Reptile medicine and the human-animal bond

In this interview, Jb Minter, DVM, MS, DACZM, talks about the emotional bond between reptiles and their owners, emphasizing that this bond is as real as the bond between a dog or cat and their caretaker. According to Minter, research indicates that reptiles may be capable of developing a bond with their owner. He also highlights the growing field of reptile medicine, encouraging veterinarians to develop a foundational understanding of reptile care to help them feel more confident when presented with these animals.

Below is the interview transcript, lightly edited for clarity:

Jb Minter, DVM, MS, DACZM: The big thing for me is to make sure that small animal veterinarians understand that there is an emotional bond between the humans and the reptiles and what people are now expecting. It's an important aspect. We don't really delve into the emotional bond that people have with their pets, and obviously most people understand this with dogs and cats. But reptile owners, a lot of reptile owners feel the same way about their lizard or their snake that someone may feel about their Yorkie or their Pomeranian.

There's a lot of research out there that indicates that even reptiles have a recognition pattern for their owners and they may be developing a bond for a particular owner. So, understanding that bond is pretty critical. So, while diagnosing and treating some of these diseases may be challenging...a lot more people are up for the challenge than they may initially want to think about. So giving them some, just some basic understanding so they feel comfortable when somebody walks in with that pet lizard, they don't have an anxiety attack and start freaking out. It's like you can deal with this. It's not that complicated. And again, if you don't know, there's books out there, there's continuing education, there's people that likely do know that are willing to help them. The future of reptile medicine is growing. It's growing exponentially, almost logarithmic of how much information is coming in and out there about reptiles. So it's this ongoing research in reptile anesthesia, pain management, and surgery is going to be vital. It's making sure that people understand that by staying current with these they can see a lot more patients, they can provide optimal care for the people that want their reptile pets to be seen.