremely rare, meanwhile cat scratch disease could be fatal), and my country's laws seem to think that a green anaconda, a giraffe, or a grey wolf are less dangerous than a tiny spider
I admit I've thought I wanted certain exotic "pets" due to seeing them on social media. I was always deterred after further researching the animal. The care, habitat, time, and money they require is beyond ability. As I'm sure it is for 90% of the people that own these animals. My desire to own exotic animals quickly disappeared after briefly educating myself. I wasn't even aware that improper care is only half the issue. Thank you for taking time to shed light on this important issue!
Also, the creators of Tiger King really did such a disservice to the animals. Truly a missed opportunity to actually advocate for these animals. Instead they just sensationalized the owning and trading. Plus gave terrible people a large platform.
As a kinda exotic pet owner I try to rescue my animals from people who cannot care for them or don't want them after I have done sufficient research and I'd say most people do no research just look at Messi the cougar the owners admit they saw the cat wanted the cat bought the cat without doing ANY research but still think they give better care than experts (they don't). And tiger king did exactly what it wanted to it was a promotion of the exotic cat trade permit application for these and other exotic mammals have gone up in some places something like 2000% and where there's people going the legal route there's thousands more going the illegal one.
@@asherkarr5096
Didn't Messi come from a former petting Zoo that shut down?
I think they talked about it in one of their videos, can't remember it.
It would surely explain his short legs.
The dude also has shown videos of training him and he seems to obey just as well as a well trained dog, and take them regularly on walks or places they are enclosoured well enough.
Haven't watched every video though.
Same, I was looking at getting a rabbit, but I just couldn't handle it. I'm getting a upper in a week.
@@huhhuh9598 wild animals are more than intelligent enough to learn tricks, doesn't mean they should be pets. There's an old video (idk where to find it tho) about a woman who owned a bear from it being a cub and she's getting interviewed about it. The interviewer asks if the bear ever makes her nervous and she laughed and said "no hes harmless" after she said that the bear swung at her and batted her head off. It doesn't matter how "well trained" they are, they are still wild animals
@@tabithavanderpool418 even people or domesticated animals like cats, dogs often do something violent in anger, even if they are usually calm. So a bear, or any other wild animal will obviously much more likely to do so, especially since they live in forests, or open plains where there aren't any boundaries, so closed space probably stresses them out. So while any wild animal is dangerous, big ones like bears, large cats, or even deer can knock you out or outright kill you in a couple blows, keeping them as pets is just waiting for natural selection to happen
Warning, rant incoming!:
As someone who owns exotic pets(snakes and lizards) it absolutely sickens me when people purchase exotic pets just because someone on tik tok does. The trend that I often see, is the accumulation of Ball Pytbon morphs, especially Bananas and BEL's. It's really the "cute" aesthetic that these morphs possess. BEL's are solid white and appear pure and every way, while the bananas look Pastel in a sense. The moment they encounter one problem, they rehome them. They are all over craigslist, which is the result of someone seeing something cute and appealing and growing bored. Don't get me started on the Frog and Ferret promblem...Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!👍
I don’t even own any exotic animals myself and I understand your pain, it’s frightening and sad
As someone who also owns a ball python I see this a lot too, there’s a friend my girlfriend has that literally impulse bought All of her reptiles and will have to rehome all of them come the end of the college school year, people are so irresponsible
I really love BEL's, And I've been doing my research on them in hopes of trying to get one as I find snakes really interesting.
it really is gross how people impulse get pets because of tik tok and dont do their research first. i have a leopard pastel ball python and my mom has a spider ball python (its also sad that this beautiful morph has such a heart breaking neurological problem) i wanted a snake for years and back in 2019 i finally got one. i made sure to do my research and i even had bought a 40 gallon tank just to make sure when he got older he would have plenty of room. and made sure the temp and humidity was regulated properly before we got him and let him into his new home. my cat jumped onto the tank while i wasnt paying attention and broke the mesh so hes in a 20 gallon now but he has been doing great in it! i want to move him into a 30 gallon because there is barely any room in there for him imo.
20 gallon was the only available tank we had on hand and my parents wouldnt let me get a bigger one
even regular pets are being casually abused & exploited all over tiktok :( like ive seen countless videos of hamsters in extremely small cages trying to hurt themselves or escape, & theres this girl w a fairly big platform who makes 'cute' vids of her handling her frogs w no gloves & w long acrylics, occasionally poking the frogs w her nails. she holds them way too high up, & she even dropped one of her frogs once, & only deleted the video after she received backlash. anytime someone points out the abuse on her page we're flooded w replied abt how we dont know what we're talking abt or how we're just being rude, & this is all from ppl who have never even been near frogs before & just find her frogs cute. its disgusting.
I keep an exotic pet its a blue tongue skink that breed in captivity and his name is potato. I think it is ok to keep exotic pet as long as the owner knows how to care them
@@allyowancy8037 ofc, as long as a pet is being properly handled & cared for & is actually adjusted to captivity, i have no problem w it! :)
I mean this is pretty much laser accuracy targeted hate, animal abuse on the internet is older than google itself just remember dolphinsexdotcom, its the whole internets problem not only tiktok
@@MiguelAngel-go4ck i was naming an example, but i didnt mean to make it sound like thats the only form of animal abuse! this is just a recent & fairly well known example i know some ppl might recognize :)
@@user-ym5uu7fr9e im sorry if i worded it like i was reffering to you, i meant people in the comments calling for a genocide of titkokers
Someone got mad at me for telling people that 2 bearded dragons should not be allowed near each other and I got attacked for defending the only person who got that lol
Yep, they can be aggressive. When I fed some we ended up putting them on different benches so they couldn't get to each other (they lived apart).
That’s strange. I worked at a nature center where we had a few that we’d put together for feeding with no issues.
I’ve also known breeders who keep a male with multiple females with no problems.
Do you mean they shouldn’t keep males together?
@@davish.2726 probably but then the owner has to tell the difference. Keeping bearded dragons apart is a good rule of thumb unless you know it's safe and are watching for signs of aggression.
@@davish.2726 Male Bearded Dragons will fight and are territorial
maybe theyre both male
I don’t use Tiktok, but my fiancée used to. The amount of times she has reported videos for animal abuse is astonishing, and not one time has tiktok removed the videos in question. Every time they respond saying it doesn’t violate their TOS, even when it’s literal abuse, like throwing a live rabbit into a snake enclosure. It’s disgusting what they will let people get away with on that app
Like how they refuse to ban the woman who STILL SINCE 2020 has her premature babies corpse in every video and u can see its rotting and obviously stinks. Tik Tok only takes down videos of people doing something or showing things that are actually interesting.
@@DespairKarma *her what now*
@@Trollestiatumblur *Yep*
There's literally a woman who's had her premie babies rotting corpse thats purple with holes in it *and they still havent banned her*
@@DespairKarma wait what?!
I once found a video of a girl dissecting her dead hamster on vídeo beacuse she wanted to see the size of its heart, i reported it but tik tok said the same bs that it didnt go against the tos, i ended up deleting my account and i installed the app.
i don’t own a frog myself but holy shit the amount of people who see people who own frogs and want one for their own terrifies me on tiktok. i always see cute frog videos from educated owners and the comments say “WHERE DO I GET ONE?” and when i mention that’s not a good idea because it’s most likely an impulse buy and the animal won’t get proper care they say “mind your business” or “i can do what i want”. it’s gross
Tiktok has a huge problem in impulse buying animals. Frogs and orchid mantises are hard pets to keep. I'm getting a frog at some point this year and have already been preparing for months even though I probably won't get it until around October. I also keep mantises, not orchids, but I know a lot of people who DO have orchids and I know they're very sensitive and die easily, especially under the care of beginners to the hobby. I was also given goldfish the other day as a gift, but I know they're hard to take care of and I'm not prepared at all so I'm rehoming them. A lot of research is required to get these animals, but on tiktok people just see cute animals and buy them immediately. It's gross.
@@fanpet3912 i own 3 birds (budgies) and did months of research and preparing before even getting my first budgie. budgies are often known as one of the easiest parrots to maintain and keep but i still did a long process of preparing. i see these videos on my fyp all the time of people showing off their beautiful exotic pets which i love but at the same time it’s so worrying because if they’re viral they’ll encourage more and more people to get said pet, eventually resulting in more impulse bought pets often from the wrong/unethical sources too. i’m currently still rather young (i turn 13 in a few months) and it’s incredible the amount of people years older than me that don’t have the common sense to do proper research
I have a dream to own black eyed tree frogs but the day of the aquiring is not coming any time soon. I want to be SURE I can care for these pets and give them a good life, therefore I will research a lot and prepare myself whenever I plan to get thrse little babies~
And I thought twitter was bad enough
My two little sisters take way more care of their reptiles than these tiktokers. That's a damn shame.
Orchid mantises are beautiful, it's no wonder that so many people want one, but they're not meant to be pets
It actually can be completely okay to purchase a captive-bred orchid mantis from a reputable breeder, HOWEVER you should NEVER buy an orchid mantis if you don’t have the proper experience. I kept 8 varieties of mantises for a year before I even considered keeping one. It’s not only about research, but also experience. And about 85% of the people who buy orchids have zero experience, whatsoever.
@@guccipucci2560 exactly
Uhm, they can be pets. Mantises as a whole make great pets.
@@rhythmf.4460 Agreed. I have a wonderful Chinese mantis at the moment.
i swear to god if orchid mantises go extinct because of tiktok like bro they’re gorgeous and also the inspiration for my favorite pokémon and yeah it’s a dumb reason but i love the hell out of these things, but i’m fully aware that they should be left in their habitats
Who's that pokémon?
I mean, if you get a cbb individual you can keep and breed them if you want to... nobody is saying you need to get them from the wild
I'd say the pkmn is lurantis?
@@chopstick1671 the whole video explains why it's dangerous in the long run and why they get taken from the wild
@@genghisfarn by getting cbb individuals you are not contributing to poaching, even so, if you start breeding them, you are going against the poaching by creating more cbb availability. I have no idea why people would poach orchid mantises because any mantid breeder worth smth breeds them... so not that rare
I'll just enjoy my orchid mantis in animal crossing. 😌
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO PEOPLE
@@Aaron2nonchalant EXACTLY!
They're pretty to look at, but i can't imagine them being good pets.
As you should 💅
@@taph0philia mantises are good pets, but orchids aren't. They're hard to keep and die easily at small mistakes. I don't know why they're still a common pet in the mantis community
@@fanpet3912 oh thank you, good to know ☺
"Orchid mantis are extremely rare", I don't know why, but I suddenly felt very guilty, because at one point in Animal Crossing, I had one in every room.
Better Animal Crossing than real life
As long as it never actually happened in real life there's is no need to feel guilty, besides even if hypothetically you wanted to have one you know better now.
Imagine feeling guilty for a fake Mantis...
@@mr.sophistication2461 Never said it made sense xD
@@lisaa4446 I mean, I'm not big on pet bugs anyway (probably because I live in Australia and... nearly everything here is poisonous anyway)
It's exactly the same as what happens at easter, people flock to buy rabbits. The same again happens at Christmas with puppy's
And lets not forget chicks and ducklings, I see them become popular around Easter only to mysteriously 'vanish' after a month
I dont think people realize having a rabbit is a similar level of work as having a cat
@@marleymars2223 People underestimate how much work bunnies are. Definitely less maintenance than a dog or cat, but most are held in spaces so small its already animal cruelty. We and our neighbours were one of the few people to actually follow space measurements etc. Which only worked because we had them in 2 big diyed together hutches in the garden with all of the terrace and a big chunk of grass to be on (6 or 5 square meters over all I think) when we could supervise them. (Being a prey animal they need alot of space to run in during free roaming)
Most people hold them in tiny cages indoors. Bunnies can grow really big, which most people somehow dont know, since theyre way smaller as babies. Not quite dog or cat sized, but they were around 50cm/0,5m/196'' stretched out once fully mature.
@Isabella McGowan bet they made a great baby bunny stew
and chicks and ducklings. i happened to get my baby chicks right around easter and the guy we bought them from were sold out of all the 'pretty' ones. they're gorgeous little guys but it makes me sad to think that these people are buying one chick at a time and just leaving it isolated
While i dont own pets myself the sheer amount of malice i feel for those who use extremely exotic and rare species for nothing but attention and views cannot be overstated great vid thank you for addressing this issue
If axolotls go extinct because of tiktok I will cry
Edit: why are yall yelling at me, you guys are assuming I know everything about them, all I said way that I didn't want them to go extinct💀
or make tik tok go extinct. revenge is a dish best served extinct.
right. I didn't even know they could be kept as pets. crazy
Oh no, I knew someone who had one! I didn't know they were bad to have
@@CourtneyHammett they're not bad to have it's just that they're exotic and most people that want one (people from tiktok) dont do enough research on them and they dont treat them correctly
Pet axolotls that are captive bred are actually hybridized with tiger salamanders so it doesnt affect the pure wild axolotl populations
(since they are so available captive bred as pets I dont think they are being poached to be pets)
If you want an “exotic” pet get something similar! Want an orchid mantis? Go catch a praying mantis outside. Want a wildcat? Head to ur local animal shelter and get a lonely cat! They are just as cute and you can get them easily
I do think the main issue with a lot of people who get exotic animals is impulse buying and the lack of research. Which could also harm more normal pets. :( I do agree with tho that people should just try to settle with something more similar that fills the same ”need” that the exotic animal fills.
Yeah just get a mantis and some spray paint ez
@@Mikey-zk5wc what I did to my jellyfish
Why would you catch a random insect outside and keep it as a pet?
I’ve think we’ve all had a tragic childhood experience where our pet inchworm that we caught died.
@@pepearown4968 I own a millipede and two centipedes caught from outside, they're thriving and becayse they're local, they're adapted for my environment. The question is, why WOULDN'T you?
as someone who just learned about orchid mantis’ and thought “ooh, pretty! would love one myself!” i’m glad to have seen this video! it’s reminded me that just because everything can be made into a pet doesn’t mean we deserve to have it as a pet or that it can adapt to being a pet. i am not swearing off of owning one ever (orchid mantis) but i’m definitely going to be doing a lot of research if i do and treating the decision as seriously as it deserves, more seriously than “ooh, pretty”
I have an orchid mantis, they actually are quite nice but my recommendation is to buy an Indian flower mantis instead. They’re just as pretty in my opinion, but about a thousand times easier to care for. After this you can move onto spiny flower mantises, also gorgeous, and after gaining lots of experience and keeping lots of species, THEN do your research and purchase an orchid mantis. I also recommend joining a mantis keeper discord server in order to gain proper knowledge, it’s the best way to get proper info.
@@guccipucci2560 that was kind of my thought process, work my way up to being able to properly care for a pet that is not meant for beginner mantis owners / do research, and have a group of other mantis people to rely on once i get it
@@angrybuddha7613 yeah absolutely, I’m glad you’re being responsible with the choice because mantises are just genuinely amazing pets as long as you’ve done the research required
@@guccipucci2560 agreed, they’re pretty amazing. ever since doing even just a little more research on them (mantises in general, not just orchids) i’ve found a deep fascination with them and want to make sure when i get my mantises they are given the love, respect and proper care that they deserve and are entitled to
@@angrybuddha7613 it’s really nice to see people that think the way you do, because mantises are just so special and deserve so much respect and love. Even after reading about them, actually having one just amazes you with how much personality they have and how different they are from anything else in the world
I had seen one where a guy had three axolotls out of the water outdoors. He wasnt keeping them as pets or anything he just had them in the background on a rock. One of them was moving around, another, one was gasping for air, and the last one was dead. These are animals that are critically endagered. When I called him out on it he said they were alive and others said it wasnt a big deal.
What the hell!? They have gills. GILLS! I know they're amphibians but the literal visible gills ON THEIR FACE should clue you in that they shouldn't be out of water for that long and you should assume that if the things they USE TO BREATHE are slicked back against their face they FUCKING CAN'T
Fortunately, it’s a domestic axolotl, not the critically endangered on. But still horrifying, people adore making animals suffer for their amusement, so this doesn’t truly surprise me.
I own a chinchilla
Hes about 10 years old now and from my parents chinchillas from when i was a literal infant
I know how to care for a chinchilla. I know how easily they die. How prone to injury they can be in improper environments.
Every times someone sees my boy and goes "oh hes so cute i want one!" I tell em of the many requirements they have and common health issues, the problems that come with the litany of bad breeders ect, by the time im done those people dont want a chinchilla anymore
I cant imagine how many fluffy good boys and girls have needlessly died to ill equipped owners and people who reccomend them without informing anyone of the care they need. And thats just chinchillas. There's pets with greater more specialized needs recklessly bought, sold, and recommended to people who cant keep a cactus alive. I love my spuds, i would never just reccomend someone buy a chinchilla if they are ill informed. Ive seen too many die to bad owners in my lifetime. I will not contribute to the death and pain of exotic animals.
I could spend hours watching Chinchillas taking dust baths but even I know the TONS of research that goes into the little guys
I see a chinchilla couple “chinchilling” at the pet store near me and they’ve lived there for years. I feel terrible for them. They’ve been in good health for all that time from what I can see, but it hurts my heart to see them in that cage. But I’m glad nobody has bought them and treated them worse.
I have two chinchillas that are only around 2 years old and the way we got them was kinda sad. The past owner of them had two adult chinchillas in the same cage and didn’t know they’d breed. So when the baby’s came the set the cage outside in October while it was like 40 degrees for h o u r s. Luckily a friend lived around this neighborhood and saw them and asked us to if we could help them. (We had no prior knowledge of chinchillas and didn’t know what we were doing) but now there safe and happy and live in a cage that is probably 5x the size of there old one and they get spoiled ☺️ (there names are Franklin and Faraday)
Chameleons are the most fragile, ridiculously delicate species with the most intensive care requirements and they sell them at Petco. I hate that so much. I don’t know why they sell these animals with such extensive care requirements. You know some 10 year old is talking his mom into getting him a chinchilla right now. It’s sad ):
The same with chameleons. These animals are delicate and its terrifying to see how ignorant people choose to be on the ethics of keeping any animal without proper research and care.
What I hate is when someone (not just animal abusers) calls someone who is against their actions a Karen. They know they're doing wrong they just want to paint themselves as someone who does no wrong
Karen is now a jargon for people's ad hominem fallacies
That "Karen" trend needs to die.
Yeah like imagine this on tik tok “OMG GUYs IM A CATFISH BREEDER HERE IN FLORIDA COMe BuY ONE” **it’s actually an invasive species called a snakehead** and then someone calls them out and then the guy says : “YOURE SUCH A KAREN 😡”
@@czechoslovakia1090 if your the wrong color you’ll be called a Karen for acknowledging any bad behavior, or bad decision, god forbid you actually need to report a legitimate crime like child abuse, domestic violence, physical assault, sexual assault, stalking, gang violence, or a knife fight.. some would stoop so low they’d harass your family even after you die…
This, like you try giving someone pet advice to help their pet live longer and they be like "pEtA lOseR"
I hate when people just impulsively buy pets and then don’t know how to take care of them. My friend has several dogs and a cat that they don’t take good care of because their dogs get excited when going for a walk bc of the lack of walks it gets and they don’t train it not to pull on the leash. They trap their cat in a bedroom without any toys for the cat because the rest of the family doesn’t want the cat. They also recently got ducks :/
if the dog only pulls cause of lack of walks the pulling might just stop by itself if the dog gets regular walks. my dog was similar, not really training needed, just exercise. i hope u can talk to ur friend abt how u feel about it
@@monke2229 yeah that’s what I told her, plus you can just train your animal not to pull the leash
@@monke2229 like if the walks aren’t actually the problem, our dog used to pull the leash when she walked multiple times a day
I got a friends that I really feel bad for their pets because she has a cockatoo and it’s always in a small cage and their cats don’t go outside and one even got a infection and they didn’t get it treated so it died and it genuinely breaks my heart
"Lets buy a lot of animals even though the entire family disagrees and barely take care of them and just a sole purpose of quirkiness!"
The amount of animal abuse and misinformation that's on tiktok is abysmal and downright disturbing.
I'm not saying owning exotic pets is horrible but when people make videos on exotic pets, they need to further educate their audience because too many people on the platform are misinformed and don't know the consequences and the responsibilities to owning an exotic pet.
Two years ago I went to a restaurant and some girl bring a red baby monkey and she was showing the monkey to her friends. It make me wanna gag! My sister asked " don't I want one? " like everyone know I'm an animal lover but hell no I'm not taking away any baby away from their mother
did u ask her where she got him from? if not, ur assuming
@@avalilyhupp1495 exactly.. the girls mother could work at a zoo and the baby might have been abandoned by it's mother..
@@litchtheshinigami8936 even if that happened, which is unlikely, there is no reason to put the baby monkey in a human child’s care at a restaurant
@@08Jahna no true.. either way there are some explanations that don't involve anything illegal
Apparently, there is such a thing as service monkeys. Like a service dog, but it would be in monkey form. I know this because when I was working in retail and as long as it had the vest, service monkeys were allowed.
I had this one friend in middle school who had a tiny turtle. The poor turtle was put in a plastic container (definitely not a terrarium) with just a little bowl filled with water to swim in. but the worst thing is it was REMOVED from its natural habitat during one of my friend’s summer trip with her family. They were like “oh turtles! they look so cute, let’s grab one and bring it home”. Like wth??? I didn’t quite get it at that time but now when I think about it, it drives me so mad.
My cousins has 2-3 turtles in a fish tank with some water in one of the bathrooms. That’s it. I always felt bad for them because it’s clear they aren’t getting much attention besides being feed, and I don’t even know how often they do it, because their food thing on top of it feels as heavy as it was the last time I’ve been there.
To make matters worse is that I know for a fact they were interested in the turtles for a while then lost interest. I know that because few years back he got a pit, and when he got to big the poor dog was just locked in his way to small cage before their dad took him just left the dog in a field.
As an experienced mantis keeper, orchids are actually really hard to keep and the worst mantis for beginners. They can die from small mistakes and these people impulse-buying them from tiktok is such a bad idea.
I actually live in a country with only two mantis species, and others aren't allowed to be brought in (and rightfully so!) so I've never kept anything but those two, and I'm happy to do so. But I'm in a lot of mantis communities and so I know a lot of even experienced keepers struggling with orchids. Personally, I don't see the appeal.
I know this isn't the point of this video, but I figured it was worth something to add. All of these animals aren't easy to keep, but people see these cute videos and buy them. It's stupid and dangerous.
Even if you care for them expertly, don't they only live for a few months anyway?
@@genetsandjazz yes, they typically only live for up to a year. But that doesn't mean they should have their lives cut short because of their owner's inexperience/incompetence, especially considering how expensive they are (not that their price determines their value, just saying that most people don't want to buy an expensive pet only for it to die a month later because they didn't know how to care for it properly)
@@fanpet3912 Well, ethically speaking, they are no more deserving of life than the bugs that are fed to them. I can't find any evidence that the pet trade is harming orchid mantis or that the smuggled ones are wild-caught. It's funny that I can't get people to stop killing wild bugs for no reason but put one in a cage and the anti-exotic pet mobs descend upon you. I mean really.
@@genetsandjazz Ethically speaking, I agree with you, but it really has nothing to do with the conversation? Mantises are killed unnecessarily by poor care conditions, while the bugs that they eat at least provide calories for another being.
I believe that the pet trade probably is harming orchids in some way, as the pet trade usually harms most animal species involved in it, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be kept as pets. People just need to not be stupid and be sure to buy them from trustworthy breeders. There's no inherent problem with keeping them, as long as you're responsible about it.
@@fanpet3912 There's a lot of speculation going in here. I think orchid mantis are still very uncommon as pets. I believe those who choose to keep them are very involved with bug keeping. I _highly_ doubt the pet trade is harming wild populations, particularly as I found one researcher suggest they are "rare in the field", which I can't figure out if that means they are hard to find or their populations are tiny. It doesn't make sense to me with the latter since bugs lay presumably hundreds of eggs. If they are rare to find, however, it would be hard for collectors to find them and captive breeding would be easier. Frankly even if you accidentally kill them, generally bugs lay so many eggs because most don't make it to adulthood so they'd be living longer with you.
Slow lorises are also one of the only venomous mammals and their teeth are taken out to make sure they don’t hurt their handlers in the traumatic process.
You aren't slandering influencers by exposing them, you are simply holding them accountable. Anyone who refers to themselves as an "influencer" should know what the word means. If you call yourself an "influencer", you are looking to influence the behaviours, tastes, and purchasing practices of others. And you will influence people with your words AND your actions. So, any influencer who's behaviour is encouraging (implicitly or explicitly) others to participate in questionable activity, should definitely be held to account.
Slow loruses aren't the only animals that die in heartbreaking numbers due to smuggling...most exotic animals don't survive the smuggling process. Seeing all those huge insects in tiny boxes and jars brought tears to my eyes.
People end up with pets that they can't control, so they release them into the wild, assuming that they'll adapt, with no understanding of the animal's natural habitat and dietary needs. Not to imagine ignoring that you have now released a domesticated (or semi-domesticated) animal into an alien environment where it doesn't know how to fend for itself.
The whole thing just makes me so angry and sad!! Why do people think that exotic animals and insects are just toys for them to play with until they get bored?? They are living, breathing creatures with (in the case of animals) feelings. Animals feel happiness, loneliness, fear, confusion, and depression...and I'm sure they feel the last 4 in abundance when they are ripped away from their mothers, stuffed in dark boxes, and shipped to somewhere completely foreign during a tortuous trip with others of their kind dying all around them. They are not meant to be living toys for the rich and clueless.
For crying out loud, there are enough animals in shelters and rescues in every country around the world. It's too bad that so-called influencers can't use their platform for something good, like encouraging their followers to adopt pets in their own countries that need a loving forever home.
Raising orphan domestic cats and going into exotic animal rehab and vet med the exotic trade of mammals is extensively cruel considering 99% of them are seperated from my before 1-2 days of life causes a infant mortality rate close to 75% not to mention they commonly forceably wean them too early (going from formula to solids) which can also kill them or at the least be very unpleasant and even painful and also the breeders encourage people to incorrectly feed and house them as well as purposefully tell people to keep extremely social animals such as primates away from others of their spieces otherwise they will not bond with the owner also on the topic of primates one of the biggest threats to wild primates is killing the mom for meat than selling her infant into the pet trade which will rarely make it past 2 due to horrific care.
@@asherkarr5096 🥺🥺
Insects are animals too; if it's not a plant, a fungus, a bacteria, a protist or an archaea, it's part of the domain of Animalia. Insects experience feelings too, some more than others but all of them to my knowledge have the basic feelings required to live, like fear and stress which motivate them to defend themselves against threats. If the animal reacts to being in contact with their environment you know they have feelings of some kind, and for example you can know many types of insects can experience joy on some level because they favour certain foods over others. If they didn't experience those feelings there would be no reason to favour something and seek it out and even choose it over foods that are easier to obtain. Like ants could simply eat aphids but they chose to become symbiotic instead because they prefer the sugar they secrete over the taste of the aphids themselves.
Kinda pointless but my pet peeve is that people think insects aren't animals 😅
Most of these people aren’t “influencers” or claim such title. We give them those titles because we choose to. All they do is post videos online. They have no responsibility to be a role model.
@@jorgevaldes756 you don't live in a bubble, EVERYONE has the responsibility to BE RESPONSIBLE... With these people it includes not advertising their pets like they're accessories instead of living beings.
It's crazy how there are a number of animal owners that will go to great lengths to get social media content at the expense of the animal. I own a hamster and it is incredibly unsettling as to see how many videos exist on TikTok or TH-cam that exploit hamsters and put them into dangerous situations. From putting them into extremely small cages because they decided to get them on a whim or make them go through a maze with other animals (i.e. crabs) or harmful traps, it is just sickening. It seems that unless an animal is being hit or starved, that a lot of people will not see other harmful actions as animal abuse.
Honestly at this point I don't show my exotic pets on tiktok or public social media almost at all cause I don't want to encourage people
@@asherkarr5096 Why'd you get them in the first place tho? (Actual question)
I just got a hamster a few weeks ago and I care for her with my life. My dog recently passed away, so I'm making sure that the hamster stays for as long as I can.
A while back I interned at an exotic vet and (unfortunately) was able to witness the necropsy of a young serval who had been kept as a pet by a local family. The cat had visible malnutrition, with its skin clinging to its rib cage and its size way smaller than it should've been. During the necropsy, scraps of cloth, plastic, and other foreign objects were found in its stomach. It was absolutely devastating. I remember the vet looking so dejected the whole way through and needing some time alone afterwards. All of these videos, like with mika, just remind me of that and it hurts so bad
I’m so sorry, Gila. I hope you’re healing from it, and may that poor serval rest in peace. It’s disgusting how so many TikTokers and people in general just see an exotic animal and go “oooh I wanna keep it!” and not even bother to do proper research.
My sister is a vet tech, so she has seen a fair amount of stuff in the clinic she works at. She works with normal house pets, most exotic thing she has cared for in the clinic are chickens and as pets she has ducks so that's how far it goes. Though seeing animal abuse in exotic and domestic animals is horrible. When I picked her from work one day she was fuming and ranting about how her boss had to convince a woman to surrender her dog. She went in to euthanasie the dog because she couldn't keep it and it was skinny as well as abused. She said if she couldn't have it then she didn't want anyone else to have it. She ended up giving it to the clinic and the dog is doing much better from the last update my sister gave me. It is just sick what some people do and seeing stuff like this is even more sad. I hope you recovered from seeing that.
The owners probably thought "this is cat we feed one cup dry food per day and call good yes?" And ignores the fact its not a house cat and thought it's normal for it to be skin and bones
These people baffle me. The most 'exotic' pet I've ever owned is a cockatiel that I've had for the past five years. He's the first bird I've had, so I did my research for _months_ before we found him. I read every book I could on cockatiels to learn how to take proper care of him, and I'm still learning to this day! I'm happy to say that I haven't made any real mistakes though, and he's never once gotten sick and he's perfectly happy. It scares me to think what could happen to him in the hands of one of these people. He's a pied male, so he's got the rather flashy cheek patches and is much more yellow than gray, so I could totally see someone buying him just for his pretty coloration and not considering his needs. He's really cuddly, so he needs to be out of his cage for most of the day, and lots of petting. He can't eat a lot of seeds because they're not healthy. He needs mostly veggies and greens and grains, with _some_ seed and pellets. Someone like these people would probably just grab the first bag of birdseed they find at Petco and either over or under feed him. And they probably wouldn't give him the attention he needs and deserves, so he'd be in his cage for most of the day, screaming his head off because he's lonely. Then the owner would get fed up and pass him along. By then, he probably would've started feather-picking due to stress, and he could get an infection from that. That kind of thing happens all too often with parrots, because the owners only see a pretty bird they can show off and not a real animal with needs.
Sheeeesh thats long
@@pumpkinfarmer814 Sorry /gen
My most exotic were hermit crabs
out of curioustiy, how did you tame your cockatiel? i heard the process of taming parrots is long and its hard to gain their trust
@iivavii I got him when he was already a year old and had been living with previous owners, so he was already well accustomed to people. I was still pretty young at the time so my memory’s a little fuzzy, but I think I just hung out with him a lot and didn’t push him to stay out of his cage for too long while he was still adjusting.
I work at an animal shelter that takes in basically any kind of pet (not just cats/dogs). We get in various reptiles fairly regularly, and it's safe to say that the majority of the ones we receive have health issues because the owners had no idea what they were doing. Severely underweight lizards, turtles with shell rot, etc.
How often do you get reptiles with MBD?
Parrots as well. Its awful
🤦♀️
I've been a fan of exotic bugs for a long time but it's more of a fasination for me than a "I'll kill to have one"
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 I don't buy them at all simply enjoy the interesting biodiversity and evolution of them.
Exotic bugs? Like colorful butterflies or something?
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 I don't think saying your 10 on a platform that bans people for be under the age of 13 is a good idea
Oli Gilligan, roblox minecraft fortnite and more People can tell that you’re a child from your videos and your name. And she’s right - you shouldn’t be on TH-cam comment sections as a kid. There are a lot of bad people out there, and some conversations just aren’t suitable for kids. I know that as a kid, you don’t want to hear that, but really bad things happen to kids on the internet. There’s a reason TH-cam only lets people 13 and above on the platform. It’s not suitable - and even dangerous - for those under that age. Do your parents know that you’re on TH-cam?
YES!
Ferrets are a great example of pets that aren't really dangerous but greatly mistreated by almost everyone on tiktok.
I saw a video of one of the owners coloring their Ferrets fur when just using normal soap on their skin makes it burn and get them to have a really bad rash and heck, even hairless.
I don't use tik tok so I don't know if there's an option to report the video for animal abuse like there is on TH-cam?
@@andrear4954 I have no idea. I never tried to report them. I just Block them off from my feed because it hurts my soul.
@@kiwithevtuber do you remember the @
@@sararamirez563 nope
@@andrear4954 you can report for animal abuse.
As an "exotic pet owner" myself, I can say that the crowd that flocks to videos like this on TikTok should not be just watching a short 30 second clip and going out to buy a burmese python. True, my "exotic" pet is not nearly as exotic as a slowloris or as dangerous as a caracal; it's a just a leopard gecko. But, even that, a rather easy to take care of, popular, non-venomous, 8-inch long reptile still takes a lot of research to provide the proper diet and enclosure for. And, while I'm sure that most ecosystems in the US are safe from them due to how they don't handle humidity or cold well, it is an undertaking to provide for one, and no one should buy one on a whim. Same goes for crested geckos, bearded dragons, ball pythons, box turtles... any pet really.
I bet people would be shocked if they did research on how to keep a dog or cat healthy - they're such a common pet, that I feel like a lot of people just take for granted that it's easy to take care of these animals, and that it doesn't require a lot of effort. But, really, especially if you live in a city, it can be more difficult to provide what these pets need than you might realize. That's not to say that no dog or cat owners do the research and put the work in; I'm just pointing out that they're such common pets that there are bound to be a lot of owners that aren't fully informed on the topic.
I did not know this was a thing... is there ANYTHING on TikTok that’s wholesome?
Right I’m like.. this was a thing??
Robert Tolppi is on TikTok
claysoggyfries
Haha right? The app shouldn’t allow sooo many things that are on it but they want that money like tik tok doesn’t have enough already! Ughhhh.
Tbh this has always been a thing. It’s especially a thing on Facebook and TH-cam so I’m really not surprised this is a thing that’s come up on TikTok
A lot of kids just see an animal and go "heehee pretty animal" and just buy em without knowing how to even care for them properly
especially without hands on practice. ALWAYS when available should you go to a rescue for training or questions, like parrot rescues here in Oregon allow foster care or temporary stay before making the decision.
@@oligilliganrobloxminecraft7953 Stop what now? Calling out animal abuse?
@@EclecticallyEccentric I have no idea why I wrote that comment or when I did that but I agree with this comment and it’s absolutely true
owning exotic pets is just selfish. just go to a shelter and adopt a cat or a dog. shelters have so many pets that need a hope and you’re probably gonna be happier because cats and dogs are easier to care for than a big cat or a monkey.
*some exotic pets* Im a firm believer that the more tame exotic pets are perfectly fine to own as long as you do the work and the research to give them a good life.
I think that depends on the pet. For example, all bugs are, by most definitions, exotic pets. This does not mean they are unethically obtained, many are captive bred and ethical breeders take a great amount of care in assuring their wellbeing while raising and during transport. If you have the means, the knowledge, and the time to take care of an ethically obtained exotic, I don't think that's a problem.
Some animals just shouldn't be pets though. Monkeys, many parrots, big lizards, foxes, etc. are just bad pets. Keep them in the wild.
Yes. If your pet had to be smuggled into the country it's not supposed to be in your home. Jane Goodall loves chimpanzees but doesn't have them as pets. If you love nondomesticated animals so much you have to possess them it's not love, it's selfish.
@@ScorpionClaws789 yes but many of these animals that are already domesticared would not stand a chance in the wild
@ngan dinh yes im aware thats what youre talking about, i know someone who owns a fox who has been domesticated since birth, it has a 0 chance of survival out in the wild and "releasing" it into the wild would be the same as executing it
I remember my friend was moving to another country so she was looking for people to take care of her pets, one of which was a little corn snake. She asked me if I was interested and I knew my family was incapable of taking care of one so I said no. However, I did offer to ask my mom if she knew anyone who could. My mom then said she might know a person but also mentioned that my dad had said he wanted one. Knowing my father (and my family in general tbh) I immediately knew that he probably wasn't being serious but for some reason she still mentioned it to him. He immediately said he wanted her (the snake) but then I said that a snake is a big responsibility. He claimed that "His office has a snake that he takes care of" and showed me a picture of a - and I shit you not - *dead* snake. We got into a fight because I kept saying that he isn't fit for it and that he only wanted a snake for the sake of saying he could have a snake (when I told him that the number one snake rule was to not take them out of the container because then they could escape he quietly asked "Not at all?" because he wanted to fly to another country and take pictures of her on a beach!) as well as the fact that their main diet are mice that 1) My mom is afraid of and 2) I actually like and am completely uncomfortable seeing it in the middle of our freezer. Apparently my words had hurt his pride because he just kept insisting when he made 0 effort to research anything and said that he WILL get a snake whether I like it or not. The worst part is that my brother asked why do I care when it wouldn't even be my pet and honestly, knowing from past experiences with our dog my family only sees pets as objects and nothing else. Fortunately my friend decided to just give her back to the breeder they got her from but honestly I regret even bringing it up to my mom in the first place.
Bro, your family is so cruel, inhumane, and heartless 😭😭😭💔💔💔 Sorry you had to deal with that. Thank you for standing up for these animals, you have a good heart 🥺🥺🥺 I hope your family never owns a other animal again 😩😩😩
lol I have many exotic snake species including venomous and you're wrong on a couple of things! you can take your snakes out of their habitat whenever they're comfortable! I often take mine out to give them exercise. snakes aren't difficult at all actually! they're easier than any other pet, ESPECIALLY cornsnakes.
An example of an actually good exotic influencer is snake discovery, she takes very good care of her rescue reptiles and she preaches so much about proper care and husbandry!
Clint's Reptiles is another really good one, he covers a lot of weirder species and rates them on how good they would be to keep as pets. And he's very honest when they're not xV
Go herping also. If you ever want to see what can go wrong with reptiles, watch one of his unboxing videos.
He rescues and rehomes animals, and trys to coordinate them arriving (because weather), and when he does he records himself taking them out, and checking them over.
So much metabolic bone disease, stuck shed, and otherwise poorly cared for animals. So many bearded dragons. Occasionally it's well cared for animals that their owner can't keep anymore, but there are a lot of sad looking animals.
Her story with Rex is so so helpful to making people understand why these shouldn’t be pets, and she’s always so willing to take in pets that viewers could no longer handle. She also raves about snakes that are actually manageable to normal people (she loves hog noses and garters, which are both small easy snakes, and garters are local to the US) and I can’t wait for her new store and zoo!
@@itmakessenseincontext889 I like go herping, and he usually has a lot of good points in his videos, but he’s so aggressive in his attack some times it comes off as rude and “holier than thou”, and feels like he forces everyone to provide the absolute maximum they can to their pet if they shouldn’t have it, which is like telling someone if they can’t mush their husky they shouldn’t own an old rescued husky that’s never seen a day of sledding. Sometimes less than perfect is okay and does no active harm to the animal.
Shes the cutest
I own exotic pets, but just geckos and tarantulas. I call them observatory pets because, like fish, you're not meant to cuddle with them or put them on your face. The kind of people on tik tok that show off these animals, by putting them in dangerous situations, clearly don't care. I also don't understand why anyone would want to be responsible for a rare species or put a predator in your home. Like seriously, it hurts like hell when my tiny cat gives me a tiny scratch🙃
@Wattle Yeah, that's unfortunate. I've seen a lot of people in my area buy bigger birds and not take care of them at all. Its sad :(
@Wattle Yeah :( The local pet store owner has an African Grey Parrot. My friend use to work there and said she rarely bonded with the bird and that they need that too. It just sits there at the store in a small cage with very little feathers. I think it picks at itself :( It breaks my heart because they live for so long and I'm sure they understand what's going on
@Wattle Is it okay to cuddle my pigeon?
@Wattle Thanks for the info!
repeating what Wattle said but for geckos if anyone sees this: it depends on the gecko, my crestie will jump on my hand & loves exploring the room but many ppl have geckos that don't like being handled. Just know the signs of stress & keep your buddy's boundaries in mind.
Don’t forget it wasn’t just the hurricane that made the snacks live in the Everglades. So many owners released their pet snacks that it greatly contributed to the fact that the Burmese python is such a large invasive species
While people releasing Burmese pythons into the Everglades is not good, there was never a steady breeding population until the hurricane lead to the escape of a captive breeding population.
Pet snacks, yum
Snakes?
@@FeralFelineFriend no, snacks.
Individuals releasing snakes was pretty meaningless. If one person released one snake, sure it would eat some shit, BUT it wouldn't find a mate. This problem is solely because of the hurricane. There's no real reason to stop individuals from owning these snakes, and instead we should be worried about breeding facilities, and punishing the businesses who caused this. I own snakes, and most people who own snakes also know to not release them into the wild. The only people who are releasing them into the wild, are probably the same people who would travel to a different state, buy the snake, and take it back to Florida. Making a blanket ban on animals is not the way to go and instead things like forced licensing on exotics or microchipping them, so you can be punished, if they're found in the wild. Seems like the best way to go IMO. I'd bet this ban hurt more than it did good, since people who previously owned these snakes WERE NOT grandfathered in, and instead had to get rid of them. If you can't find someone to take them, what are you gonna do? Keep it? Kill it? Or release it?
I remember my cousin asking me if I would convince her mother to get her a caracal. I yelled at her for an hour.
I was always concerned why people who weren’t owners of sanctuaries were keeping caracals. I’m glad someone else has realised the weird glamorisation of keeping so many exotic pets.
I personally have experienced a lot of individuals claiming to be sanctuaries when I was rehoming exotic animals from a private home. They were claiming to be sanctuaries/rescues, but when I checked their social media I saw exactly this type of content: exotics roaming their home, no separate enclosures, cuddling with them, etc. They were very quickly crossed off my list.
As much as people like Floppa and so on it really worries me since the guy making the videos seems to be russian, and they tend to not have some animal protection laws there
@@LynaaXyihn Just like roadside zoos or places that offer cub petting or photo ops with newborn big cats or bears, and say it's to promote conservation.
People keep caracals because: it's legal, they want to, and it's none of your damn business.
@@genetsandjazz MUH RIGHTS FUH ANIMAL CRUELTY!!!!!! AND ENDENGERMENT UF UTHERS!!!!!
Great video. This is super reasonable to do. Exotic animals should be in nature. Not homes of people who don't even know how to take care of them. They do die quicker in homes of not responsible. Thank you so much for speaking up about the blatant abuse towards these animals.
People shouldn't make profit of any endangered animals unless it's for a good cause like trying to save them. If it's like that then it's for an amazing cause but just filming them for money is down right greedy.
This is my Ted talk :>
Its upsetting because as someone who wants exotic animals, people who don't do the research make those who have effectively taken care of them, look bad. I want these pets being taken care of, and these people not being transparent about the process, lead for kids wanting them without knowing the cost.
Tldr: I just want these animals being taken care of, and sourced reputabley. And the tick tokers make the process look easy by not being open about the trade. Which inspires uneducated people to get ones.
@@twilotealeaf1714 preach this.
I keep reptiles and I would literally defend my animals with my life if someone tried to take them. Arrest people who abuse their animals. Leave my fucking pets out of this
Exotic animal =/= endangered =/= wild animal/wildcaught. Fish, rabbit, hamster, geckos are also exotic animals, but they make great pets.
Its not only tiktok, so many youtubers show of their rare exotic animals and they get nothing but love, it feels like people are too stupid to understand that these animals should not be in captivity since its very stressful, these wild cats are suposed to roam huge areas in the wild but instead they are forced to live in houses or tiny pens.
Animals such as big cats should not be in captivity, however some “exotic” animals actually do much better in proper captivity then the animals in the wild do. For example leopard geckos, they have been captive bread for over 60 generations and do much better in captivity then they do in the wild. So it just depends on the animals :)
Im a fan of channels like 2CANTV where despite YES owning exotic birds, he preaches and PREACHES about NOT SEEKING TO OWN ONE. how they're bad pets. how they can and are often very aggressive. how the wild population suffers due to the illegal trade and really just aims to promote the idea of NOT owning toucans. His first 2 Tocos (now passed) were both from other homes where they were neglected and especially his second one had a slew of medical issues. His other rehomed one is so put off by humans in general that she'll never be able to properly interact with them.
In my opinion, I think it's perfectly fine to keep exotic pets (with papers) (purely captive bred) as long as they meet their daily needs and is kept happy, and be a responsible owner. I agree though, it is sad that there are many out there that are abusing their exotics and not even giving a damn just for clout in social medias.
true i have the same feelings for example axolotls which you can get from reputable breeders are endangered in the wild but not in captivity. Like other "exotic" pets poor axolotls get abused a lot now especially since minecraft released the update
It’s ok if the ideal conditions exist… The problem is that, the ideal conditions are rare to happen… People are stupid, and more than often, they think that wild animals are like normal pets or toys that look cute.
I've always liked caracals, even before they became more well-known. They're supposed to be able to jump about 3 meters into the air to catch birds. When I watched the uprising in people buying these cats and making them fat, I was really unimpressed. How do you expect that to just 3 meters high? Did we not breed cats to be domestic for a reason? That's so you can have your own mini "caracal."
should we un big our floppas
@@muugimgl yes
@@muugimgl yes
@@muugimgl yes
ikr? Say what you will about dog/cat breeds, but there's such a variety that people really don't have to buy an exotic animal to "have an interesting pet".
The poaching of tarantulas of the genus poecilotheria is another big concern
I’ve seen that some universities are starting to create “exotic animal clubs.” Now don’t panic. It’s actually for students who really care about exotic animals, and some tend to be biology students. It seems like many have it where they get to create enclosures somewhere on campus, and then they have either rescued exotics, and/or ones they are rehabilitating. What I have seen so far is really great. Students learn about the best husbandry, and also go teach others about good husbandry. These clubs typically get to have either free booths at reptile expos or reduced rates.
I gotta also mention, a famous youtuber once owned a Fennec fox who she claimed to "have chosen" (the fox had chosen) to be a vegan.
She fed the fox fruits and veggies diet which resulted in malnutrition, fur shedding, runny nose and more. Thankfully, the pet was removed by an organization to prevent from further abuse.
Heyo florida girl here! I figured I let you know there is a town down near the Everglades that does a yearly contest. People (typically hunters) sign up to go hunt down the invasive pythons. There’s a prize for most pythons killed, and I think you get a trophy 🏆 too.
Aren't wild hogs open season in florida also?
@@paulviskup2786 my question was if they were open season I'm aware of how invasive they are and how devastating they are to farm animals I just wasn't sure if they were open season in Florida I know in Texas they are
Might as well go to florida and get my hunting license.
That's fine though
@@escanorrita189 yea in Florida you're all good to kill those fuckers as long as you have rights to the property where you killed them.
In Arizona there’s a bird called the peach-faced lovebird that is invasive from pet birds escaping their owners, this shit really does happen and impacts the environment for centuries
Peach faced lovebirds can be in Arizonian zoos instead of just being exterminated outright in Arizona because they’re not the state’s natives.
@@SlapstickGenius23 for sure, they actually do have them in zoos here! Not sure how they would even go about eliminating the species without eliminating other species so I don’t think that ppl normally just exterminate invasive species (at least I hope they don’t! 😬)
If I remember correctly they're not actually a big problem, since Arizona is so arid they're restricted to cities so they don't actually have a big effect on the native habitats
@@therealsamsclub2325 im pretty sure theyre just classified as non native. Theyre not harmful since they aint taking anyones food. The people give them food. And they live in the hole of cactie of other bird.
yup, they're a big problem especially near parks like Granada. They take over the habitat of native birds, and compete with them for food. They should be completely removed from these places, through either euthanization or capture for zoos.
meanwhile me scared to get plants bc i won’t be able to care for them bc depression and i’m moving dorms and the plants will die in storage over summer
that’s a rlly reasonable way of thinking tho! a big part of the tiktok-exotic-pet-issue is people not taking their current mental state and life/work commitments into stock, or considering the work of taking care of another living creature and whether they are capable of providing it with the high quality of life that it deserves. so even though it might sound silly, thinking ahead on whether now is the best time to get plants for you is a good, caring thing to do :))) for both your own well-being and your potential future plants’ well-being too!
sorry 4 the ramble- good luck w moving!
ps. i hope this comment didn’t sound condescending- as someone who has struggled in the past, your comment just resonated w me x
@@katiebaliki8331 no it didn’t; i ramble too, that’s why i don’t have a pet yet. My goal is to have fish tanks with real plants and stuff, plants, cats, dogs, birds(only ones that won’t live longer than me) maybe a frog i dunno
I totally understand this! As someone who also suffers from a mental illness that makes it really hard to take care of yourself, let alone something else, my pothos is my pride and joy. A pothos doesn’t care if you’re not giving it the perfect kind of watering or light, it’s like a weed, if it’s not pitch dark and incredibly dry it’ll grow, won’t be the thickest most luxurious plant, but it doesn’t care, it doesn’t have feelings. Idk if tok live through storage but I say go for it next semester!
@@katiebaliki8331 No, that’s common sense.
@@Oli.V same with my orchids. They were my husband’s first gift to me so they were the only thing that didn’t suffer through my depression. They still tried to kill themselves by lying to me but they’re still alive and in bloom despite themselves
As an aspiring zoologist who plans to get a crested gecko from a known responsible breeder, I agree with everything you said. However, it should be noted that even common pets - cats and goldfish being notable culprits - can cause just as much harm to the ecosystem as a Burmese python. Cats have literally destroyed multiple bird sanctuaries and are known to be one of the biggest invasive species around the world. Goldfish are ravaging ponds in the United States and their waste causes algal blooms and eventually dead zones. When it comes to species that don't generally harm humans, it's not about the species, it's about the owner behind it.
There are plenty of great burmese python owners out there just as there are many great cat owners out there. A pet that is truly responsibly cared for should not cause harm to the ecosystem. Don't let your cat outside, don't release fish because a movie told you to, and don't let your snake slither away.
As someone who owns a gargoyle gecko that I got from a very responsible breeder I completely agree with you
No matter what you do when you get a pet even if it’s a goldfish you should always do your research and get it from a responsible source Which by the way pet stores are not a responsible source. I only go to pet stores to grab supplies for my animals you should never ever get animals from the pet store since they are very irresponsibly source.
Look at me im so quirky im a "selfish animal abuser 🙈✨" ~these guys or something
"these guys or something" made me laugh
True
@@emithelastidiot1817 same lol
@🌊OceanMan🌊 oh ya that stuff, I saw one where they put like baby rabbits in eggs and broke them open and it had millions of likes and people believed it like my god what is this world
@๑ღMacaroon Sorbetღ๑ oof
I once really wanted a parrot, like a macaw or something. It took me only half an hour of research to realise I wouldn't be able to care for such a creature. I would never want to keep a pet and have it suffer. These people make me sick.
I once had a bearded dragon that i had, and it was sick when we got it, eventually we nursed to back to health but eventually i was starting to have less time to care for it and had to find a good home for him. People need to know when their pet isnt getting the care it needs and find someone who can care for their pets. You can get rid of pets and still be a good pet owner
@@obi-wankenobi8927 That’s true for reptiles, but since birds bond so much with their owners the process of changing homes can be really traumatic. That’s another reason parrots are so difficult to take care of. Whether it’s a parakeet (budgie) or a macaw they both require a lot of social interaction and time, along with the fact that parrots are quite long lived, with some being a 80 year time commitment.
@@e3m3 very true
I'm guessing you watched Rio?
@Wattle
I have a parrot and he lives in the perfect environment and gets a minimum of 4 hours a day of interaction. Every time before I offer him some of my food, I do research on if it is safe. No dairy, no seeds, nothing that is toxic. Caring for my bird is difficult, and some people do not realize that. It takes a lot of effort to keep a healthy and happy parrot, but it can still be an awesome companion. I don’t think people should be against everyone who owns parrots, only the careless and abusive owners.
"Exotic pets may be the cause of the next pandemic"
We're not even out of our current one!
people have had their face ripped off and people are still like ooo yes what fun! let me get a Exotic pet too!
Especially chimps, they can be really violent and angry, especially males, and people still keep them around like they're their kids. There's a case of one literally ripping a woman's face off over an elmo doll
To be fair, exotic pets range from a harmless beetles to literal tigers. Admittedly, exotic pet is a pretty useless label.
Fun fact: if you want an exotic (not illegal) pet, get a guinea pig. They are native to peru and other parts of South America but also make good small pets. They can be great for people ranging from children (though I would advise waiting until the child is ten years old since they can get spooked easily) or they can be perfect for someone who wishes they owned a capybara. They are also very social and don’t mind being in large groups. There is a TH-cam channel called “Little Adventures” that is very helpful for taking care of them.
Also, my dad bought an albino Burmese python who lived for 16 years before recently passing away. My dad took goog care of him for the most part except the tank he lived in was small. I promise the breeder was trust worthy as it came from a pet store that was well known and up to date in breeding and animal care.
great pets! requires a lot of veggies and hay and they poop a lot haha
I miss Ronnie my guinea pig. He was a great companion.
@@cplova333 yes they do, my guinea pig would even poop in his food it was so weird and I cleaned his cage about three times a week. Very messy little guy.
Tbh, while I agree with guinea pigs being fun pets; the sentence ‘perfect for someone who wishes they owned a capybara’ is not right. Don’t get animals because you wanted another animal but it’s not an ‘easy’ animal, and it’s substitute is. If you want a capybara, research it, put in the hours, and then either get one or not. Don’t get substitutes, that’s how people lose interest in animals.
This reminds me of the uptick in clownfish/blue tang purchases after the release of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, which were trying to spread the opposite message.
Me, as a parrot owner/private rescue; Thank you soo much for bringing attention to this. Parrots are one of the most common exotic pets that are completly mistreated and often are impulse bought by people who are completly undeducated. A bird that may live 20+years gets shoved in a tiny cage, fed the WORST diet of most often only seed, and given very litte mental stimulation.
I had always wanted a parrot as a kid, but now that I know what I do now, I am very thankful my parents didn't fulfil my wishes.
This is also a massive issue with reptiles, animals are wild caught, sold for cheap, and people just go "its just a lizard" and put them in a small cage with no special lighting or nutrients (which can cause various permanent diseases including MBD) and are fed dried out dead worms for their whole life
I was honestly disgusted to see someone in my neighborhood who owned a bearded dragon
This 70 year old woman had her adult male bearded dragon in a 25 gallon tank, no special lighting, and a heat pad inside his tank which was buried under aspen and she was feeding it exclusively dead crickets
Bearded dragons are basking animals, they need around 100°F on the hot side of their enclosure coming from a light source, bearded dragons require at least a 60 gallon tank, and they are omnivores and should be eating live insects
I had to go home and have some alone time with my bearded dragon
@@itsurfrind oh my god, I 100% agree with you. Reptiles and amphibians. Even my mom is guilty of doing the exact thing with a red-ear slider and ot made me soo upset. No mater how hard I tried she always said "he's fine. He's still alive right?"
@@emilykas961 aaaaahh my first reptile was a red-eared slider, i hadnt done any research, i just said "i want a turtle" amd my grandma bought me one, i was too young to research anything by myself and my grandma likely assumed a turtle would be easy, ill always feel bad for the little thing, i gave it to a friend a few years later and he gave it to someone else, i wonder where they are now
I had no interest in reptile keeping for a few years and then randomly went "i want a lizard" and spent several weeks researching reptile care, i now own a bearded dragon and leopard gecko, next year im getting a hognose snake and corn snake, i want to better my understanding of reptiles and one day be able to breed them and go to elementary schools to teach kids the importance of researching the animal, the results of improper care, and teach them about ecosystems
@@itsurfrind that's exactly what I had planned to do with my parrots. Except my "modle" bird was taught to swear by a family member who thought it was funny 😒. The others still have a lot of work before they are able to be worked in a group of people, but they're getting there. The thing with rescued birds (and any highly intelligent pet really) is their emotional baggage.
in 2019 in the town i live in, everyone was on high alert for an escaped 20 some foot long albino python some guy owned illegally and somehow lost, they never found the thing but EVERYONE I know was friggin freaked out for a solid 3 months (there were constant reputable sightings in neighborhoods and stuff but they never caught or killed it)
People should look after their pythons way better.
Sad to hear it was albino, the sun must of both been hell and pleasure for it being a snake after all -JACK
What concerns me is that kids use Tiktok. What are they gonna be like when they're older? We're going to have a whole generation of people who think it's cool to not care... :(
Indeed, no child or young teenager should have social media it fucks up with your brain
i think its a double edge sword. social media is a really good way to connect, or be exposed to people that are different from you. hell, i was born in 2001, and i grew up using media like youtube and deviantart. while i know things back then were different, there are a lot of similarities to things i see now, if not worse for my gen (due to lack of censorship of the internet at the time). i really dont think rather niche content is the soul thing defining kids personalities. on the other hand, people owning these pets is a terrible example. i just hope the other people these "exotic animal" videos are appealing to, are young enough to unlearn that this is any good before theyre able to go out and buy these animals
There are plenty of people who do care, and I think as they grow up they'll learn and understand what's right and wrong. There are stupid people in every generation
@@Cosmiichu as someone who go into social media when i was in 5th grade, fuck i wish i never had HAHAHAH
That's with any generation. There are bad and good people in every one
These make me sick, I had a hedgehog and bought him the biggest cage, many toys and many treats and felt so bad cause I didnt have the energy to play with him everyday so I gave him away. I dont understand how they can just live on abusing animals like that😔
They have no empathy or morals for anything that isn't themselves.
(Serial killers start with animals before moving on to Humans)
I only follow exotic animal posts if they're from trained professionals, zoos, wildlife rehab centers, places like that.
I entirely agree
I did a presentation on the lionfish for a class last year after hearing about them in a documentary, we were supposed to find something good our animal did for their ecosystem but it's so invasive the only thing I could come up with is that they make a good meal. I'm a little surprised you discussed the lionfish as a bad pet since I saw pages flat out advocating for pet ownership to get them out of the ocean.