Should you get exotic pets?

Before you get a pet, decide what you want – to observe the life of outlandish wards or communicate with them, play, regularly contact? Many exotic pets will not be able to become your friends in the usual sense: it is better to watch them from the outside, without interfering with their lifestyle. Some are even undesirable to take in hand.

A fiery salamander or a Yemeni chameleon will delight you with a bright color day after day. You can hardly find anything more original. But it’s hard to get in touch with them. Even the most troublesome and thorough personal care reptile can perceive without much emotion. She just stays in her usual habitat.

The Achatina snail will make an indelible impression on your guests, but you can’t talk heart to heart with it. The inhabitants of the ant farm will be busy with their own affairs. So if you want to play, communicate with your ward, choose someone more responsive and contact.

However, if this is not important for you and you want to give your care while watching the amazing exotic world, this is your option! By the way, such pets are ideal for busy people, because keeping a snail, snake or, for example, a salamander does not require constant emotional feedback and constant presence at home, like keeping a dog. In the modern rhythm of life, this is a huge plus!

Exotic pet exotic pet – strife. Among them are those still electric brooms and lovers of communication. Do not expect a quiet life if you are going to get a raccoon!

A popular choice among connoisseurs of the exotic is coats. They are playful and energetic, they allow themselves to be stroked. This tropical relative of the raccoon sniffs everything with a long, sensitive nose. The sugar marsupial glider reaches a length of about 16 centimeters, but this flying squirrel does not hold agility. She will quickly become attached to you, will be willing to play and play pranks.

But here difficulties lie in wait. The coat does not smell very pleasant, experts recommend equipping an aviary for it in the courtyard of a country house. Nosuha prefers cockroaches and crickets from food. You will have to keep not only the pet, but also live food for him. Not everyone is ready to breed fodder cockroaches and treat them to an adored nosy creature. And the sugar glider is so sociable that it is better to have two at once. These cute animals are nocturnal. At night, they are able to get so naughty that your home will require repairs. 

The future owner of an exotic pet needs to be prepared that arranging a place of detention for him may require a lot of effort, time and investment.

Make a purchase of a pet only after properly preparing and equipping a place for it. Find information about the necessary living conditions, care, nutrition, health and life expectancy of exotic creatures. When choosing, do not rely on the first videos that come across like “Top Unusual Pets”. Such cutting of interesting moments is not very informative. Look for recommendations from veterinarians, breeders, and first-person testimonials from owners.

Specify the dimensions of an adult. So you will immediately understand whether the unusual pets you like are suitable for the apartment. A few years ago, the attention of journalists was attracted by a resident of Irkutsk, who got a crocodile. A 12-centimeter cub in four years in length grew to the average human height.

Speaking of crocodiles. When choosing pets, take care of the comfort of family members. If someone from the household suffers from arachnophobia, the idea of ​​​​a terrarium with tarantulas should be abandoned. There are representatives of the fauna, which are prohibited by law from keeping at home. It is better to find out such moments in advance.

Buy outlandish representatives of the fauna only from experienced breeders. If you are provided with a pedigree and a veterinary certificate of your ward, you will be sure of his health. Be sure to collect contacts of specialists who, if necessary, will be able to give you advice on the maintenance and health of the pet. The problem is that not all veterinarians will be able to prescribe an effective treatment for a snail or a boa constrictor. Who do you contact if you have questions about care or suspected illness? Take care of finding an expert in advance.

Even the most exotic pets appreciate kindness and communication. If it seems to you that the new family member doesn’t care who looks after the terrarium, don’t hang your nose. Talk to your subordinates. Soon they will feel at home. Get used to the presence of a person. They will behave naturally, eat with appetite and delight you with their interesting active behavior. Immediately set yourself up in a good way in communicating with pets. In the case of rare domestic creatures, resorting to the help of a zoopsychologist will not be easy.

If you are a zoologist (by profession or by heart), keeping an exotic pet will also become visual material for you to study.

Let’s tell you more about two representatives of the fauna, which will definitely find a place in the ranks of the most popular exotic pets. Many people successfully keep these outlandish creatures at home.

Our first hero is the axolotl. This underwater dragon looks like a fantasy movie character. External gills with bright fringe are similar to horns or a lion’s mane. The limbs are disproportionately small – the axolotl amusingly touches them in the water when it swims. Long tail, big eyes.

This amazing creature is considered an endangered species, but many aquarists enjoy keeping axolotls at home. One adult axolotl needs a container with a volume of about 100 liters for a full life. Underwater dragons are best kept separate from fish, because they are predators. They love shrimp meat and other protein foods, willingly eat dry granular food.

The axolotl can live up to 20 years. But he needs comfort. The water temperature is ideally from 19 to 21 degrees, replacing a quarter of the water in the aquarium with fresh water once a week. Calm current in the aquarium. Aeration and water filtration. The acidity of the water is from 7 to 8, the hardness is from 6 to 16. Sand as a soil. Driftwood and other shelters that will allow the aquatic inhabitant to be alone with themselves.

Our second hero is an African pygmy hedgehog. Remember how, as a child, you lamented that the forest hedgehog could not be caught and taken home? Crossing two species of hedgehogs helped produce the African pygmy hedgehog. This baby was created specifically for keeping at home, it does not even hibernate in winter. With good care, your hedgehog will live up to eight years. There is no need to push them too hard. But periodically it is necessary to keep hedgehogs on your hands or on your knees. So they get used to the person.

In the diet of African pygmy hedgehogs, insects should always be present. It is better to feed once a day in the evening – at this time, pets are activated. A spacious cage should always have fresh water and a bowl of dry food recommended by your veterinarian. And also a house and a sandbox, they love to wallow in the sand. Remember the jogging wheel that squirrels and hamsters need to keep fit? Hedgehogs need the same, but without rods and crossbars, which can damage the legs. Finding a special wheel for training African pygmy hedgehogs is not easy. Usually they are offered by foreign pet stores, since in Russia there are not so many people keeping these cute creatures at home.

Keeping exotic pets is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. If you are ready to read materials about the content of your wards, pamper them with food selected with a veterinarian, communicate every day, then do not deviate from your plans.

Often, a nature lover and not quite a domestic creature is connected by a strong friendship that began almost by accident. Someone found a bird with broken legs on the side of the road and went out. Someone felt sorry for the exhibition reptile, which was out of business due to injury. There are many such good stories.

It is not at all necessary to immediately start a giant terrarium with centipedes and scorpions. A talking parrot of the Jaco, Macaw breeds can become a true friend for many years. This is also a very unusual pet, sociable and cheerful. A fan of reptiles can start not with a two-meter boa constrictor, but with unpretentious eublefar lizards. 

One thing is certain: every responsible owner of an outlandish creature accumulated knowledge about caring for an exotic pet from scratch. Get down to business with the soul – and you will succeed!