News Blog Do reptiles have feelings? (11-08-25) Our Don’t Pet Me campaign, that calls on the Scottish Government to prevent the suffering of wild animals in domestic environments, has been highlighting that many wild animals kept as pets do not have good lives, and are facing a range of harms including, for example, malnutrition, injuries and loneliness. Some, particularly reptiles, face additional hardships, because people believe that they don’t have feelings. Professor Hurn, who carried out research for us, found widespread posts and discussions online referring to reptiles as stupid and unfeeling. This included a range of in-jokes at their expense, such as all geckos sharing one brain cell or ball pythons being ‘pet rocks’. Reptiles are described as ‘derpy’ – meaning foolish or stupid – and given captions or voiceovers in baby voices or broken English. Sign the petition While a lot of these jokes are superficially affectionate, they lead to real harm. Believing that reptiles are stupid and unfeeling can mean that people keep them poorly, in small, barren tanks or enclosures. Perhaps the worst example is Really Useful Boxes (RUBs): plastic tubs that slide into ‘racks’ as if they were drawers. Reptiles are kept in these tiny tubs where they can barely move, in both pet shops and some homes. Reptiles, ball pythons particularly, often stop eating, likely due to captivity related stress. This gets referred to as going on ‘hunger strike’, which suggests a misunderstanding of the reasons for the behaviour. Other jokes are less affectionate, more mocking. Snakes are often called noodles: ‘derp noodle’ if placid or shut down, ‘spicy noodle’ if defensive, or ‘drama noodle’ when hognose snakes feign death because they are stressed. Some people find snakes’ fear-based defensiveness amusing, and encourage each other online, with laughing emojis, to ‘boop the snoot’ – tap the snake on the nose – to show they are not afraid and dominate the snake. This is just one example of a wider theme of control and forced handling uncovered in Professor Hurn’s research. The emotional lives of reptiles Contrary to the inaccurate stories perpetuated in many online forums, reptiles do have emotions. And this is not limited to simple emotions such as fear, which is another frequent claim, even on reputable looking websites. Reptiles experience a wide range of emotions and longer-term moods. For example, recent research found that red-footed tortoises experience optimism. Reptiles are intelligent too. Looking at snakes specifically, they have complex cognitive capacities, such as detailed spatial memory and problem solving abilities. Also, all species of snakes have large home ranges when free-living, and move a lot. So, their welfare is compromised in captivity. More than 25 captivity related signs of stress have been recorded in snakes. These generally fall into one of two coping strategies – hiding or escaping. Neither of these work in captivity, as they cannot escape and hiding doesn’t make the stress of confinement go away. So, captive snakes can become either hyperactive or shut down. Tackling misinformation Clearly, more needs to be done to tackle this misinformation, which spreads so easily online. There are some more responsible influencers who offer more accurate information. Unfortunately, that alone is not enough to reach the many people who don’t mean any harm but end up causing it, because they are swayed by persuasive, entertaining, inaccurate content. Sadly, the animals are the ones who suffer the consequences. Please sign our Don’t Pet Me petition to call on the Scottish Government to take action to prevent the suffering of wild animals in homes. We want there to be a permitted list, to ensure only suitable species are kept, and additional measures to protect animal welfare, including tackling misinformation. Manage Cookie Preferences