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Rating: Yellow

This does look alarming at first, but the turtle is okay. It seems to have just been spooked by the blender and is trying to get away but can’t get traction on the surface it’s on. This is just rated yellow because I would not recommend putting any animal near a blender, for obvious reasons and because they are loud and scary.

Thanks for the tag!

Me when I use the blender that makes 50% of all turtles feel immeasurable pain

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Hi, not sure if you’re still active but will try anyway!

My family got a red eared slider around 2019. Recently, due to new disabilities and negative changes to the family environment, her care has become much more difficult and has basically been reduced to ‘keep alive’. We would like to rehome her, but have been having trouble finding rescues and/or someone to take her.

We are in Northern Virginia, USA. Happy to give the tank and any other supplies we have.

Thanks! Have a good day!

Hi! I’m really sorry about your situation. Thank you for doing the right thing by rehoming her instead of keeping her in suboptimal conditions. Unfortunately I’m currently unable to take in any animals personally, but here are some links to reptile rescues in your area:

Northern Virginia Reptile Rescue

VA Reptile Rescue

Central Virginia Reptile Rescue

Blue Ridge Reptile Rescue

Reptile Education of Virginia

You could also call local exotic vets to see if they or any of their employees are willing to take her in, or post on local reptile Facebook groups to find other reptile enthusiasts near you who might want her. (Make sure that they’ll provide her with proper care before rehoming her, of course.)

Just so you know, red-eared sliders are invasive in many areas in the US, including Virginia, so the laws around owning them as pets may be complicated. I would look into the laws in your area (if you haven’t already) to make sure it won’t make rehoming her difficult.

I hope you’re able to find a good home for her!

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Rating: Green

Yeeesss yes trust raptor…nice…….put child in mout h.. nothing bad will happen i prommy!,! Raptor never does any bad thnigs.. do nt worry… very good NOT violence

(This is very cute and I absolutely love the cosplay!!)

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Rating: Red

I’ll be honest, when I made this blog I didn’t expect almost every single ask to be about pet alligators. Apparently people really love anthropomorphizing them. This is a similar situation to most of the other crocodilian posts on my blog. Alligators should not be pets and should not be free-handled. It is absolutely inappropriate and dangerous, plus it’s almost impossible to care for such a huge animal properly. Posts like these are especially bad because it’s clearly making people think crocodilians are similar to cats and can be held/pet/taken care of the same, which is very wrong. All of these clips are bad. The one where there is water being poured on the alligator’s head shows an example of tense body language. The alligator is holding itself stiffly, closing its eyes tightly, and lifting its head up to try to get air. (Why are there SO MANY clips of people pouring water on alligators’ heads?!?) The ones in a bathtub should not be together, or in a bathtub, or being held by a person, especially not without their mouths being taped. And the person holding the giant adult alligator like a baby is just so dangerous. If the alligator got too stressed or scared and freaked out, it could easily injure (or even kill) the person within a few seconds. It’s so irresponsible and bad for everyone involved to do something like that.

If you see more videos like this of anthropomorphizing alligators and making them seem like harmless pets, please let the creator know that it’s actually a really dangerous narrative to spread and that the way they are being treated is completely wrong and harmful. Leave alligators in the wild or to credible zoos that have the resources to care for them properly.

Rule?

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Rating: Yellow

I’m pretty sure those are real toads. This is not good for them because it’s unsanitary and probably quite stressful. Generally, just don’t handle wildlife without a good reason. However, assuming the toads were immediately put back and the person washed their hands afterwards, there’s not really any danger, so I’m rating this yellow. (Don’t eat that bread.)

Frog :3

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Rating: Red, I guess??

I’m pretty sure this video is in reverse, but to be honest I have no idea what the turtle is doing or why it’s hanging on the faucet. I also don’t know why it’s in a sink?? I mean, it’s obviously not good for the turtle because it could choke/drown. (Also, minor note, reptiles generally shouldn’t have straight tap water due to the dubious water quality.) The sink doesn’t seem very sanitary, either. So I’m rating this red, but I am very confused about the context. If anyone else has any idea why the turtle was biting the faucet, please let me know.

Thirsty rule

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I’ve actually already rated this! Scroll down a bit on my blog and you should find it. (It’s linked in an ask).

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https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYovADa1/

is this video alright? Idk if we're assigning human emotions onto the alligator

Rating: Red

It surprises me how often I get asked about videos that involve alligators as pets. I will say it once again: alligators are not good pets. Reputable zoos are the exception, because they usually have the resources and knowledge to do so properly, but this is the Reptile Zoo, which is not a good source—their husbandry is not good and they often ignore their reptiles’ body language, which is what’s happening in this video.

As I’ve said before, this is very unsafe because the alligator’s mouth is not taped. Even the smallest of alligators can do pretty bad damage if they want to, so their mouths should always be taped when interacting with humans. Also, this one is very clearly uncomfortable. Its eyes are tightly closed, it’s opening its mouth, and it’s even hissing at one point. Many people misinterpret this as relaxation for some reason, but you’re right, they are anthropomorphizing the alligator in this video. The person holding it is lucky he didn’t get bitten.

Honestly, if I get more asks similar to this, I may just start copying and pasting my response to why situations like these are unsafe, because there are apparently a LOT of videos like this.

Thanks for the ask!

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Rating: Red

I don’t think I need to clarify that this is extremely unsafe. Crocodilians should never be pets, full stop. This one is so big that it could literally kill you. It is so, so unsafe to have that big of a crocodile next to you at all—and it doesn’t even have its mouth taped. Bad all around.

Far Cry 6

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Rating: Green

This looks like a rat snake. Rat snakes are nonvenomous, quite adventurous, and are notorious for getting into chicken coops to eat eggs. This one has gotten itself stuck in the crate and can’t get out because the egg it just ate is too big to fit. It ends up regurgitating, which snakes sometimes do, typically if they’re stressed. This one probably regurgitated it because it wanted to back away from the human but couldn’t with the egg in its throat.

There’s not really much the person could’ve done. Shoving a camera in the snake’s face certainly wasn’t helping—if they had left it alone, it probably could have figured out how to escape forwards without regurgitating—but this one probably felt cornered by the human and needed to get out quickly. It definitely would have been a bad plan to try to pull the snake out, because doing so would threaten it even more and it’s generally not good to touch wildlife.

Regurgitation can cause some damage to snakes’ throats due to regurgitated stomach acids, but it’s a natural ability for situations like these, so this is safe for the snake. Also, the egg looks like a very recent meal, so it’s unlikely that it would have been digested at all and therefore probably didn’t cause any harm to the snake’s throat. (And its weird-looking jaw after regurgitating is just how snakes’ mouths look after eating—they can disconnect their two separate lower jaw bones to open their mouths wider, and right after eating they will often “yawn” to reset them.)

Overall, the snake is fine, but the person probably should’ve left it alone.

Thanks for the mention!

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hi! do you have any thoughts about etheltheglamourtort on tiktok/ig? i know nothing about tortoises but it seems like they allow her to regularly come into close contact with their rabbit, as well as go for walks in public where she's been really close to a stranger's dog at least once. idk anything else to judge the other aspects of her care. thanks in advance!

Rating: Yellow

Yeah, they seem to have Ethel (the tortoise) and their rabbit together pretty often. Although it is marginally better than having reptiles near dogs or cats, it’s still just unsanitary and probably stressful for both animals. If both of them are free-roaming, any germs they might have would definitely be transmitted to each other and the humans. I didn’t see any videos where Ethel is near a dog on a walk, but if that happens (which I’m sure it does occasionally) that would also be bad. I’ve made a couple posts already about why dogs/cats and reptiles don’t go together—check those out for more info.

Otherwise, their care is pretty good. They show Ethel eating a variety of greens and occasional fruit treats. They also show her munching on some grass, which is good as long as it’s not treated with any chemicals. The walks around the neighborhood are a good way to get some exercise as long as they’re not too long. I do see a video showing them putting her in a little stroller when she got tired on a walk, which is very cute. Overall it looks like they really put effort and time into taking care of her, which is a green flag.

The only other notes I would have are that she probably shouldn’t eat any grass or plants while on a walk, since they just can’t be sure whether it’s been treated with chemicals or not. Also, her basking spots inside the house and her “bed” have fluffy blankets, which is not super sanitary. I do like that there are multiple heat lamps around the house for her, though.

Thanks for the ask!

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Rating: Yellow

This is pretty cute. The only things I would be wary about are:

Making sure the turtle isn’t out of its enclosure for too long, as it seems like it’s out for an extended period of time here. Also, it seems to keep trying to move closer to the kid, which could be a sign that it’s cold and is trying to warm up. If this is true, it definitely should not be out for this long. I don’t know what the actual enclosure looks like, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume their husbandry is fine otherwise. Lastly, it’s not super sanitary to let the turtle crawl all over the book. It would be best to sanitize everything the turtle touches just to be safe, but there isn’t really a good way to disinfect paper. I’m assuming the kid washed their hands before and after interacting with it.

Otherwise, this seems okay. The kid is being pretty gentle with the turtle and they seem to just be hanging out.

Thanks for the mention!

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Rating: Red

This is not cute. You are right that beardies’ chins/throats turn black when they are upset or angry. It could also be a sign of sickness, but given this situation I would assume both of them are just stressed and upset.

It is very important that beardies should not be able to interact with each other in captivity (except for breeding handled by experts, of course). One of them is bobbing its head sharply, which means it’s trying to display dominance over the other and feels threatened by its presence. Beardies are territorial and will often do this when they see other beardies. They should not be able to see each other at all in captivity. If you ever do get beardies, please never ever co-hab them (put them in the same enclosure) or let them interact like these two are. (And, of course, do lots of research). The same goes for most other pet reptiles—a lot of them are territorial and antisocial, and will not do well if they have to be in close proximity with each other. Although the person is pulling the beardie away and stopping it from actually hurting the other, it’s just making it more frustrated, and both should be left alone to calm down away from each other. Both beardies in this video are stressed, and I think the lack of traction on the floor is probably making it worse.

Also, you can see in the corner that there is a dog watching from the couch. This looks like a very similar situation to the last video I rated, and I will reiterate—do not let reptiles interact with other pets, especially not dogs/cats. Check out my last post for information on why not.

Thanks for the mention!

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Rating: Red

This does look cute, but it’s unfortunately not. First of all, reptiles should never be in contact with any other pets. Cats and dogs are much bigger than most reptiles and can do serious damage, even if they’re just trying to play. It also just stresses out the reptiles a lot, because cats are big, fast, unpredictable, potential predators to them. So this video is automatically dangerous.

Both of the bearded dragons’ body language is not happy. The first one just runs away from the cat, but the second one is very alert and is staying still, probably hoping the cat won’t notice it or trying to see what the cat will do next. When it seems to come up to the cat, I think it’s actually just trying to walk past it. As you can see, right before the cat jumps, the beardie is moving past it, not stopping next to it. When the cat freaks out, the beardie stops again and just seems confused and tense. The beardie would not know if the cat was trying to play with it, let alone want to participate. Again, it’s just very wary of the cat, which it sees as a potential predator. It’s very lucky the cat didn’t scratch it or step on it when it was freaking out and jumping.

It’s very easy to misinterpret videos like these as reptiles and cats/dogs having fun together. However, that’s just not possible without a huge risk of danger, and reptiles will never enjoy interacting with such big, unfamiliar animals.

Thanks for the mention!

Lizard sneaks up on kitten

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Rating: Red

There are many things wrong with this. First of all, an alligator should not be next to a frog. An alligator should not be next to any other pet. An alligator actually should not be a pet at all. Even as a baby, alligators can do serious damage to both frogs and humans. Its mouth should definitely be taped for the safety of everyone. Also, both animals are unhappy with the water being poured on them. The frog is trying to move away and the alligator is displaying tense and unhappy body language—eyes and mouth closed tightly, head raised (probably trying to get air), limbs tensed. I don’t know why I see people pouring water on alligators so often on the Internet but it has definitely happened several times. Newsflash: they don’t like it. This person should not own pets at all if they think it’s okay to put animals in this situation.

Thanks for the mention!

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Sorry for not responding quickly, for some reason I’m not getting these notifications!

Rating: Red

The alligator itself is fine, just a little confused. Alligators carry their young in their mouths, and this one looks like it’s mistaken the golf ball for an egg or a baby and is picking it up to move it closer to water. It probably recognizes the danger of an egg being out in the open near humans and is just trying to get out of harm’s way. Either that or it thinks it’s food. At the end of the video, it seems to realize that the golf ball is not, in fact, an egg. It will probably eventually drop it again and leave.

However, the people recording it are way too close. Alligators can move very fast, so it’s best to give them a lot of space. Also, golf courses are often built in alligators’ natural habitats, so it’s really humans who are the ones intruding. These people should drive away and watch from a safe distance until the alligator is off the course. If it takes the ball with it, so be it. It’s not worth the risk trying to find the ball again after it was taken by a protective alligator.

Thanks for the mention!

Take it !

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i'm so sorry if this has already been done but is this okay? the turtle looks quite at ease with his car, he doesn't crash and he seems to know how to stop it when he wants. [TUMBLR URL]/rev-another-bondi-blondepost/685772650669391872/

Rating: Yellow

Sorry for the late response!

I think this is a very cute idea, but it is executed poorly. The main issue I see is that the turtle is unable to get off of the “car”. In some clips, it seems almost frantic trying to get off. Eventually, it seems to relax a bit, but I still don’t think this is a good idea. And although there are no crashes shown in the video, it would be extremely easy for the turtle to go a little bit too quickly, lose control, and hit something. It would probably be possible for it to crack its shell if it freaked out. If there were some way to control the speed (like, it would only be able to go pretty slowly) and an easy way for the turtle to dismount when it wanted, I would say this would be cute. But for now, this is not cute.

Thanks for the ask!