We all know how special interest groups can blow things out of proportion – like the nonexistent “Exotic Pet Crisis.” If you listened to some animal rights groups, you’d think keeping exotic pets is cruel, dangerous, and even bordering on treason! But their gregariousness can be a double-edged sword for an owner; these exotic pets have very specific social and environmental needs, and before you embark upon the journey into exotic pet ownership, you should be sure to learn about the needs of the exotic pet species you are considering so that you don’t end up with a pet whose requirements are more than what you bargained for.

The good news is that most exotic pets don’t need to be walked; while exotic pets do need to be handled to be socialized and to have a good quality of life, most birds, small mammals, and reptiles can adapt to humans’ busy schedules when it comes to time out of cage.” In general, as long as you make some time to interact with these animals every day, for most exotic species, the time you make available is flexible.

Having discussed accidental inbreeding and inbreeding depression as a natural and at times somewhat unavoidable consequence of closed captive populations, it is now time to consider deliberate and unapologetic inbreeding of captive reptiles in order to produce animals as commodities for commercial gain.

I may not hold a popular view here and certainly won’t endear myself to many large scale breeders but if my oath as a veterinary surgeon is to act always in the interest of the animal than I consider it vital that we get the hobby talking about the serious welfare implications the reptile industry imposes on the animals in our care.

Instead, you should do some good reading about the characteristics of your preferred animal so that you’ll know how to properly take care of it. By doing this, you can attend to the different necessary preparations that you have to take so that you can create a good habitat for your new pet in your home.