Do you/would you own an exotic pet?

Question

Snakes, spiders, alligator, monkey...? If so, which would you prefer?

♥

Answer 1

I don't know if I would own an exotic pet. It's kind of...well, you can't keep a wild animal as an exotic pet, can you? Instincts are much more powerful than environment.

(But if I ever changed my mind...I'd own a yellow python, an African elephant, a black leopard, and a group of lionesses. All on a wildlife conservation park, of course.)

♦

Answer 2

E Minor - Thumbs up for you. It looks like you left a couple of things out, but yeah, that was my basic thought. To answer the question: As an example of what you are talking about there are a couple of pet store in and around Chicago (big city where I live) that have foxes, monkeys, and other exotics, but they are for display only (not for sale). They use them to draw in customers to sell "exotic" reptiles, birds, etc. What you are talking about is not a "brick and mortar" store (real store someone can walk into). It's an online store. There are lots of those already where anyone can buy foxes, skunks, servals, opposum, and wolf hybrids. Asian leopard cats and pure wolves need a zoo/professional license almost everywhere, so you can only get them without license off of an international seller site like alibaba (and good luck importing them to the US or Europe after you already paid for them if you don't have a zoo license). I have never seen genets or capybara sold online, so that would be an interesting thing you could do (capybara would maybe be a good pet like a potbelly pig?). So really what you need to do first is decide if you want to be more of a dealer that sells to licensed zoos or more of a pet store that sells to the unlicensed public. You can do both, but most people would specialize and only do 1 or the other. ***The second thing you need to do is research local, state, and national laws to see which animals require a license to buy so you know which animals you can sell to which people.*** Then you need to start the company legally, get whatever licenses you need, and buy a bunch of inventory animals and supplies to care for them until they're sold (unless you become a broker and don't keep them with you). Honestly, the more I think about it, it's kind of a screwy business plan to have an actual store. You'll go broke caring for them properly before sale because there's little demand. If you cut corners you'll get shut down. I would do it as a broker and advertise heavily online (try Florida - they love exotics) or become a zookeeper instead if you like caring for them.

Answer 3

I would like to own a monkey

Answer 4

I would never do it, but I think it would be cool to own a monkey

Answer 5

Yes, a Sugar glider.

Answer 6

I don't own one, but if I could afford it, I definitely would love to have a tiger.

Answer 7

had a creature from the planet Venus, my ex-wife, very unpredictable.

Answer 8

I have three ferrets

Answer 9

I've always wanted a chinchilla........does that count?

Answer 10

yes. cockatoos.