Do you feel....alone?

[anchietae]

... and every second person who grew up in the country kept a shingle as a pet while they were a kid at one point.

What a place!

I grew up feeling like a loner too when I was younger. I just ignored ignorant and rude comments. There were no forums, no internet, no herp magazines, and most books were outdated. Most places, especially large cities like Milwaukee, have herp societies that may be helpful getting connected with others.

[Linnea]

Weird, with how smart Swedes are I'd think you'd all have BTS. Or at least a much higher BTS-to-capita ratio than the USA.

I admit I'm not feeling lonely at all here in the great state of Canukia. I have a local reptile community at which I volunteer as BOD, I have tons of reptile-lovers who I'm getting addicted to BTS, and I have infinite random passerbys to introduce the skinks too so they fall in love. Plus I have Katrina and John sharing the task of breeding to help the BTS hobby, and I have this forum with amazing friends from all around the world.

smart swedes dont keep reptiles
it is socially non-normal and you may risk getting attention for trying to be special.

odd stuff that can be worked on aside, blueys are very exotic species here. reptiles are not rare to see in captivity but the owners like to keep it to themselves. another bad thing is that they are rather seldom english speaking, meaning there are now three things in total that makes it hard to find people who wanna speak reptile.
I think the reason i dont see many bluey owners specifically is cause its not a well known reptile. when i found out you could actually keep blueys it was the most important moment of my life. another reason is the diet - most reptile owners want it super cool (manly) and simple.
i am most sure there are about a hundred-300 blueys in captivity in this land. in the capital, some at zoos and store owned imported, mainly.
- we have no herp clubs
- we have no reptile magazines
- we have 2 herps in total in the wild and they are used to scare kids from stepping out on rocks in the woods. *facepalm* aside from being endangered.

[missmacabre]

I can't say I feel alone, I know a few people with BTS and Beardies and there's a local reptile pet shop here. Though some people don't get my love of reptiles and rodents. I've been doing work experience at a vet clinic for my vet nursing diploma and both the vet and the head vet nurse did not seem keen on reptiles or rodents, it's frustrating as most vets just focus on cats and dogs, in my opinion if you're going to get into this field of work you should really like ALL animals not just the norm.

It is kinda sad for those narrow minded people because they don't know what they're missing, rats for example make awesome intelligent pets but so many people shudder when they find out I have 5 of them.

[Richard.C]

even in australia,where some species are extremely common in suburbia,eg easterns,alot of folk are scared of them,some even claim they are venomous,alot of folk look at me funny when they find out i keep reptiles,some show interest and ask questions,but still find it quirky,some are more interested in asking about snakes and feeding them

end of the day is its about what you like,if it draws weird looks ect,so be it,lol,everyone has an interest that others would think is weird,if we were all the same it would be a boring world


some folk are weird and they dont even need a weird interest

[AidanJames1]

Around my area , I live near Penrith, Blacktown, Blue Mountains area I find alot of lizards in the wild not much snakes though that I see. I only know of a couple people who keep reptiles. The person across the road keeps a shingle-back a few blue tongues and a frog (weird) and the other guy is my friend (haven't seen him in a while) his dad kept snakes. But its quite cool being one of only some that keeps a certain type of reptile. There could be a lot more people around here but I will probably never know.

[scaredofbees]

I've kept some sort of reptile or amphibian for the past 27 years... man, that's a lot longer than I realized. My dad was a biology major in college and was very supportive of my interests. My mom hates anything with cold blood, but she loves her son and was always accepting of whatever I was in to. I don't really recall getting much flack from others about being interested in herps, but then again, seriously not caring about what others think kind of has a built in filter for that sort of nonsense. Most people I meet that find out I keep these sorts of beasties always seem to have a lot of questions which I'm happy to answer. My old boss was absolutely fascinated by photos and video of my enormous male pixie frog. During my last two weeks of work at that office, I brought him in (along with some mice) so he could see it in person.

[Linnea]

its so good this forum exists.

[mark_w]

people think im weird enough with out them knowing i even have animals

[mark_w]

I think keeping reptiles is not as unusual as it was in the UK - many people at least know of someone who keeps them, or they've seen them in one of the big pet shop chains or something. That said, when I tell people how many I've got and I start talking about them, I can see them slowly backing away...

[Katrina]

people think im weird enough with out them knowing i even have animals

Interesting discussion. I don't generally feel alone, most people I know don't keep reptiles but everyone is weird in their own way. Most of my friends or coworkers think it is interesting at least and lots want to bring their kids over to see them. They definitely don't understand why I'd have more than one or why I'd want to breed, but that's ok.

The internet is great for connecting people with interests like this. I don't think I'd be as "into" BTS without this site because they aren't very popular or common and it is really nice to connect with other people who share the same interests. There is a local herp community, but the vast majority of local people are into the very popular stuff like ball pythons, corns, beardies, leos, etc.

Some of our friends think it is weird to keep reptiles, but it doesn't bother me. My best friend is scared of them and doesn't really get it, but her kids love them and we have lots of other things in common. I'm very lucky that my other half also loves them. Our families don't really get it, but accept whatever makes us happy. Even my 90 year old Grandma came over for dinner and held them and asked lots of questions. She prefers the canine "great grandchildren" that my sister has but she was very curious about them and loved feeding them (typical Grandma, she loves feeding everyone!). I am really lucky, my mom drove to Arizona to pick three up for me.

[ssr]

I wish I had never even told my coworkers about my blueys. I now know better than to try to talk to them about reptiles but unfortunately they now bring up the subject first just to harrass me. They have no interest in learning or understanding the fascination I have for reptiles. They're the type to kill a snake just because its a snake! It's really very sad because I see them raising their children to be just like them.
I LOVE this forum and appreciate it so much.

[Snickers :)]

My best friend is scared of them and doesn't really get it

Haha, same here Katrina! I find it kind of funny because out of all my friends, coworkers, peers, etc, it's my best friend of 14+ years who's the most afraid of my skink

[Coomassie]

I wish I had never even told my coworkers about my blueys. I now know better than to try to talk to them about reptiles but unfortunately they now bring up the subject first just to harrass me. They have no interest in learning or understanding the fascination I have for reptiles. They're the type to kill a snake just because its a snake! It's really very sad because I see them raising their children to be just like them.
I LOVE this forum and appreciate it so much.

I know EXACTLY how you feel....