The Problem with Exotic Pet Exploitation on TikTok: Kyle Thomas

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0:00 - Intro
2:33 - Highest earning TikTok teenager
5:12 - Concerning care
10:54 - His zoo
14:41 - The capybara under the stairs
22:49 - His "rescue" animals
30:19 - Animal breeding
32:54 - The end of his zoo

FAQ
Q: Are you the guinea pig guy from TikTok?
A: I am :)
Q: Where did you get the art in the background?
Q: What is that thing on your upper lip?
A: It’s a scar ❤
Q: What camera do you use?
A: Sony Alpha A6400
Q: What editing software do you use?
A: Camtasia Studio

[marla]

Pet shops giving the wrong information just isn't a good enough excuse anymore in this day and age

[lagoonmermaid]

20:00 "It was the worst year of my life". I think it was probably the worst year of the capybara's life.

[CommanderDarcy]

I hate every. Single. Person. That has pet capybaras. As a Brazilian, i know those are supposed to be wild animals that >need< to be amongst a LOT of other individuals of the same species, they're not dogs! They need a lot and humans aren't able to provide that in a house.

Edit: THAT BOY HAVING A SAGUI AND IGNORING ITS DISTRESS CALLS IS GONNA END ME,

[portatoman]

god that millipede tank makes me angry. literally everything wrong with it. they are 100% dead now and it was so preventable with literally any research. people are idiots

[jello]

His mum is seriously at fault here. Sometimes as a parent you have to say things your children don't want to hear, like "No, you can't smuggle a capybara into the country."

[LivBarronExotics]

Responsible people check the law before owning an animal like this

[ShaySaysSo]

Rescuing dogs is a good thing, but collecting exotic animals is not! That woman just got blinded by money! Think of the animal before you bring it home!

[rabbitsandphilodendron]

the NERVE of this guy purchasing animals from illegal pet traders and then posing like he is "rescuing" the animals just makes me so mad. what do you mean you're fighting the illegal pet trade? you're literally their best customer

[lucynyu]

I can't wrap my head around the fact that so many countries allowing people to purchase exotic animals without a license or at least a check up from experts to see if they are being looked after properly. This guy is like a rich arab prince with a tiger to show off in a Lamborghini.

[kiwifruit]

Just looked up the minimum size for a meerkat enclosure, and it said 12ft×12ft. It's so sad to see those little babies in that small of an enclosure 😢💔

[dusky]

nah I'm sorry, if his mother "loved animals" so much, she wouldn't be buying exotic ones to keep as pets, and she definitely wouldn't keep them in inappropriate housing on top of that.
it's so frustrating to see animals ripped from their habitats to be used as cool props for humans who want to be interesting.
the marmoset particularly annoys me bc i've seen cases of them going to sanctuaries where they have lost the use of their legs because of improper care. exotic animals aren't pets.

[jonnavdpas]

14-year-old kids should not be owning exotic pets at all, let alone putting them on social media for clout.

[kaymark]

The capybara treatment is absolutely horrible. It’s disgusting. They also are heard animals and need to be kept with atleast 2 Or 3 of them. This guy needs to be banned from owning animals!!!!

[mrcow]

His zoo/sanctuary are the kind of zoos that give the good zoos/sanctuaries a bad reputation! A good zoo like the San Diego Zoo or Bronx Zoo does not overbreed animals. In fact, the Bronx Zoo has saved many endangered amphibians like the Wyoming Toad!

[trala]

He also let his tarantula sustain a fall, which can lead to abdomen rupture and traumatic death for these fragile, heavy-bodied arachnids.
It’s kind of like the millipedes. It’s so incredibly easy to do it right - millipedes and tarantulas are stupid easy to care for. Even a fully naturalistic bioactive enclosure is easier to set up and maintain than even an easy mammal. There’s kind of just no excuse.

[kaylaism]

15:57 that’s crazy because capybaras usually love other animals. They literally will get along with any other animal that’s not threatening them. They are the friendliest things you’ll ever meet and you can just tell that one is so scared.

[kyoyameganebereznoff]

There’s also a chance that the lobster wasn’t healthy enough to survive a release. Their muscles can atrophy if they have those rubber bands on their claws long enough. You also can’t be certain that those crabs and lobsters aren’t carrying diseases that could spread to other crabs and lobsters. And were those crabs and lobsters native species? There are many potential issues with those “rescues.”

[toltorg]

The amount of people who use and abuse pets in general let alone exotic pets is unreal.
Appreciative of you covering this topic as always Cid!

[lostinthemesozoic]

Dear god, seeing that Capybara pressed up against to the wall is agonizingly so clear to me. I don't understand how some people can't understand animal body language (or even human body language, any animal/human pressed up against a wall like that while getting filmed and being disturbed is obvious and plain to see.

I'd love to see your opinion on The Urban Rescue Ranch, in my opinion it's definitely much much better than Kyle, he gives the animals outside space, he talks with experts on the animals, and his animals look like they're happy, even if he is kind of loud and wild with his jokes

[TehJesu]

Remember coming across a bunch of sitches on TT of people who have exotic pets and they beg people not to impulsively get an animal that evolves a full time job in order to care for them, the comments where full of people asking where they get their pets from so they can buy the same exotic animals like they didnt just get told these animals are more commitment then average pet 🤦‍♀️