rec.pets.herp is a newsgroup founded in October 1991 for discussion of
various vivarium-dwelling animals, primarily reptiles and amphibians.
News postings relating to its creation are available at
  <ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/to.file/rec.pets.herp>
and make pretty interesting reading.

Here is the official charter of rec.pets.herp:

        This newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of vivarium-living
        animals as pets.  The discussion will be limited to Reptiles,
        Amphibians and miscellaneous exotic animals, such as tarantulas.

        Mammals, Birds and Fish will not be discussed in this group.
        The existing group rec.pets is useful but is often inundated
        with postings concerned with the more usual types of pets.  The
        new group will be a dedicated forum, where only the specified
        types of animal will be discussed.

In other words, rec.pets.herp is a group for discussion of reptiles and
amphibians as pets, along with assorted other vivarium-dwelling animals.
The last is generally understood to mean terrestrial invertebrates---insects,
tarantulas, scorpions, etc.

The "pet" connection is sometimes tenuous.  There have been long (and
constructive) threads about the genetics of captive populations and their
implications for reintroduction programs, for example.  Because many keepers
of pet herps are also breeders, or simply interested in the science of
herpetology, such discussions are generally welcome.

Discussions about raising animals as food items are common and condoned,
though they may be counter to the letter of the charter (since many common
food animals are mammals).  This is partly because of the obvious relevance
to herp keeping, but also because such discussions can be difficult to carry
on in rec.pets; many rat keepers, for instance, are uncomfortable with the
idea of rats as feeders, and some very unpleasant flame wars have emerged
from obnoxious postings about feeders there.  Keeping the feeder discussions
in rec.pets.herp is really a win-win situation.

In general, discussions of animal rights and other political matters are not
suitable for rec.pets.herp, unless they involve herps specifically in an
essential way.  For instance, discussions of herp-related legislation are
appropriate, but a thread about the alleged practice of kidnapping household
pets for use as laboratory animals is not.  This is doubly true since
political discussions are often both volatile and heavily crossposted, leading
to a large volume of posted material that is irrelevant to the group and
difficult for readers to wade through.

See also questions 4.3-4.5.