



I just want to preface this that this post is out of curiosity, since I had this feeling ever since I began keeping reptiles/exotic animals, and it is becoming more apparent with my uromastyx. The feeling that I am describing is one of dread and guilt, the one that says "You are an evil person, an animal abuser, you're keeping your animal incorrectly." I know this is absurd, but whenever I check YouTube and see reptile rescue stories of neglected animals getting the help they deserve, I often feel like I was the one who abused the poor thing, even though, I didn't. I often see care guides (the ones I have already watched before) on uromastyx care, and this voice in my mind keeps on telling me that I abuse my lizard with my care, yet, he is naturally plump (and not in the sense of obesity), he has access to water since I mist his greens with water, he receives a variety of leafy greens (with the exceptions of spinach and with rare instances of me giving him kale), my uromastyx is very active, alert, always giving me a judgmental look and instantly bolting to his favorite hiding spot whenever I feed him or get too close to his enclosure, he also often turns bright yellow when he is more active, he has uvb, a basking area that gets up to 127 degrees Fahrenheit, plenty of wood and rocks to climb upon and loosen stuck shed, in general, living a comfortable life for any lizard. And yet, I still feel like I'm hurting him. Can someone please tell me if they experienced a similar feeling like this? Thanks for reading.
The first photo was from May of 2024 and the second photo was from a few months ago.