Reptiles and mental health/burnout?
Throwaway account because I feel ashamed, so please be gentle 💜
So, I have had reptiles for four years now. I have a bearded dragon, a crested gecko, and a chahoua gecko. I’ve really tried to do my best to give them good care. They all have bioactive tanks, they’re all in the recommended sizes of tanks, and the crestie is even getting an upgrade soon. I have things at the right temps and humidity for the most part, but … sometimes I struggle with other things.
Last year, when dealing with some depression and Life Stuff, I waited longer than I should have to clean and wipe down my crestie’s tank. When I finally did, I found multiple urates on the glass I should have cleaned up sooner. I feel so awful about it. I should have cleaned sooner. I still feel bad about it.
I’d put off cleaning the reptiles’ water bowls for a few days (still sprayed the tanks down and cleaned out their food bowls and fed them on a regular schedule). I even considered rehoming my crestie because I was feeling disconnected from him. A couple times I forgot to order bugs, so my beardie and chahoua didn’t get bugs for that week (but they got their non-bug foods).
I kept forgetting to install my crestie’s new UVB until recently.
So … I’m feeling guilty :( I’m providing the fundamentals for them, and all of them are healthy, but I feel like I keep slipping up in some areas due to mental health and burnout. I feel like a bad keeper. I love my animals, and generally treating animals well is a huge value I hold, so it hurts me when I feel like my actions and values aren’t aligning.
Can anyone else relate? Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this and keeping myself from slipping up?
Posted Jun 15, 2025, 3:08 AM UTC