Follow us!


Visit our
website!

Is an exotic pet right for you?

Posted February 9th, 2011 by admin

The thought of having an exotic pet can be very inviting! You could even be the only one in your neighborhood that has one. Having a unique and unusual pet will no doubt bring you attention from family and friends. Having the satisfaction of knowing that you are caring for a pet that others could not. These are not bad reasons for wanting an exotic pet, but are they good enough to justify having an exotic pet in you home permanently?

There are some things you should think about before you take on this tremendous responsibility. This information is not meant to discourage you but just to make you aware that the seller of this perfect pet might make it sound to good to be true. The word exotic itself tends to make you think of something special or unique or perhaps specific in needs. Breeders or traveling fairs that are set up to sell you these adorable animals will probably not tell you that they are being taken from their environment in less than humane manners or that they are being bred at mills much like the puppy mills we all hate. The animals come to you already stressed or taken from their mothers too soon. An unhappy or traumatized animal is always going to be harder to take care of than one that is not.

Most exotic pets will require very specific care. In many cases, like exotic lizards, you will have to monitor the temperature in the room where the pet lives. Too high or too low can cause the pet to become sick. You may have to use heat lamps or heating rocks to make sure the environment is the right temperature or that the body temperature of you pet is within its normal range. Most exotic pets will also require special foods. Since most of these animals are meant to be in the wild and have not been domesticated for hundreds of years, you simply cannot get away with feeding it tablet food like a dog or a cat. You will need to provide food (in some cases living food) that will meet the nutritional need of your pet. It is not as easy as you think to find an unending supply of crickets,spiders,worms flies and mice.

If the exotic pet is not given the specific care it needs then it can become sick, which presents a whole new set of problems. Not just any veterinarian can take care of or properly diagnose exotic animals. If you already have a local vet, he will tell you one of three  things.  You are lucky because they can handle exotic pets. More likely, he will tell you that his practice is not set up for exotic pet care and refer you to the closest exotic veterinarian with in one hundred miles. If he is not honest he will tell you he can handle it, but really he is not knowledgeable enough to provide the proper care for your pet and things get worse than when you started out.

Cost is another drawback to having an exotic pet. Initially they can be quite costly.  Several hundred dollars for the animal itself, not to mention the specific types of cages. Some exotic animals need space so a basic hamster cage just wont cut it. When you discover that your pet’s special diet needs can’t be met at your local pet supply store the monthly cost goes way up! Internet shopping and shipping cost can deplete a budget in a hurry.

My advice is to research the exotic animal you are interested in thoroughly. Remember when doing so on the Internet you will get differing views on how to take care of the pet based on their need to sell you a product. Talk to your local vet. Ask his advice about the animal and its needs. Ask if he can put you in touch with someone who is an owner already. Find out what they really do to maintain a happy animal. Find out if local stores have what you need to take care of your pet. Once you have determined if you can afford the pet , cages, food ect… then ask if you can invest the time required to take care of this pet. Do you have the time to travel twice a week to a fishing shop for live crickets and worms. Once you have decided that you can do all the things necessary, stop and WAIT! Waiting a few weeks or months might just give this passing fancy time to fade or something new to catch your eye. NEVER ever get a pet on a whim! It is bad enough when dogs and cats are abandoned because their owners get in over their heads but exotic animals have even less resources set aside for them in shelters and pet adoption centers. Think it through before you jump in to the exotic pet world.

Angela, A-1 Pet Care

2 Responses to “Is an exotic pet right for you?”

  1. Dortha Banzhaf

    Hey there, You have done a great job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this web site.

  2. admin

    Awesome! Thanks for the vote of confidence. We certainly love what we do.

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>