12/18/2025
Quick PSA for those taking their friends and family to see Zootopia 2.
There's a phenomenon called "The Dalmatian Effect". This phenomenon occurs when a movie or television show popularizes a certain breed or species, and people rush to acquire them as pets, often with little research. Dalmatians after 101 Dalmatians, St. Bernards after Beethoven, Huskies after Game of Thrones... you get the idea.
This phenomenon leads to an uptick in poor breeding, unscrupulous behavior, and animals in situations they shouldn't be in.
We're Disney fans over here, but we need to make something very clear- though it is not a problem stateside YET, the species of snake portrayed by Zootopia's Gary De Snake is a Komodo Pit Viper, or often called the insularis.
This is one of VERY few truly blue snakes, and most of the other ones are likewise "spicy". The insularis is a fast, irate, and medically significant species found in the Lesser Sundas, with the blue phase being found in and around Komodo Island.
Though we absolutely understand how stunning the insularis is, we cannot emphasize enough that keepers should not be attempting to own an insularis. A bite from an insularis WILL land you in the hospital, and could cause significant damage to your organ systems and body, and in some cases, even death.
The antivenom used to treat an insularis is also not readily available in America, so taking a bite is truly a massive risk.
Owning venomous snakes is not a choice that should be taken lightly. Keepers need proper training and equipment, bite protocols, eacape proof rooms and enclosures, and more beyond that. It is truly not something that 99.9% of reptile keepers should do.
Let’s keep these amazing animals and ourselves e safe and on screen not in homes of inexperienced keepers ❤️
