It’s a typical Saturday morning. I’m flicking through the channels and all of a sudden this documentary comes on. I figure, what the hey, I’ll watch. Turns out it was about people keeping reptiles and amphibians in Norway, and how they’re persecuted by the law since it’s illegal to keep those kinds of animals as pets here.

Now, I knew that keeping reptiles and amphibians was illegal in Norway, but I’d never considered the repercussions of it. I hope to raise some awareness on the subject with this article, and that we’ll finally put an end to this needless law.



Reptiles and amphibians, or herptiles, have been kept as pets in Norway as far back as the 1960s. Back in 1977 the Norwegian government decided to make this illegal, stating the lack of knowledge and ability to make terrariums meeting the standard these animals required as their main reason. They claimed importing herptiles to Norway would be animal cruelty, as they wouldn’t be able to survive in our climate. This law is still here today, making it illegal to import, keep and sell these animals. The funny thing is, they only had a total ban on reptiles and amphibians, while other exotic animals such as guinea pigs, tropical birds and aquarium fish were barely touched. Today the government can no longer claim that these animals won’t be able to survive in Norway with the amount of technology and information that is out there, but they are still somewhat unwilling to change their stand.



However, this didn’t discourage the Norwegian people. Statistics show that more and more people acquire these lovely little critters, and they have a big following online where they share advice and experiences. One of the biggest online communities, Reptilfreaks.no has as many as 2500 members. Due to the illegality of keeping herptiles as pets it’s difficult to say how many of them there are, but considering the amount of equipment and food sold around the country it’s estimated to be at least 100 000 animals. Norway has had a ban on these animals for three decades, but they’re more widespread today than ever before. In our neighbouring countries and the rest of Europe no such ban exists. This also makes it easier to import the animals.



The results of all this is that people who keep these animals are forced to keep it a secret, even if the animal in question gets ill. They don’t dare go to the vet, even if there’s something seriously wrong. If they’re reported to the authorities they face a pretty hefty fine, or even jail if they have a lot of herptiles. One of the vets interviewed in the documentary said this lead to the animals only getting to the vet once they were much further along in the disease than most animals. This makes it more difficult to save them, if not impossible.

As it turns out, the ban on these animals isn’t helping at all. In fact, the ban only leads to the owners of pets such as these don’t have enough information about them. If they were legal they’d be more likely to approach a professional about it and ask for advice rather than trying to find out the information themselves, which might lead them to be misinformed and hurting the animal in the end. To be blunt, the ban makes animal cruelty more likely to happen.



If these animals were allowed as pets in this country, along with the rest of Europe, it would be much easier to control the welfare of the animals, to make sure they’re being treated right. They’d get better health care as the owner would no longer be afraid to take the animal to the vet. Thousands of people allergic to the ‘standard’ pets would be able to acquire a beloved pet legally.

So what happens to the pets that get ‘rescued’ by the authorities? Well, only a few of them find their way to a zoo willing to take them on. There aren’t many zoos here in Norway, and even fewer of them take on herptiles. But what about the rest? They get humanly euthanized. Wouldn’t you rather have a happy and healthy pet that’s alive than one that has absolutely no chance of surviving? I understand why the zoos can’t keep every herptile the authorities come across, but putting them to sleep? How is that not animal cruelty? In most cases the animal in question isn’t ill, so there’s no reason to put them down other than the fact that you’re not allowed to keep them as a pet.



Now, it is not my opinion that we capture wild animals and put them in a cage just to have an exotic pet. The fact is that herptiles breed in captivity, and these animals should be allowed to have a home, someone who cares for them and keeps them healthy, as all animals do. In fact, animals born in captivity would never thrive in the wild as they've never had to learn to catch food on their own. I also agree that dangerous animals such as crocodiles and poisonous snakes shouldn’t be allowed in Norway.

Some herptiles are dangerous but quite a few aren’t, and the Herptile Association of Norway has put together a list of thirty species they think should be allowed to be kept as pets. The animals in question have to meet certain requirements to be put on the list. They have to tolerate being handled by humans without getting too agitated, easy to satisfy their bodily needs as far as climate, light and temperature goes and easy to find food for them. They can’t be too big and has to have been bred in captivity for generations. They can’t be an endangered species or a danger to humans, and lastly, they can’t survive in Norwegian nature. The last requirement is because we don’t want them to breed in the wild and disturb the natural ecosystem in Norway. The list of animals they came up with is called the Positivity list. It’s unfortunately in Norwegian, but you can find the species in question if you scroll down a few pages.



This fall the law banning these animals will in all likelihood be up for revisement in the Norwegian government. The species listed in the Positivity list will hopefully be allowed to at least keep as pets. They’ve been planning to discuss this change in the law for years, but every time it’s been postponed. I say the time has come for change. Each year the animals are suffering because of this law, and if we change the law today they might get better living conditions. If you are Norwegian, please sign this petition. Hopefully it will make the politicians wake up and realise that the herptile community and the animals need this!