Reptile keeper polls: tell us what you chose, and see what others did
About 6 million[1] US households keep reptiles, but almost no published research asks how their keepers say goodbye. These short, anonymous polls help fill that gap.
- One tap to vote, no sign-up
- Questions written for reptile keepers
- Live results you can compare with research
Why we ask
Why reptile keepers get their own questions
Nearly everything published about pet aftercare comes from surveys of dog and cat owners. Market researchers lump everything else into a single slice of the pie; in one estimate, pets other than dogs and cats made up just a small share of pet funeral revenue.
60.1% dogs[2]
That leaves real questions unanswered. How many keepers weren't sure at first whether their reptile had died? What do tortoise owners want done with a shell? Our polls ask exactly those things. Browse them below, vote on the ones that apply to you, and look at the live results whenever you like. Large studies such as the RSPCA's pet bereavement survey tell us a lot about grief, but they rarely separate out reptile keepers.
Browse every poll
How snake, lizard, gecko and tortoise keepers handle the goodbye, the cremation and what they keep afterwards.
Which reptile are you planning aftercare for?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
For a small lizard or gecko, would you still choose private cremation knowing only a pinch of ash may come back?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If your tortoise or turtle died, what would you want done with the shell?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
When your reptile seemed to have died, how sure were you at first?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Have you ever kept a shed skin, scute or photo of your reptile's markings as a keepsake?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you keep a long-lived tortoise, is there a plan for them if they outlive you?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What did you do with the enclosure after your reptile died?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Did the people around you understand your grief for a reptile?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
The rules
How voting works, and what we do with the answers
- One vote per person, per poll. A random, anonymous cookie stops repeat voting; we never ask for your name or email.
- Anonymous. Votes aren't linked to anything you send us through the request form.
- Live. Results update as people vote, so the percentages will move over time.
- Not a scientific survey. Anyone who visits can vote, so results show what readers of this site chose, not all reptile keepers.
We use the answers to decide what to write about next. If lots of keepers say they weren't sure whether their reptile had died, for example, that tells us the guidance on confirming death needs to be prominent, not buried.
Highlights
What these questions bring to light
The brumation scare. A reptile that has slowed down for winter, or simply got too cold, can look lifeless. We ask how sure keepers were at first because it's one of the few aftercare questions that is genuinely a matter of life and death. Our article on telling death from brumation walks through the checks.
When your reptile seemed to have died, how sure were you at first?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
The shell decision. Tortoise and turtle keepers face a choice dog owners never do: cremate the shell, keep it, or bury it. Many only learn it's a choice after the fact. Our shell retention guide exists because of that.
Planning across decades. Some tortoises outlive their keepers, so we ask whether there's a written plan. And for tiny lizards, we ask whether keepers would still pay for private cremation once they know how little ash comes back, which our ashes weight estimator shows before you decide.
Across all pets
The questions we ask every pet owner, and why yours count
Alongside the reptile polls, we run a few questions across all our pet sites, about aftercare choice, cost and grief. Reptile answers sit next to dog, cat and horse answers, which shows where keepers' experiences match other owners and where they don't.
Did you (or would you) compare more than one provider?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Research gives useful context here. In the UK, 47%[3] of cremation buyers remembered being told about a range of options such as communal cremation or home burial. Comparing that with what our readers say helps us see whether reptile keepers are getting the full picture. Other research shows how seriously owners take the bond: in the RSPCA's pet-loss survey, 99.3%[4] saw their pet as family, a friend or a companion. It also matters how people find a provider at all: by our estimate, only about 3 to 4% of bereaved UK owners find their cremation provider through an online search.[5] The UK figures come from the Competition and Markets Authority's provisional report.
Making sense of it
How to read the results without over-reading them
A poll with a few dozen votes can swing a long way on a handful of people. Treat early results as a conversation, not a statistic. Even published figures need care: a widely shared claim about reptiles dying in their first year is far higher than what a peer-reviewed study actually measured: 3.6%[6]. Once a poll has hundreds of votes, the pattern is more stable, but it still reflects who happens to visit a reptile aftercare site, which leans towards keepers facing a loss. The peer-reviewed University of Kent study is the source we lean on instead.
When we compare poll answers with published research, we say so and link the source. The results page puts the live figures next to that research, and our research page lists every source we use.
Your turn
Suggest a question we should be asking
If there's something you wish you'd known other keepers' views on (whether to let a cage-mate see the body, how long to leave an enclosure set up, what to tell children about a lizard that died overnight), tell us through the contact page. The most useful suggestions become new polls.
The questions nobody asks out loud are often the ones every keeper has wondered about.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
When your reptile seemed to have died, how sure were you at first?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If your tortoise or turtle died, what would you want done with the shell?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you keep a long-lived tortoise, is there a plan for them if they outlive you?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Are the poll results accurate?
They accurately count the votes cast on this site, but they aren't a scientific sample of all reptile keepers. Anyone can vote, and people visiting an aftercare site are more likely to be facing a loss. Use them as a sense of what other readers chose, not as research.
Can anyone see how I voted?
No. Votes are anonymous and aren't linked to your name, email or any request you send us. Each vote is stored with a scrambled random code from a cookie, used only to stop the same browser voting twice on one poll.
Why aren't there results shown before I vote?
Seeing results first can nudge people towards the popular answer. We show results once you've voted so your answer reflects your own experience. You can always browse the full live results on the poll results page without voting.
Do you run polls for other pets too?
Yes. A few general questions about aftercare, cost, memorials and grief run across all our pet sites, so reptile keepers' answers can be compared with other owners'. The reptile-specific questions only appear here.
Why do some polls include an 'I didn't know' option?
Because not knowing is itself useful information. If many keepers say they didn't realise a tortoise shell had to be decided on before cremation, or how little ash a gecko leaves, that tells us where our guides need to explain things earlier and more clearly. It also reassures you that you're not the only one who didn't know.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] About 6 million US households keep reptiles. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 National Pet Owners Survey release, 2025.
- [2] Dogs accounted for an estimated 60.1% of pet funeral services revenue in 2024, cats 33.7% and other pets 6.2% (Market.us). Market.us — Pet Funeral Services Market report page, 2024.
- [3] Fewer than half (47%) of UK cremation buyers recalled being told about a range of options, including communal cremation or home burial. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [4] In the RSPCA's pet-loss survey (over 4,000 respondents), 99.3% saw their pet as family, a friend or a companion. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
- [5] Roughly 3-4% of all bereaved UK owners find their cremation provider through online search. Our estimate: 67% cremate x 5% chose via online search = 3.35%. How we calculate.
- [6] A University of Kent survey found only 3.6% of pet snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition; boas and pythons had the lowest mortality (1.9%) and chameleons the highest (28.2%). Robinson JE, St John FA, Griffiths RA, Roberts DL. Captive Reptile Mortality Rates in the Home and Implications for the Wildlife Trade. PLoS One, 2015 (PMID 26556237), 2015.
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