Which reptile are you planning aftercare for?
A gecko or bearded dragon0%
A snake0%
A tortoise or turtle0%
An iguana, monitor or tegu0%
A chameleon or anole0%
Something else, or several0%
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What reptile keepers told us, live, and how it compares
Among US reptile-keeping households, 43%[1] keep turtles or tortoises. Our live results show whether this site's readers look like that, and where their choices match or differ from published research.
- Real votes only, never seeded
- Set beside published research
- Updated live as keepers vote
Before you read
How these results are counted
Every figure on the board below is a real vote from a visitor to this site. Nothing is seeded, estimated or rounded up to look busy. Each person gets one vote per poll, tracked by an anonymous random cookie rather than any personal detail, and the percentages update as new votes arrive.
That also means the results describe our readers, not reptile keepers as a whole. People tend to find an aftercare site when they're facing a loss, so answers lean towards that experience. If a poll shows only a handful of votes, give it time. You can vote on any question you haven't answered yet on the polls page.
Live results
For a small lizard or gecko, would you still choose private cremation knowing only a pinch of ash may come back?
Yes, even a pinch is theirs0%
Yes, but in a tiny keepsake, not a full urn0%
No, communal feels right for a small animal0%
I'd rather bury them in a planter or garden0%
I didn't realise how little ash there would be0%
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If your tortoise or turtle died, what would you want done with the shell?
Cremate it along with the body0%
Have it cleaned and kept0%
Bury it in the garden0%
I've never thought about it0%
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When your reptile seemed to have died, how sure were you at first?
Completely sure straight away0%
I wasn't sure until a vet checked0%
I wondered if it was brumation or cold0%
I waited a while to be certain0%
This hasn't happened to me yet0%
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Have you ever kept a shed skin, scute or photo of your reptile's markings as a keepsake?
Yes, a full or partial shed0%
Yes, a shed scute from a turtle0%
Just photos of their pattern0%
No, but I wish I had0%
No, it's not for me0%
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If you keep a long-lived tortoise, is there a plan for them if they outlive you?
Yes, it's written into my will0%
Someone has agreed, but nothing's written0%
I've thought about it but not acted0%
No plan yet0%
I don't keep a tortoise0%
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What did you do with the enclosure after your reptile died?
Left it set up for a while, I couldn't face it0%
Deep-cleaned it for a new animal0%
Sold or gave it away0%
Turned part of it into a memorial0%
My reptile is still with me0%
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Did the people around you understand your grief for a reptile?
Yes, they took it seriously0%
Some did, some didn't0%
No, I heard "it's just a lizard" or similar0%
I kept it to myself0%
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Who's voting
Which keepers answer, compared with who keeps reptiles
Our species poll is a useful check on the rest. Published US figures say turtles and tortoises lead reptile ownership, followed by lizards and then snakes. If our readers skew heavily towards one group, that shapes every other result: tortoise keepers face shell decisions, python keepers face size problems, gecko keepers face the tiny-ash question. Those US shares come from the American Pet Products Association's 2025 reptile ownership findings; for the UK, the UK Pet Food population data counts snakes and tortoises separately.
6 million[2]
Which reptile are you planning aftercare for?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Aftercare choices
Cremation or burial: how reader answers sit against surveys
The most-studied owners are dog and cat owners, and they choose cremation about two times in three. In the UK, 67%[3] of owners whose pet died in the previous two years had it cremated, while most of the rest chose burial (27% home burial; 2% burial elsewhere[4]). US research points the same way.
~2/3 cremation; ~30% burial[5]
Reptiles may break that pattern. Most are small enough to bury in a garden with nothing more than a spade and a quiet afternoon, and tortoises in particular often lived outdoors. When the general aftercare question gathers enough reptile-keeper votes, it will be worth watching whether home burial runs higher here than the dog-and-cat surveys suggest. Our guide to cremation vs burial for reptiles sets out both routes if you're deciding now.
Grief
Grief answers, and what the research says about closeness
We ask whether people around you took your grief seriously because reptile keepers often expect they won't. Published research suggests the depth of a loss has more to do with the relationship than the animal. Among UK adults who had lost both a pet and a person, 21.0%[6] named the pet's death as the most distressing.
closeness = strongest predictor[7]
Did the people around you understand your grief for a reptile?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Whatever the board shows, it's no measure of how you should feel. If the loss of a snake you raised from a hatchling hurts more than friends expect, that fits the research. Our page on grief after losing a reptile has practical ways to cope. Harvard Health's summary of pet-loss research makes the same point for owners of any animal.
Uncharted
Where reptile answers have nothing published to compare against
Several of our questions have no research counterpart at all. We couldn't find a published study on how often keepers mistake brumation for death, what tortoise owners do with shells, or how many long-lived reptiles have a named carer in a will. For those, our board is one of the few places the answers are gathered, which is exactly why we're careful not to overstate them.
The shell and outlive questions matter because the stakes are permanent. A shell can't be recovered after cremation, and a tortoise with a 50-year lifespan will very likely need a second home. If the results show many keepers hadn't thought about either, take that as a nudge to decide now. Our guide to shell and scale retention and the page on pre-planning reptile aftercare cover both.
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.
Using the results
What to take from these results, and what to leave
- Take reassurance that other keepers have faced the same questions, like the brumation scare or the shell decision.
- Take ideas, such as keeping a shed skin or writing a tortoise into your will, that you might not have considered.
- Leave the percentages out of any decision about your own reptile. A choice that suits 70% of readers may not suit you.
- Don't quote them as research. They're a live snapshot of this site's readers, not a survey of keepers.
For choices that fit your priorities rather than the crowd's, try the aftercare options comparison. For the sources behind every published figure on this page, see our research page.
Free tool
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
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.
Which reptile are you planning aftercare for?
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.
Compared with losing a person, losing your pet felt...
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Are these poll results real?
Yes. Every vote is a real vote from a visitor, and no results are seeded or simulated. If voting hasn't opened yet or a poll has few votes, the board says so rather than showing invented numbers. Percentages move as more people vote.
Why don't the results match published surveys?
They're answered by different people. Published surveys use designed samples, often of dog and cat owners. Our polls are answered by whoever visits a reptile aftercare site, many of them facing a loss right now. Differences can be interesting, but they aren't proof of anything.
Can I see results without voting?
Yes, on this page the live board shows every poll's results. Inside articles, polls show results after you vote so your answer isn't shaped by everyone else's. You can still vote here on anything you haven't answered.
How often are the results updated?
Continuously. Each vote is added as soon as it's cast, and the board shows the current totals whenever you load or refresh the page. There's no delay or weekly batch, which is also why small polls can shift noticeably from day to day.
Can I suggest a new poll for reptile keepers?
Yes, please do. Send your idea through the contact page, ideally as the question you'd want answered and a few ways people might reply. We add questions that help keepers make a real decision, such as what to do with an enclosure or how to tell children, rather than trivia.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] Among US reptile-owning households, 43% keep turtles or tortoises and 22% keep snakes. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 National Pet Owners Survey release, 2025.
- [2] About 6 million U.S. households own reptiles; turtles and tortoises account for 43% of reptile ownership, lizards 29% and snakes 22% (APPA 2025). American Pet Products Association - From Bigger Tanks to Stronger Bonds: Fish & Reptile Ownership Evolves in 2025, 2025.
- [3] In the CMA's UK pet owners survey, 67% of owners whose pet died in the previous two years had the pet cremated. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [4] In the same CMA survey, 27% of UK owners buried their pet at home and 2% used a pet burial company elsewhere. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [5] UK and US survey evidence converges on roughly two-thirds of bereaved owners choosing cremation (UK 67%; US 68% ever) and about 29-32% choosing burial. Our estimate: mean(67, 68) = 67.5; burial range 29% (UK) to 32% (US). How we calculate.
- [6] Among UK adults who had lost both a pet and a person, 21.0% named the pet's death as their most distressing bereavement. Hyland et al., 'No pets allowed: Evidence that prolonged grief disorder can occur following the death of a pet', PLOS ONE (2026), 2026.
- [7] A Death Studies paper comparing pet and human loss found closeness to the deceased was overwhelmingly the strongest predictor of grief severity, whatever the species. Europe PMC abstract — Eckerd, Barnett & Jett-Dias, 'Grief following pet and human loss: Closeness is key', Death Studies (2016), doi:10.1080/07481187.2016.1139014, 2016.
Weighing up your own options?
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