why-animals-do-the-thing:

petcareawareness:

wheremyscalesslither:

Enrichment is a foundation of animal care, not an option

It is also not a synonym for entertainment.

Enrichment allows and animal the option to perform a variety of natural behaviors. It is a measureable science benefitting physical and brain health.

If you cannot spare time to provide as basic and indispensable as enrichment, then having a pet is not the right thing for you

—mod Nick

This is incredibly important. All animals need mental and physical enrichment when they’re in human care.

However. This does not mean that if you did not know your pet needed enrichment when you first got it – or if you were not able to be in control of if a pet was given enrichment – that you’re inherently a bad person and should never have pets. I’ve seen a lot of blogs shaming people for how their childhood pet was treated, or for what care they provided their first pet when they knew very little about taking care of an animal.

Would it be ideal if everyone did a ton of research before getting a pet and never messed anything up? Absolutely. But that’s also not realistic. I’d much rather encourage people to do better and praise them for admitting they made a mistake and choosing to make a change in their husbandry protocols rather than attack them for their past. If someone realizes they’re not doing the right thing for their animal and genuinely wants to learn, we need to support them.

Enrichment is vital and necessary, but it’s far more beneficial for your pets to change what you can now and for the future, rather than dwell on the past. What’s important is that you make the choice to provide enrichment once you’ve learned it’s needed. It’s when someone knows their husbandry is lacking and isn’t willing to put in the time or effort it fix it that the above statements really apply.