Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:08:10.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A survey exploring the impact of housing and husbandry on pet snake welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

BM Cargill ,
L Benato  and
NJ Rooney
BM Cargill
Affiliation:
Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
L Benato
Affiliation:
Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
NJ Rooney*
Affiliation:
Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence: Nicola.Rooney@bristol.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Snake ownership is popular; however, housing and care may not always satisfy the animal's welfare needs. For example, snakes are often kept in environmental conditions that restrict their ability to stretch out fully or move around, using rectilinear locomotion. To date, little empirical data exist on the housing and husbandry of captive snakes and how these impact welfare. This study analyses survey responses from 744 snake owners worldwide and explores potential welfare concerns for snakes kept within private homes. It documents the most common housing and husbandry methods and compares the three most common families (Pythonids, Boids and Colubrids). Owner-reported data were used to derive scores for two potential welfare indicators: number of clinical signs of ill health and the number of reported negative (abnormal) behaviours. Using these indicators, associations were tested with snake-keeping variables, such as enclosure size, level of enrichment, temperature and humidity. Owners reported that 90.7% (n = 675) of snakes adopted rectilinear (straight-line or near straight-line) positions or movements. Snakes kept in enclosures > 1 snake length tended to have more enrichment types and were reported with fewer clinical signs of ill health. Some snakes were housed at unknown temperature (7.7%) or humidity (48.1%) ranges or in environmental conditions not in keeping with current recommended guidelines. Corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) were the most likely species to be kept at a humidity which did not match recommendations which may present a welfare concern. This study's results can be used to target husbandry guidance for future recommendations and care manuals.

Keywords

animal welfareenclosure lengthenrichmenthousinghumiditytemperature
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2022 , pp. 193 - 208
Copyright
© 2022 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Abou-Zahr, T 2019 Keeping snakes. Veterinary Record 184(5): 157–158. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.l1446CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arena, PC, Crawford, M, Forbes, NA, Frye, FL, Grant, R, Howell, T, Jessop, M, Lambiris, AJ, Mancera, K, Morton, D and Nicholas, E 2018a The need for snakes to fully stretch. Veterinary Record 183(21): 661. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.k5023CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arena, PC, Crawford, M, Forbes, NA, Frye, FL, Grant, R, Howell, T, Jessop, M, Lambiris, AJ, Mancera, K, Morton, D and Nicholas, E 2018b Spatial and rectilinear requirements for comfort, health and wel-fare of captive snakes: the need for immediate reinstatement of the ‘1 x snake length’ provision. www.vetsurgeon.org/agContent/news/counter-statement-snakelength-name-redacted.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ashley, S, Brown, S, Ledford, J, Martin, J, Nash, AE, Terry, A, Tristan, T and Warwick, C 2014 Morbidity and mortality of inverte-brates, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals at a major exotic companion animal wholesaler. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 17(4): 308–321. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2014.918511CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barten, SL and Fleming, GJ 2014 Current herpetological hus-bandry and products. In: Mader, DR and Divers, SJ (eds) Current Therapy in Reptile Medicine and Surgery pp 2–12. Elsevier Saunders: Missouri, USA. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-4557-0893-2.00001-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benn, AL, McLelland, DJ and Whittaker, AL 2019 A review of welfare assessment methods in reptiles, and preliminary application of the Welfare Quality® protocol to the pygmy blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis), using animal-based measures. Animals 9(1): 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9010027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blouin-Demers, G, Bjorgan, LP and Weatherhead, PJ 2007 Changes in habitat use and movement patterns with body size in black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Herpetologica 63(4): 421–429. https://doi.org/10.1655/0018-0831(2007)63[421:CIHUAM]2.0.CO;2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carfagno, GL and Weatherhead, PJ 2008 Energetics and space use: intraspecific and interspecific comparisons of movements and home ranges of two Colubrid snakes. Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 416–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01342.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corey, B and Doody, J 2010 Anthropogenic influences on special ecology of a semi-arid python. Journal of Zoology 281: 293–302. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00705.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Cruze, N, Paterson, S, Green, J, Megson, D, Warwick, C, Coulthard, E, Norrey, J, Auliya, M and Carder, G 2020 Dropping the ball? The welfare of ball pythons traded in the EU and North America. Animals 10(3): 413. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10030413CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, JE and Williams, D 2014 The feeding of live food to exotic pets: Issues of welfare and ethics. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 23(3). https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jepm.2014.06.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DEFRA 2010 Animal Welfare Act 2006. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/contentsGoogle Scholar
DEFRA 2018 The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 Guidance notes for conditions for selling animals as pets. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/gov-ernment/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936832/sel ling-animals-as-pets.pdfGoogle Scholar
Divers, SJ and Stahl, SJ 2019 Maders Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery, Third Edition. Elsevier: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Frye, FL 1991 Biomedical and Surgical Aspects of Captive Reptile Husbandry, Second Edition. Krieger Publishing: Malabar, FL, USAGoogle Scholar
GOV.UK 2019 Caring for pets. https://www.gov.uk/caring-for-petsGoogle Scholar
Harrup, AJ and Rooney, NJ 2020 Current welfare state of pet guinea pigs in the UK. Veterinary Record 186(9): 282. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105632CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, KM, Cherkiss, MS, Smith, BJ, Mazzotti, FJ, Fujisaki, I, Snow, RW and Dorcas, ME 2015 Home range, habitat use, and movement patterns of non-native Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Animal Biotelemetry 3(1): 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-015-0022-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedley, J 2020 Boas and pythons. In: Kubiak, M (ed) Handbook of Exotic Pet Medicine pp 305–325. John Wiley & Sons Ltd: Hoboken, NJ, USA. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119389934.ch17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollandt, T, Baur, M and Wohr, A-C 2021 Animal-appropriate housing of ball pythons (Python regius): Behavior-based evaluation of two types of housing systems. PLoS One 16(5): e0247082. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247082CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howell, TJ, Warwick, C and Bennett, PC 2020 Self-reported snake management practices among owners in Victoria, Australia. Veterinary Record: 1-6. http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/cgi/con-tent/full/vr.105409Google Scholar
IUCN 2020 The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Version 2020-2021. https://www.iucnredlist.orgGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, M 2014 Reptile Housing: Size, Dimension and Lifestyle. Herp Care Collection. http://www.anapsid.org/enclsize.htmlGoogle Scholar
Kreger, MD and Mench, JA 1993 Physiological and behavioural effects of handling and restraint in the ball python (Python regius) and the blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 38: 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(93)90030-SCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laidlaw, R 2005 Scales and Tails The Welfare and Trade Reptiles Kept as Pets in Canada. World Animal protection. https://www.zoocheck.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Reptile_Report_FA.pdfGoogle Scholar
Lillywhite, HB and Gatten, RE 1995 Physiology and functional anatomy. In: Warwick, C, Frye, FL, Murphy, JB (eds) Health and Welfare of Captive Reptiles pp 5–31. Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1222-2_2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loughman, ZJ 2020 Utilisation of natural history information in evidence-based herpetoculture: A proposed protocol and case study with Hydrodynastes gigas (false water cobra). Animals 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10112021CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrkam, LR and Dorey, NR 2015 Preference assessments in the zoo: Keeper and staff predictions of enrichment preferences across species. Zoo Biology 34(5): 418–430. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21227CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mendyk, RW 2018 Challenging folklore reptile husbandry in zoo-logical parks. In: Berger, M and Corbett, S (eds) Zoo Animals: Husbandry, Welfare and Public Interactions pp 265–292. Nova Science Publishers: Hauppauge, USAGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, MA 2004 Snake care and husbandry. Veterinary Clinics of North America, Exotic Animal Practice 7(2): 421–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvex.2004.02.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nash, S 2016 Snake enclosure size — collaborative research pro-jects for BIAZA collections. BIAZA Reptile & Amphibian Working Group Meeting. Crocodiles of the World. BIAZA: Oxfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Newman, C 2018 Keeping snakes. Veterinary Record 183(18): 573–574. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.k4717CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paré, JA and Lentini, AM 2010 Reptile geriatrics. Veterinary Clinics: Exotic Animal Practice 13: 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvex.2009.09.003Google ScholarPubMed
Pees, M, Mueller, K, Mathes, K, Korbel, R, Seybold, J, Lierz, M and Krautwald-Junghanns, ME 2014 Evaluation of the hus-bandry conditions of reptile species commonly kept in Germany. Kleintierpraxis 59: 477–491Google Scholar
Pets4Homes 2019 Buying and bringing home your first snake. https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/buying-and-bringing-home-your-first-snake.htmlGoogle Scholar
PFMA 2021 UK pet population statistics. https://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population-2021Google Scholar
Reddit 2015 Why is it considered OK to keep snakes in ‘racks’? https://www.reddit.com/r/snakes/comments/338pci/why_is_it_co nsidered_ok_to_keep_snakes_in_racks/Google Scholar
Rendle, M 2019 Nutrition. In: Girling, SJ and Raiti, P (eds) BSAVA Manual of Reptiles, Third Edition pp 49–69. British Small Animal Veterinary Association: Quedgeley, UK. https://doi.org/10.22233/9781905319794.4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rooney, NJ, Blackwell, EJ, Mullan, SM, Saunders, R, Baker, PE, Hill, JM, Sealey, CE, Turner, MJ and Held, SD 2014 The cur-rent state of welfare, housing and husbandry of the English pet rabbit population. BMC Research Notes 7: 942. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-942CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, P, Evans, C, Coffin, R, Miller, R and Nash, S 2014 Using student-centred research to evidence-base exhibition of reptile and amphibians: three species-specific case studies. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 2: 25–32Google Scholar
Rossi, JV 2019 General husbandry and management. Mader's Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery pp 109–130. WB Elsevier: New York, USA. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-48253-0.00016-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RSPCA 2017 Understanding the motivations of beginner reptile owners. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Horsham, UK. https://www.rspca.org.uk/webContent/staticImages/Downloads/Rept ileReport.pdfGoogle Scholar
RSPCA 2019a Royal python care. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwel-fare/pets/other/royalpythonGoogle Scholar
RSPCA 2019b Corn snake care. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwel-fare/pets/other/cornsnakeGoogle Scholar
RSPCA 2019c Hides. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/other/hidesGoogle Scholar
RSPCA 2019d Water. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/other/waterGoogle Scholar
RVC 2018a Corn snake care. Royal Veterinary College. https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/small-animal/documents/Corn-snake-care%20-%20UPDATED.pdfGoogle Scholar
RVC 2018b Royal python care. Royal Veterinary College. https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/Beaumont%20Sainsbury%20Animal%20Hospital/documents/caring-for-your-royal-python.pdfGoogle Scholar
Slavens, F and Slavens, K 2003 Reptiles and amphibians in captiv-ity. http://www.pondturtle.com/longev.html#INDEXGoogle Scholar
Spain, MS, Fuller, G and Allard, SM 2020 Effects of habitat mod-ifications on behavioural indicators of welfare for Madagascar giant hognose snakes (Leioheterodon madagascariensis). Animal Behavior and Cognition 7(1): 70–81. https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.07.01.06.2020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toland, E 2018 The need for snakes to fully stretch. Veterinary Record 183: 661–662. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.k5024CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toland, E, Warwick, C and Arena, P 2012 The exotic pet trade: pet hate. Biologist 59: 14–18Google Scholar
Varga, M 2019 Captive maintenance and welfare. In: Girling, SJ and Raiti, P (eds) BSAVA Manual of Reptiles, Third Edition pp 36–48. British Small Animal Veterinary Association: Quedgeley, UK. https://doi.org/10.22233/9781905319794.3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C 1995 Psychological and behavioural principles and prob-lems. In: Warwick, C, Frye, FL and Murphy, JB (eds) Health and Welfare of Captive Reptiles pp 205–238. Chapman & Hall/Kluwer, London and New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1222-2_10CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C 2014 The morality of the reptile ‘pet.’ trade. Journal of Animal Ethics 4(1): 74–94. https://doi.org/10.5406/janimalethics.4.1.0074CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C, Arena, PC, Lindley, S, Jessop, M and Steedman, C 2013 Assessing reptile welfare using behavioural criteria. In Practice 35(3): 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.f1197CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C, Arena, P and Steedman, C 2019 Spatial consider-ations for captive snakes. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour 30: 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2018.12.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C, Grant, R, Steedman, C, Howell, TJ, Arena, PC, Lambiris, AJL, Nash, A-E, Jessop, M, Pilny, A, Amarello, M, Gorzula, S, Spain, M, Walton, A, Nicholas, E, Mancera, K, Whitehead, M, Martínez-Silvestre, A, Cadenas, V, Whittaker, A and Wilson, A 2021 Getting it straight: Accommodating rectilinear behavior in captive snakes—A review of recommendations and their evidence base. Animals 11: 1459. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051459CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warwick, C, Jessop, M, Arena, P, Pilny, A and Steedman, C 2018 Guidelines for inspection of companion and commercial ani-mal establishments. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 5: 151. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2018.00151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, C, Steedman, C, Jessop, M, Arena, P, Pilny, A and Nicholas, E 2018 Exotic pet suitability: Understanding some problems and using a labeling system to aid animal welfare, envi-ronment, and consumer protection. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour 26: 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2018.03.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, ML 2016 Welfare of exotic pets. Veterinary Record 178(19): 477. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.i2517CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitehead, ML 2018a Keeping snakes. Veterinary Record 183(18): 571–572. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.k4715CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitehead, ML 2018b Factors contributing to poor welfare of pet reptiles. Testudo 8(5): 47–61Google Scholar
Whitehead, ML and Vaughan-Jones, C 2015 Suitability of species kept as pets. Veterinary Record 177(22): 573. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.h6496CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitehead, ML, Wilkinson, A, Hoehfurtner, T, Burman, O and Collins, L 2017 UK vets’ opinions on keeping reptiles as pets. BSAVA Congress Proceedings 2017 p 550. BSAVA Library: London, UK. https://doi.org/10.22233/9781910443439.74.4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, SL 2015 Reptile wellness management. Veterinary Clinics Exotic Animal Practice 18: 281–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvex.2015.01.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, DL and Jackson, R 2016 Availability of information on reptile health and welfare from stores selling reptiles. Open Journal Veterinary Medicine 6(3): 59–67. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojvm.2016.63007CrossRefGoogle Scholar