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Why do people....... More.....

Gregg M

Gregg M

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Why do some people feel the need to humanize their reptiles???? Why is it that some people think that their reptiles Like or love them???? I for one, think this is a bad idea..... You are not really educated on reptile behavior if you think they run on emotions like humans do..... They are reptiles and I feel they are not high enough on the evolutionary scale to feel emotions like we do..... They run almost 100% on instinct..... Alot of people confuse some reptiles with having a personality when in actuality it is individual instinctive behaviors...... Am I the only one that is thinking this way???? I mean do some of you actually think your reptile pets ask to be taken out of their cage or will get jealous if you have a different one out of the cage???? It is true that you need to love the animals you have but why would anyone think or expect a reptile to show love and emotion back???? I think it is an unhealthy way to look at reptiles.....
 
we may not agree about the houseing of reptiles. but I totaly agree with you on this one. I rember a post where someone was saying how their bearded dragon jumps around the cage when they see them enter the room. I tryd to tell them that it just thinks its going to get food. and when people post things like oh my gecko loves sitting on my shoulder or something like that , if you want affection get dog, or at least a cat.
 
Thats what I was thinking aswell Vince.... It is a bit silly if you ask me..... And who cares about the housing thing.... Aslong as they are well taken care of.....
 
I agree that lizards don't have emotion and emotion-elicited actions - they're all instinct. However, my reaction to my geckos is all emotion. I'm a big sap, even if they are just doing their instinctual "being a lizard" thing. The thing I love about the Leopard Geckos in particular (and the Beardeds and Uromastyx) is their basic behavioral repertoire. They're just awesome, enjoyable critters.
 
We can all defently agree with that, if not then why would we be sitting here talking about them? I love watching my animals move around and do there thing, When I feed my redfoots, the biggest girl comes stompn out and stands on top of the food and doesnt let anyone else eat untill she is finished. and when the male chases the females around the encloser clucking away trying to get some action.
 
Lmao greg, are you talking about that girl on KS. WOW she really cracks me up, the people were kinda mean to her but what they said was pretty funny. But i agree with you here.
 
I'm guilty of anthropomorphizing my geckos too. Not to the extreme a la PETA, but to the point where you would probably roll your eyes if you heard me baby talking to them. I can't help it though. They're just too darn cute. :spinner03
 
me too!

I'm guilty of anthropomorphizing my geckos too. Not to the extreme a la PETA, but to the point where you would probably roll your eyes if you heard me baby talking to them. I can't help it though. They're just too darn cute.
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This would apply to me as well. LOL!
 
Olivia, I am 6 foot 2 and weight 195lbs, and I baby talk my leos too...LOL.... I even baby talk my hots, but I know they do not want to snuggle with me...... It is one thing to love your pet reptiles, but is a whole other thing if you think they love you back or feel any type of emotions to you...

Anyway I know I can be a bit of a jerk (short of a word that actually fits me) at times but those kids on KS make me look like a saint....LOL..... Some of them are just straight out MEAN!!!!
 
I don't talk to my leos like they are people ,but I would say that they do show some kind of "loyalty" to an imediate owner. Some of my geckos prefer me to my friends. Do I think they love me not at all. If I sold it they probably wouldn't even write me. I think that people mistake the geckos as "loving" them when they are just accustomed to seeing a certain person. They get used to your sent or heat or something like that. Some of my geckos climb on my hand when I reach in to their cages. So I would say that leos do have some sort of "thing" for their owner even if it is not love.

Why is humanizing something so bad? People humanize many things in their lives. I think it is only natural to humanize things. If it is so weird why are countries refered to as "she" or the "motherland". Why is nature mothernature. And why are most of the disney characters animals that walk and talk like humans. There are tons of other examples of why humanizing things is just what people do.
 
i dont even think they go that far, I belive its human nature for people to see more in something then is actualy there. just MHO
 
What bad about humanizing animals???? Lets see..... Well in the case of animals like tigers or any big cat, humanizing them can set you up for a trip to the hospital or to the grave..... The same would go for any animal that is able to injure or kill a person..... Some people even go as far as to inpose what they believe to be good for them on their pets..... Have you ever heard of some whackos that feed their carnivorus animals veggies because the owner is a vegitarian???? I have heard it many times..... Animals are animals.... Reptiles are wild animals no matter how many are born in captivity..... They are what they are..... They are not emotional, people loving creatures....
 
I agree that they do not show human emotions...however I also agree with Chris that it is natural to anthropomorphize (not sure I spelled that right...lol). I call my truck a she and her name is "The Beast" and I yell at her when she makes funny noises or beeps at me...but I still know that she's an innanimate object...lol Even with dogs and cats...they don't feel "love"...dogs have a pack mentality and feel more comfortable with their "pack" around...be it of humans or other animals...and some cats just like the feeling of being petted and rubbed. Of course I still say that my animals love me and such...but I know that they don't really...it just makes me feel better to pretend! :)
 
Alot of people confuse some reptiles with having a personality when in actuality it is individual instinctive behaviors......
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- I think this part of your statement is some how wrong. I deal with TONS of animals each day. Some about 50-200 of one species ( as I am a dealer ). I can tell you first hand that each animal has a completely different personality from the rest. They all seem to like something different, they all seem to even show different actions. Sometimes at night I will have only two snakes awake and all the others sleeping. Those same two will come out every night though. I have carpets that seem to know who I am once I get them out. If I let wife hold them they might try to bite her. So I do think they have there own personality. Love might be to far fetched, but thinking and understanding (in a primitive form) I see as a good possibility. I also have beardies that can distinguish the difference between me and my wife. Is this because I always feed them? Even if that were so, they still could associate and "understand" who will feed them. Oh and for the record Vince, I have a beardie that jumps around the cage as well. Though, he is not even hungry instead he jumps on my hand and runs up my shoulders. This could be for numerous reasons, but I bet its because the animal wants to get out of the cage for some fun. Now I know I am going to get some disagreements for this post - but this is all from what I have observed and how I take the animals behavior.

I don't talk to my leos like they are people ,but I would say that they do show some kind of "loyalty" to an imediate owner. Some of my geckos prefer me to my friends. Do I think they love me not at all. If I sold it they probably wouldn't even write me. I think that people mistake the geckos as "loving" them when they are just accustomed to seeing a certain person. They get used to your sent or heat or something like that. Some of my geckos climb on my hand when I reach in to their cages. So I would say that leos do have some sort of "thing" for their owner even if it is not love.
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-I can agree with this post. Except one thing I found VERY odd. I have a bearded dragon, his name is Spike..lol. Now I have about 4 PET beardies. I left the house for a week. My wife had to take care of all the animals. Three days into the week I get a call. One of the beardies is completely dark every day. She handles it, and nothing has changed in care requirements at all. The bearded still does not become bright in color and happy. All the other three are perfectly fine. However "spike" seems to be facing emotional stress. Well I come home after the week is up. As soon as I take out "spike" his colors are almost completely restored to yellow. I just found this extremely peculiar. This is also the same bearded that I was referring to when I said it jumps on my hands and gos to my shoulders. Is this something odd?? I think I am going to do a controlled experiment and see what happens. If you guys would support me with that idea, I would be glad to do so, I can take photos and record my observations. It might not prove anything indefinitely, but it would be interesting to see the results as compared to the other three bearded dragons.
 
I Agree %100 greg. I remember when i was younger i questioned a friend who was feeding a piece of pizza to his iguana, to get this answer "Hey! its got veggies on it, dont it? He can eat whatever he wants to eat" I so badly wanted to slap this moron.

I know tons of people that attach emotions to reptiles. I can understand with leo's though with that "smile" they look happy. As i found out they look just that cute, until they strike.
 
The way an animal reacts to certain stimuli does not mean it has a personality..... Your bearded drogon climbs your arm to the highest point because it sees an "out"....... It also does not qualify to have a personality because it "knows who you are"....... Which brings me to another point..... Learned behavior does not mean "personality" but it is a primative type of intel...... It has been scientificly proven that reptiles for the most part do not have the brain fuction to know right from wrong or to feel emotions such as liking something, loving something, being happy, sad, or having fun..... They simply lack the parts of the brain that are responcible for the things...... And from what I have seen in the thousands of animals that have passed through my hands, there is nothing to tell me otherwise....
 
Hi, my name is Gene and I'm a humanizer or leo's... this is part of a 7 step program right?
This thread has me in stitches! I guess it's because I am guilty of most of it. I know my geckos don't "like" me, they tolerate me because I tend to their daily needs!
 
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