Reptile Keeping While Disabled
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- So this video took me way longer than I had hoped to finish, mainly because my dang disabilities kept flaring up and getting in the way. Last week I recorded on a good day and found out that my microphone had died so I had no audio. I'm sorry for all of the swaying back and forth in this video - I didn't want to keep putting off recording so I did it on an okay day instead of a good one.
Since nuance doesn't always translate, I want to emphasize here that I'm only speaking for myself. I am also currently in several diagnostic processes so can't really speak to the full extent of my disabilities, but these are the main things I'm working around right now.
As always, SUPER thankful to anyone who comes and checks out the channel! You are all THE BEST!!
Links:
Patreon - / skinkology
Instagram - / skinkology
Time Stamps:
0:00 - 1:33 Introduction
1:34 - 4:43 Chronic Pain
4:44 - 7:48 Broken Brain
7:49 - 8:36 Bonus Allergies
8:37 - 13:06 BONUS Bonus Benefits and Conclusion
Credits:
"Rumble" - Music by: www.bensound.com/free-music-f... License code: OHZJBW8KBBYXT2EH
"Earthworms burrows under a wet composting soil" - Video by Miguel Á. Padriñán: www.pexels.com/video/earthwor...
"Washing a Glass" - Video by Coverr: www.pexels.com/video/video-of...
"A person pretending to be a clock" - Video by Tima Miroshnichenko: www.pexels.com/video/a-person... - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Thank you, the internet, for bringing me a video that I just THOUGHT about.
Cool video!
❤
Oh heck yeah! Did I talk about some of the stuff you'd been thinking about?
Great video! A lot of my decision making about what pet to get was heavily based around my disabilities (Autism/ADHD and Major Depression). I realized with rats that I just can't properly take care of an animal that needs hours of my dedicated attention every day. I loved my girls, but cleaning and getting them out was really difficult, and the guilt I had over it just made it even harder. I also ended up developing an allergy that was causing me frequent asthma attacks
So, once my two rats passed away (they both lived over 3 years old!), I looked into a pet that is a better suited to my needs, and I settled on a gargoyle gecko. They do need daily maintenance, but it primarily involves easy tasks like misting, feeding, and checking temp/humidity. I even plan on adding springtails and maybe isopods to help take care of the cleaning. As long as their enclosure is set up in a way that is properly enriching, clean, and at their preferred temp/humidity, they don't need a lot of direct involvement from me.
So if my depression gets really bad, and I just don't have the energy to take her out and interact with her, she won't know the difference. She can be very independent as long as I keep her environment healthy!
(PSA, I just got my gecko a couple of days ago: a one year old that I've named Bumblebee. She has been nothing but an absolute angel, eating right away, exploring right away, never showing any signs that she's scared of me. I was expecting the first few weeks to be difficult, but she's been perfectly happy and active)
Yes, this is so great! Being on the Autism spectrum and having ADHD I can really relate to a lot of the challenges you’ve mentioned. I need to get some gloves because touching substrate that isn’t fresh and brand new just feels so gross to me 😅 I have a designated wooden spoon to fluff substrate🤣
Wooden fluffing spoon is a genius idea!!
You have a nice vibe, and I can relate. I keep several fish aquariums, but I am diagnosed with inattentive-ADHD. I've found various ways to make this much, much easier than standard fishkeeping. For one, I never clean the inside of the glass because I make very liberal use of nerite snails. You can even breed them in a saltwater tank. I also use algae refugiums, with department-store grow LED bulbs and growing algae on-purpose (in a corner). If the light is on long enough (and bright enough), the algae will uptake pollution and prevent TDS from climbing. So instead of water changes, I just reach in and throw out a handful of algae. Another big breakthrough was deliberately over-filtering the tanks, with huge amounts of surface area (pot scrubbers, bulk mesh fabrics, etc). If you over-filter, the bacteria won't clog the media because their numbers are too spread out. So I never clean the filters (which is counterproductive anyway), and the fish have much less disease too. Adding UVC clarifiers (buried inside ceramic vases for safety) further improved disease loads, and makes the water look crystal-clear (for near-zero effort).
I bet most non-ADHD people don't actually enjoy maintenance chores. I think if the hobby was more candid about that, and popularized labor-saving methods more, then more people could be in the hobby. So I always feel motivated to let people know! And when I saw your video, it felt like a reptile-equivalent of what I've been doing.
Snails and algae as support crew sounds super cool!! I love knowing that people are working on simplifying the aquarium hobby because I would love to be able to have fish again someday, without it being the labour that I remember it being as a kid. Thank you so much for sharing all of these things that you do to make managing aquariums better for you! I'm sure someone is bound to stumble upon this comment and have their mind blown by the nerite snails
this is a really good video! its really nice seeing someone being open about this sort of stuff. im also neurodivergent and its nice knowing im not the only one with the same struggles. i hope this helps other reptile keepers :)
Thank you!! That means a lot. I know I feel a lot better knowing that I'm not the only one needing to find workarounds, less lonely and all that. Thanks for the comment!
Great video, I started with reptiles when I was 58, some years later I sold everything because I thought that I would move from England to Spain which didn't happen because of the covid nonsense. Anyway now I'm 73 I got myself a crested gecko and some tarantulas. I have a lot less energy than when I was in my early 60s , so I try to be more disciplined than I was before. My reptiles and tarantulas certainly helped me to be just that
This was a super cool video. Im glad I found your channel. I relate with you in many ways. I’m neurodivergent and sometimes I struggle with maintaining my reptile room. Definitely subscribing.
Thank you!! I'm glad you found my channel too :)
Love your channel!
Thank you!!!!!! Means the world
Great video, thank you for making it!
Thank you for thinking it's great, and for commenting!! :D
Awesome video, thank you! +1 for Husbandry Pro, I use it for my blue tongue skink, it makes tracking everything (feeding, poops, sheds, ....) so much easier. My memory is totally wrecked by depression, it would be nearly impossible for me to follow the schedule for even one animal without a digital aid.
Thank you!! Heck yeah. I know there are other apps that people also love but I'm a big fan of Husbandry Pro. I love that it makes charts and stuff for me
Very informative ❤ Thank You ❤
Heck yeah, glad you thought so! Thanks!!
@@Skinkology 💗👍
Interesting. Have you watched Snake Therapy? It's really interesting and she also has a survey you can take.
I have a gargoyle gecko and will soon be getting a leopard gecko and have allergies...Thank you SO much for talking about masking when you deal with mealworms. I love shellfish and the thought that I would not be able to chow down on them bothers me.
I have heard of Snake Therapy! Am hoping to watch the Animals at Home episode sometime this week. I will check out the survey :)
So glad I could help save you from a life without shellfish!!!
Good video. I subscribed
Thanks a bunch :)
It’s a little bit the dirt.
🤣🤣🤣 I give ALL credit to the microbes
Lobster is so overrated 😂 thanks for making this video, Yes.
Thank you for watching it!! I will defend lobster's honour 'til the day I die -- them bugs are delicious
I see the name an just had to wacth as I have fnd an complex health issues, I have t s an jumping spider, I thought I might get a good idea
i'm a paraplegic (right side is gone) after a stroke. I had to get rid of my Jackson's because I can't move. Wanna trade disabilities?
I'm sorry to hear that :( I would definitely share ability if I could