Maybe it's just me.

[Mr Wilson]

Maybe it's just me, but normally when someone gives an animal as a gift, it's because the recipient has shown a lot of interest in the pet. Hopefully people who work in pet stores (like the OP) are informative enough and can give out good information as to how to care for their new pets. So, I mean, if you know your stuff, OP, then you should have no problem selling pets to parents/people wanting to buy them for a Christmas gift. Not trying to sound like a know it all or anything like that, just making a little teeny point

 

[reptoman]

Hey now, let's have some faith! While I agree with the notion that it should not be a gift to be taken lightly, I think it's fine if the recipient understands the responsibility. My first chameleons was given to me as a present when I was seven. My mom would not have let me have it (from my uncle) if she didn't think I would be able to take care of it. We bought a mesh cage, a nice ficus, UVB and heat lamp, and a supplement. I bought two chameleon books and read them cover to cover and made my mom drive me back to the store so I could by a dripper, more plants, more vines for his basking spot, and a commercial gutload to add to my veggies. While my husbandry wasn't 100% it was better than half the people who join here start off with. If I could change anything, I think I would have dusted a bit better and misted a little more. That chameleon lived to be almost 7. Considering some adults cannot keep chameleons thriving for so long, I think I did pretty dang well.

Now thats a pretty cool uncle! Maybe you could talk my sister in law into letting my do the same for my nephew. I've been trying to wear her down for a year now and she's not budging!

 

[pssh]

Maybe she doesn't want you to because she thinks she will end up having to care for it? My mom literally didn't do anything more than buy me insects and new bulbs when he needed them. I'm sure she would have, but I was so into him that I wanted to do it by myself. I've never met another kid like that. :/ My mom said I was an old soul.

 

[Stanly]

I'm giving crested geckos to 3 of my nieces/nephews/families, but I did talk to the parents before and will talk to the kids before they can "receive" the lizards. So I will agree with those saying it shouldn't be a gift given lightly but it's not always a bad thing

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I don't think everyone that has agreed with the OP meant to apply it as a blanket statement to everyone everywhere who receives a pet for a gift. Obviously there are plenty of people perfectly capable of stepping up to the responsibility and willing to do the research needed for challenging pets! I was one of those kids that got an iguana and tortoises as birthday presents, but my mom was already very knowledgable about their needs and encouraged me to do to further research about them as well. We built a huge cage for my iggy, who is now 15, and my tortoises are doing fantastically. But I also had a lot of friends who got puppies for presents, quickly lost interest and the dog lived its days totally outside with minimal human interaction, even they even kept it. I ended up with chickens and ducks that my friends didn't want anymore after Easter - which lived long happy lives - and I knew kids who "released" their hamsters or cockatiels because they were tired of them. Like domesticated pets really have a chance in the 'wild' of the back of the neighborhood.

These forums see the poor husbandry all the time that so many people start off with because it was either given to them by someone else or the pet store told them all the wrong info, but luckily they are willing to do something about it! There are way too many people that don't care when their pets die, they just go get another one and watch it do the same thing, or maybe they'll try a different species and get lucky. Those usually aren't the people we see on here because they don't care to look for more info. The people who take on an animal with an interest in its well being aren't the people I fear around the holidays. Just fwiw, I don't want anyone to be offended by this thread because the fact that they're researching on these forums already means they're doing the right thing.

 

[Psi]

Every parent that comes in here mentioned that "their son/daughter wants a <reptile> for Christmas" I make sure to point out to them that they're going to be the main provider for the animal even if it's a responsibility that their child wants.

The parents need to be made aware that their child might grow bored of the animal quickly then they would need to care for it.

It is a good educational tool to help build up the child's accountability the parents have to know they're on the hook too.


I would be vary leery of a friend buying another friend a pet, that would be odd.