You have little knowledge of the Reptile Refuge. It was not open for “a few months” as your email implied. It was started in 1986 by the Schramms.

I volunteered there for 2 years and am still involved 4 years later. Your accusations of the Refuge neglecting animals and having a high death rate are slanderous. The volunteers worked very hard to care for these animals when nobody else would. Very few capable volunteers were able to be found because not many people wanted to deal with the smelly, stressful job in a very humid environment.

Obviously you support the trade of exotic animals which is a shame as no exotic animal should be kept as a pet. If one truly loves, is truly so fascinated by reptiles and amphibians then I believe they would want the very best for such species, which is to be left in the wild and not kept as pets.

One cannot run a refuge, eg..SPCA, without running out of room quite fast..That’s common sense… What did they think would happen, just after a few months?? What was their plan??

Quite a few of the reptiles could have been placed in adoptive homes without any problem, such as the obvious corn and king snakes, gheckoes, salamanders, frogs, ball pythons, etc.. These are easy to keep pets, and do make wonderful pets for families, etc…And this way, more room could have been made for the aggressive, very large snakes, caimans, etc..

Yet, this Reptile Refuge took the very Extreme view of wanting to prohibit these easy-to-keep reptiles for pets, which really makes no sense!!

Even Iguanas, Boa Constrictors, etc.. can be placed for adopton.. There are plenty of people who keep these animals do a fantastic job of looking and caring after them..

I agree that the very large reptiles, like the Caimans, Burmese, and the Reticulated should require a special licence to keep, and we many need a refuge like this one for these creatures…

To say that these reptiles, especially smaller snakes and lizards, don’t belong in the homes as pets is ludicrous and ignorant! The reasons they end up in shelters are the same reasons, majority of the time, as do dogs, hamsters and cats end up at the SPCA… peope move, get tired of the pet, naive on how to take care of them, etc..

Also, amidst the animal and the pet community, This particular REptile Refuge has a very poor reputation… neglected animals, high death rate, volunteers are unhappy to work there, and are frustrated in the way the shelter is run… So, either this Refuge needs new leadership, new vision; of course, funding, etc.. But, as long, as this Refuge holds onto such extreme views, I am not that keen in supporting it!!