I Was In A BBC Earth Documentary - Reaction

Good Morning, Reptilians! As many of you have seen, I was in BBC Earth Documentary recently (kind of, it was filmed a year ago). They didn't do the best job portraying the reptile keeping hobby - they sort of made it seem like a scary thing. I don't normally do these types of videos, but I'm in this one, so I felt like I should talk about it. I also still had all the original footage, which is seen in this video, because a few things were kind of moved around in the final product. 😬

The point of this is not to be negative in any way. There were just a few misleading things in the interview that I wanted to address.

Also, sorry the first half is blurry, we were in a hurry trying to head out to Snake Discovery while we were recording this. As always, I'm not great with technology.

There aren't really timestamps in this video, but here's some rough timestamps of ideas discussed.
0:00 "What would you say if someone said reptiles are wild animals that shouldn't be kept as pets?"
0:19 Intro
0:48 Reaction Start
1:14 Sterling's Eyes
1:27 Unboxing Videos
1:49 Reptile Clothes
2:06 Agitating Animals For Views
2:57 Disclaimer - BBC was nice and UK representation
4:18 Why I Keep Pets
5:23 Reptile Care Responsibility
5:58 My Biggest Struggle
6:13 Why People Choose Specific Pets
7:36 Buying Online Being Bad
9:16 Dangerous Animal Licenses
10:08 Buying Online Being Easy
12:16 RSPCA
13:14 Education & Information is Key
14:03 The Unfortunate Timing Of This Video Release
15:02 Some Final Thoughts
16:40 Outro + Shoutouts
17:05 Additional Interview Outtakes

Thanks for watching! :)

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💌 Want to send us something?
Elle O'Shea
PO Box 3061
Decatur, AL 35602

Curious about what I use in my tanks or what you need for your new setup? Check out my Amazon Store:

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What I Use To Film (nothing exciting here, but for those that are curious):
Fujifilm XT4 w/ 16-80mm lens:
Canon M50:
Microphone:
Rode Mic For My Camera:
Ring Light:
Brick Background:

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Disclaimers:
Although I have a few reptiles, I am in no way a reptile expert. I just research a whole bunch and make videos. Please always do lots and lots of research (outside of these videos) before getting any pet, and please take any sick pet that you have to the vet for care. 💜

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This just means that I receive a small percentage of your purchase, but don't worry, the prices are the same.

We're just spreading our love for animals. :)
Don't forget to subscribe! We upload every single Sunday, and some Wednesdays. Come hang out with us and watch us talk about animal things... and watch our animals do animal stuff.

music: Early Oceans - Freedom Trail Studio

[cincityserpents]

Keeping the recordings/footage for yourself is always good. Clearly BBC is into some shady stuff which is exactly the reason why the general population is starting to stray away from the main stream media and has started utilizing social media more and more. It’s so frustrating to think they accuse social media of the exact bad practices they themselves have been implementing for years.

[lemonlizard]

I hope this video gets more views than the documentary. It's important to know that some documentaries are biased and will take things out of context for the benefit of their video

[HunterHouck]

I’m sorry to see that your interview was edited to be misinterpreted. You did a great job. Keep being a great example of responsible reptile keeping!

[CreativeReptiles]

Im glad you recorded the interview from your perspective as well. I love watching documentaries but every doc has an agenda and its clear they wanted to paint a narrative that you didn't give them.

[bobbiec]

This is so frustrating to see...it's clear to me based on their follow up questions (and the fact that they used those answers and not the ones you originally gave) that they had an agenda / narrative going into this. Thank you for sharing what happened and what is really important when adding a new reptile into the family ❤️

[kevinthegrizzly]

Wish more people cared for their scale babies as well as you guys do. We've seen and spoke with people who shouldn't even be allowed to care a stuffed animal. Thanks for what you guys do. Take care.👍🏾🐍

[RealJRoyall]

It's really frustrating as a reptile keeper that so many mainstream media outlets want to paint our hobby in a poor light. It makes it basically impossible to criticize people in our hobby because the second we do we're used as a false example of how "reptile keeper doesn't think people should own reptiles" when that isn't the case. I just think it's unlikely that there's a healthy market for 10s of 1000s of 20 foot snakes or 7 foot monitor lizards. So we end up being forced to like blindly support every reptile owner or were essentially attacking them all. It's all in the extremes and it's so annoying. And honestly corny.

[FarSaucer]

I actually saw this right before you posted and I IMMEDIATELY knew they'd cut probably half of what you were saying or putting different answers to meet what they wanted the audience to see. It didn't even seem like "you" I got irritated and stopped watching because I've followed you since the day I got my first reptile. I only watch you and two other reptile channels. I'm sorry they did that to you. It's pretty awesome you have some of the parts they cut, because it shows how dramatically documentarians can alter the entire film based on their individual bias. Which I feel is exactly the opposite of what filming a documentary is...

[Sage_SP]

Sweet more people are recognizing your amazing knowledge and love for reptiles

Watching this i like how both sides bring up good points about different things instead of just making stuff up to make a certain group look bad

[davidphillips]

Good morning Elle, have a wonderful Sunday!! It's so scary doing interviews because you never know when they are gonna twist your words around!! Glad you got that opportunity though!!

[rachedenO]

The fact that a NATURE channel put out this documentary... smh I'd love for more people to know about the importance of appropriate care for reptiles, but not on the expense of making them seem like these scary big bad creatures. Good job Elle!! You definitely made your point across and a great representation of reptile keepers XD

[Japh]

After watching this video, I went and watched the full BBC video... I really wish they'd dropped the sensationalism and worked more openly and collaboratively with you! The underlying message it sounds to me like they're trying to convey ("pets shouldn't be adopted on a whim and you need to research beyond social media to properly care for them") is a good message, but the presentation really felt unpleasant...

I'm sorry to hear what could've been, and sounds like it was in the beginning, a really positive experience turned a little less positive because of how it was presented. Doubly so because I feel like the people who would benefit most from the message won't hear it through the unpleasant presentation.

I'm glad you had the cut footage too!

[learningformyreptiles]

You did a great job, I think their needs to be a law that makes you have to take a test before a store or seller can sell to you, and expos will have to require someone in the party to have a license, and it should be cheap and simple questions, how to read a light bulb, how to measure humidity, how to measure surface vs air temperatures, the Ferguson zones, how to surrender your pets, differences between wild and domesticated or captive, questions like that that will help people from the very beginning be able to understand the actual needs

[everlysilbernagel]

I'm soo happy for you guys! This is such a big step

[barbaramurray]

I have a suggestion for a video and it’s a terrarium for a baby crested gecko but it’s not a bio active xx live your videos xx

[shadlyn]

Late to the party, but ick, I certainly won't pay attention to any documentaries featuring that lead. You and Snake Discovery are some of the best resources I've found for reptiles, and I think the corn snake and trio of schneider's skinks that I adopted with the confidence you gave me agree!

[Syddddddddd]

Good morning Elle! Congratulations! That’s so exciting. I’m excited to keep watching! Hope your having a fantastic sunday. You are so smart and such a great person. Your my favorite YouTuber 💜

[Nemesis-zyub]

I got a bio active tank for my leopard gecko and I wanna know if it’s safe and I also got a under tank heater pad and I’m not sure how to install it

[chawgy]

Hello elle! Im getting a beardie soon and i have been watching all your videos on beardies its helping me so much thank you so much. Any information is appreciated

[cincityserpents]

Also, in regards to importing animals, I would watch Dave Kaufman new video. Because I honestly agree with him in this matter. Importing animals in order to introduce new genetics or in order to maintain the safety of that animal is always recommended and ensures the survival of that animal more so than the extinction.