BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So i took he out today just o get some natural sun and while i was putting her back into her tank she made some sort of whyning noise. I was just wondering does anyone feel bad for wild caught blueys. I mean they've been captured and shipped halfay across the world to be kept in a tank for the rest of their life. Does anyone feel bad or how do you guys rationalize this?

I think wild caught is horrible except for acquiring initial breeding stock and perhaps occasionally for diversifying the gene pool in some species. Sustained capture programs are certain to detriment the very species we have grown to love and for what? To my understanding there is no need to continue catching wild skinks given that they breed readily in captivity. Even if they were more difficult to breed our desire to have exotic animals in our homes certainly don't outweigh the torment many individuals experience as they are captured from the wild and often kept in dismal condition before finding what is hopefully a knowledgeable home. That's my two cents anyways.

I have never experienced my guys making a whining noise..

I think if it good and bad at the same time.. as saisaac stated, it adds more to the gene pool, but when people get sick WB BTS, and die soon after them getting it, and they just sway away from them.

Ya i agree there is very little benefit to continue catchig wild species

i dont think theres anything wrong with wildcaughts ,its more the process they go through ,to many middlemen so to speak before they recieve propper care

when mass imported cheaply ,people dont care for them as if it was something rarer,we get legal wildcaughts here in australia,they go through a pretty good process,from collector to keeper generally,some pop up in pet trade to though,but they are generally in great shape

if they stopped mass importing them,or at least made the importation a better process,then the issues with wildcaughts over there wouldnt be as bad health wise
sure they still need to adjust,but even wildcaughts can adjust well to captivity,the sooner they get into good care the better though

UroFreak13 wrote:Ya i agree there is very little benefit to continue catchig wild species

There is plenty of benefit to the importer. Even if only 15-20% of the animals survive long enough to be sold, it is a very lucrative business. That is the reason we need to figure out how to produce enough captive bred animals of every species to meet the demand. Until that happens, and breeders are willing to sell them for the same price as the importers sell wild caught for, the animals will continue to be ripped out of the wild and subjected to horrific conditions in hopes that a few will survive long enough to be sold to those who don't care.

Many of the ones that survive do make great pets, but does that justify the damage done to the wild population or the individual animals?

I feel so stupid, the first lizard I ever get and it turns out to be wild caught...

Haha same here

So I'm not alone? *sniffles*

No. But they can come along quite well I am posting a new topic " outdoors/ update chek it out

I think WC are ok, but the method it is currently done usually I feel is not the best way to go about things.

Ideally importers would be concerned more about the quality of the product rather than the quantity they can bring in. I think that reptiles being so "tough"(they take longer to die when abused) are particularly suspectible to corners being cut in their care while being imported to maximize, for example, number that can fit into one box to save on shipping costs, or using a slower courier service or keeping them in inadequate holding facilities for long periods after capture. They appear to survive and do ok with some "unavoidable" losses when treated poorly.

The ideal situation would be where small numbers of carefully selected, quarantined, and cared for animals are imported. I'm not expecting them to all get veterinary treatment or whatever...but simply insuring that their needs are met for the majority of the time they are being transported. Better yet, such animals are not directly removed from the wild, but result from farmed or ranched stock. We are slowly moving in that direction-with animals like dart frogs. But really, it is up to the consumer. If animals are seen as cheap and disposable with little concern for long term success in captivity things will not change.

For me there are several problems with wild caughts. Beyond what's been mentioned is that they often end up in the hands of inexperienced keepers that just compound their problems and suffering. Unfortunately since they are so cheap to import many breeders don't bother working with them and the cycle continues.

Bluish wrote:For me there are several problems with wild caughts. Beyond what's been mentioned is that they often end up in the hands of inexperienced keepers that just compound their problems and suffering. Unfortunately since they are so cheap to import many breeders don't bother working with them and the cycle continues.

True. And cheap often = replaceable. It is never a good thing when vet care costs more than a replacement.

I agree with what everyone is saying but does anyone feel bad that they have ben exposed to these confitions as well as just beig used to bein wild then one day captured and kept in a cage for the rest of their life

I'd personally never buy a wild caught. Don't get me wrong, if its okay with you, go for it, but its just something I can't find myself doing. Taking an animal from their natural habitat and forcing them to live somewhere else for the rest of their life isn't okay in my honest opinion. Plus, the only reason people use this for business is the extreme profit margins they can have from getting wild caught animals. I feel breeders truly care about the animals and I respect them MUCH more, enough to buy a BTS from them, but I feel people who just catch them from the wild do it only for business, which I can't stand by.

I am:

1) Perfectly okay with taking species from the wild in an attempt to breed them in captivity. Personally, I think any species not captive will simply die out. Humans are doing terrible things to the planet, and soon there won't be any "wild" areas left.

2) Completely not okay with how animals are captured and imported. They're quite literally subjected to torture, and huge numbers die terrible deaths. Reptiles Magazine had an article about it once with some pictures of what the animals go through. It's not a nice trip in any way.

Because of my views on this, I am okay buying imports, but only from selected importers. And if I can get an animal CBB, that is exactly what I do.

I have never heard any of my skinks make any noise that sounds like a whine. The closest thing I have ever heard was the really strange noises they can make when expelling waste...skinks are weird lol.

If no new bloodlines are ever imported, all captive lines would become so inbred they would become ultimately become very unhealthy. The Dumerils boa is a great example of how inbred a species can get with no new blood allowed to be imported.

Species need to be captive bred (IMO) to survive, much like Mel said. Look at the axolotl! They are now extinct in the wild, as the areas they came from have been filled in and built over. They only exist in captive populations.

The importation/farming methods need to chance, and drastically. Most animals die, only the strongest/luckiest survive. If the methods were humane, and causalities were kept to a minimum (there would probably never be a 100% survival rate regardless), I would be OK with importation as long as the impact on the wild populations were closely observed and protected.

One way you can look at things if you already have acquired a WC animals is this: They are now getting food and water on a regular basis, have probably gotten rid of the uncomfortable parasites they had, and are very unlikely to be killed/eaten by predators (I say unlikely because cats/dogs sometimes happen :/ ) They probably live longer if properly cared for, and if they are breeder animals, get mates too! They also get vet care if they get hurt, instead of having to suffer.

SapphireTigress wrote:I have never heard any of my skinks make any noise that sounds like a whine. The closest thing I have ever heard was the really strange noises they can make when expelling waste...skinks are weird lol.

If no new bloodlines are ever imported, all captive lines would become so inbred they would become ultimately become very unhealthy. The Dumerils boa is a great example of how inbred a species can get with no new blood allowed to be imported.

Species need to be captive bred (IMO) to survive, much like Mel said. Look at the axolotl! They are now extinct in the wild, as the areas they came from have been filled in and built over. They only exist in captive populations.

The importation/farming methods need to chance, and drastically. Most animals die, only the strongest/luckiest survive. If the methods were humane, and causalities were kept to a minimum (there would probably never be a 100% survival rate regardless), I would be OK with importation as long as the impact on the wild populations were closely observed and protected.

One way you can look at things if you already have acquired a WC animals is this: They are now getting food and water on a regular basis, have probably gotten rid of the uncomfortable parasites they had, and are very unlikely to be killed/eaten by predators (I say unlikely because cats/dogs sometimes happen :/ ) They probably live longer if properly cared for, and if they are breeder animals, get mates too! They also get vet care if they get hurt, instead of having to suffer.

Very well put!

I agree makes a lot of sense

I don't mind wild caught skink very much, I have no access to any other! Mine will make an "annoyed" sound when I restrain her.