vrijdag 6 januari 2012

Animal cruelty, part 5

A reminder why I place these articles!

The manager of the largest reptile zoo in the Netherlands has often said in public (television, newspapers, etc) that private keepers of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates do not take care of their animals in the right way. He wants stronger laws and a mandatory animal-registration. He thinks he is holier than the Pope because a number of animals which are his responsibility are mistreated in a terrible way. Often this are animals that were confiscated by the government of the Netherlands. They are the property of the Dutch government and the zoo gets payed well to take care of them.

Also take a look at Animal cruelty 1, Animal cruelty 2 & Animal cruelty 3 & Animal cruelty 4

Sickening treatment of juvenile Green Iguanas

A large group of baby Green Iguanas is housed on the quarantine I mentioned before.
These animals were confiscated by the Dutch government; the import circumstances were not in order. It was a group of 300 Iguana iguana babies (farmbred) of about one month old.
A number of them were already dead when they arrived in the reptile zoo. There also were a number of them that were very weak/dehydrated/etc.
After a month or two there were about 150 babies left.
The Dutch government (in other words: the taxpayers of the Netherlands) pays thousands of euros per month at the reptile zoo management for their care.

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium


Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium

The small Iguanas were housed in terrariums of 60 x 60 x 60 cm. In each terrarium there were 7 to 10 specimen housed.
Instead off keeping these weakened and ill Iguanas in a separate room, they were placed in a number of wooden terrariums (see pictures) that were in a lot of cases attached to terrariums in which other reptiles lived. For example next to Python regius. About the consequences for these Ballpythons I will write another time.

Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) in their far too small terrarium
Every time that their terrarium had to be cleaned (every other day) these animals suffered from a lot af stress. The managers of the reptile zoo cleaned out the terrariums in the early morning, before the lamps were switched on. On this moment of the day they were still "cold" and it was a little easier to work in the small terrariums. Even though the animals were panicked every time because there was no place to hide or to retreat.
Not only this was very stressful for the lizards; also the fact that they were living with that many specimen in such small terrariums was very stressful for them.
These animals were permanently ill (flagellates infections, etc.) and had to be treated often. This did not help much and every now and then animals died. The "experienced" people who took care of them did not seem (or want) to understand that the stress played a big role in this!
One year later there still are large numbers of Iguanas alive.
In the meanwhile a lot of them are larger than their terrarium (which they have to share with 3, 4 or 5 other specimen). The stress factor is still present and is even worse now the lizards are bigger. A terrarium of this size is too small for one Green Iguana and certainly for 4 or 5 specimen!


Ill Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) amongst others, suffering from flagellates


Ill Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) amongst others, suffering from flagellates

The "professional care" for these Iguanas cost the Dutch government thousands and thousands euros. And for that money the animals are not treated very well. In fact, they are mistreated!

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