Spooky

Happy Halloween!

Exotic pets meh

@tsundancer said to @ask-drferox​: What do you think of exotic pets? Assuming they’re properly cared for, of course. For example my ultimate end goal when I’m financially stable and living in a moderately sized home is a pair of fennec foxes.

You’re not going to like it, but since you asked, I disapprove of them very strongly and feel like the keeping of very exotic pets is done just to boost humans’ egos, especially in the age of Instagram, where they are seen more as status symbols than anything else. Particularly when there are so many domesticated animals that would offer as-good, or better, companionship that we are better equipped to care for.

‘Exotic pets’ can mean two thinks in a veterinary context. It might mean weird, completely non-domesticated animals like Fennec foxes as you said above, or it might mean anything that’s not a farm animal, horse, dog or cat. That includes domestic species like rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs.

But ‘exotic’ meaning any non-domestic species as a pet? Severe disapproval.

Firstly it is extremely difficult to properly care for all but the smallest and least interactive of them. They have special needs and are not adapted to a human environment. Something small like a frog you certainly could keep in a specialized enclosure within your human environment, but a larger, more active creature? We don’t actually know how to best care for most of these species, even zoo husbandry is updating all the time, how is a pet keeper supposed to manage?

Secondly their acquisition is a concern. Where are these animals actually coming from? Where were their parents coming from? How is this going to influence wild stock, because we should be prioritizing the conservation of the wild wherever possible.

Third is that the promotion of these animals as pets, even if done decently, encourages other people to do it, and many of them will not have a clue what they’re doing.

Ultimately I feel like it’s pursing novelty on the human’s part with relatively little consideration of “should we do this” instead of “can we do this?”

We don’t need to keep non-domesticated animals in our homes. We really don’t. Not when there is already such variety in form and function in our domestic species already.

This is such a mood. I have a really hard time with the ethics of exotic pets, because I want to see exclusively exotic pets. So I know I’m going to see “pets” that I don’t agree with. But I have such a hard time with that line, and how/if I want to cross it. I’m not ok with primates and exotic cats as pets, so should I just say no? Or is it better for those animals to come to me and get veterinary care and husbandry advice? Or am I promoting ownership of these animals by seeing them? I’ve thought about this a lot, and I really don’t feel like I have a good answer. I’ve also thought about if I want to draw that line, where do I draw it? Do I say nothing not domesticated? Because that would include reptiles, parrots, sugar gliders, some fish, etc. Do I draw the line at species I decide we can’t adequately care for in captivity? Because at that point we’re not just talking about things like coatis and foxes, we’re still talking about reptiles, fish, and birds (and lets be honest–you could say this about basically any exotics species). I also own a snake. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to say “no non-domestic pets” and then go home to my ball python. This is something I’ve thought about a lot, and I don’t feel like I have a good answer for.

The one “guide” I’ve found about the welfare of exotic pets is this chart that could theoretically be used to classify and regulate the ownership of exotic pets. We talked about this in my exotics class so I unfortunately don’t remember the source, but it’s a really interesting concept.

Anonymous said to @ask-drferox: Regarding the recent ask about keeping exotic pets, could you share some thoughts on how one should try to draw the line between exotic-but-okay-to-have (rabbits) and too-exotic-to-have (fennecs) species? In large mammals it’s decently straightforward, but what about animal groups where even some of the common ones aren’t that far domesticated like rodents, lizards and some weird outliers like axolotls? Especially in countries like USA where every animal seems to be legal to have.

Adding this ask to this reblog chain because the reply above is really useful for this discussion.

And keep in mind that when we’re talking about ‘exotic’ pets in the context of veterinary medicine, we might be talking about tigers, or we might be talking about rabbits, the third most popular mammal pet, or the ubiquitous goldfish. Context.

The categories listed above are a pretty reasonable way to define what species are reasonable to keep at pets, which are not, and which are a grey area. Because like most things in biology, there’s a spectrum.

Category A species you would expect to derive something positive from human interaction. Category B should be positive-to-neutral, or at least not negative with a little effort.

Category C takes significant effort to not drop below neutral.

And in regard to vet-and-wild’s ethical dilemma, you’re going to see animals you don’t think should be owned wherever you work as a vet. They will be out there unless you can make their ownership illegal, and this applies to exotic animals, extreme brachycephalic dogs, or even one vegan vet I knew who tried their hand at dairy medicine for a while.

The only difference is they will either be there with your advice and expertise, or without it. You’re not promoting their keeping by seeing them, you’re promoting their care.

There’s a lot to unpack here, but most of the initial remarks are way too generalised imo. Keeping any pet is egotistical and selfish. Are there people who keep exotics to fuel their own ego? Absolutely. But there are plenty of people who keep domesticated animals for the exact same reason. And what counts as a “very exotic pet”? Something big? Something rare?

My main issue here is the assumption that exotic equals hard to care for. There are smaller exotic species out there which are easier to care for and better suited to a life in the average household than many of the domesticated species. And there are a lot of exotics which are captive bred and have been so for decades. Their existence in captivity does not influence the wild population (for some, their existence in captivity might actually save the species). My point is: you can’t compare a tiger with a stag beetle.

Domesticated does not equal easy care. The sad thing is that we’ve normalised subpar care for many domesticated species. And when owners provide proper care for their small exotics people are often surprised about the amount of work these owners put into it. However, this generally has more to do with the insufficient care these people are used to. If domesticated pets are properly cared for it often takes the same amount of effort as caring for a small exotic pet (depending on the species) and sometimes even more. Any animal species has their own requirements and needs to be researched thoroughly before buying, so that point has little to with exotics. Just because a dog or a cat is a domesticated animal doesn’t mean anyone should just go ahead and buy one without knowing what they’re getting into.  There are plenty of exotics which would fall in category A or B, while there are domesticated animals that would fall in C - imo, dogs for example (especially certain breeds). Just because we’ve normalised subpar care for such species does not mean they don’t have demanding and complex requirements and don’t need an owner with a lot of time, attention and skill.

Access to vet care can definitely be an issue for certain exotic species and is something every (aspiring) owner should keep in mind.

Anyone who has followed me for a while knows I am not someone to promote the keeping of exotic animals, and I firmly believe that animals such as hedgehogs are not well suited for the majority of people. But there are probably even more people out there who should not own a cat, or a dog, or any other domesticated animal - yet almost no one bats an eye when they keep these animals in mediocre conditions. Imo, the issue shouldn’t be centred around exotic pets; the question should be if people are fit to keep any of their target species whether they’re exotic or domesticated.