Exotic Animals

w1z4rd

w1z4rd

Karmic Sangoma
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Do any of you keep any weird and wonderful exotic animals?

Currently I have some pretty average animals like a Kenyan Sand Boa and a Corn Snake. Im considering importing a breeding pair of sloths. They apparently make wonderful house animals. They are playful (as a sloth can be). They dont mess up the furniture. They get along with the other animals. They poop and pee once a week (they come down to a litter box for this, as they dig a hole then cover it up).

I know some people have major issues with keeping exotic animals (these people normally own a dog and/or cat), but I feel if you can give an animal a good home and you can breed your animals so it increases the population, then that will help the species.

What weird and wonderful animals do you look after?
 
ghoti said:
Do any of you keep any weird and wonderful exotic animals?

Currently I have some pretty average animals like a Kenyan Sand Boa and a Corn Snake. Im considering importing a breeding pair of sloths. They apparently make wonderful house animals. They are playful (as a sloth can be). They dont mess up the furniture. They get along with the other animals. They poop and pee once a week (they come down to a litter box for this, as they dig a hole then cover it up).

I know some people have major issues with keeping exotic animals (these people normally own a dog and/or cat), but I feel if you can give an animal a good home and you can breed your animals so it increases the population, then that will help the species.

What weird and wonderful animals do you look after?
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While I'm not really against keeping animals as pets, I reckon to use the reason of helping the species is a bit dubious - I don't believe one can help the species by raising animals in a domestic environment - it would have to be in the wild imho.

Though I'm no Zoologist :)

Ever since the movie Dunston Checks In, I've always wanted a Chimpanzee.. though Sloths look pretty cool too.
 
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Dean said:
While I'm not really against keeping animals as pets, I reckon to use the reason of helping the species is a bit dubious - I don't believe one can help the species by raising animals in a domestic environment - it would have to be in the wild imho.

Though I'm no Zoologist :)
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In the wild they are hunted to near extinction. If people can own them and care for them they have value for breeders who will breed them. Its a similar concept to game and hunting farms. Before they gave out permits there were only around 200k head of game in South Africa. Now there are over 20 million. More people breeding and caring for their species the more of the species there will be.
 
ghoti said:
In the wild they are hunted to near extinction. If people can own them and care for them they have value for breeders who will breed them. Its a similar concept to game and hunting farms. Before they gave out permits there were only around 200k head of game in South Africa. Now there are over 20 million. More people breeding and caring for their species the more of the species there will be.
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Agreed though with your game example, you're kind of corroborating my point in that game is bred in the wild, not in the breeder's lounge :)
 
Dean said:
Agreed though with your game example, you're kind of corroborating my point in that game is bred in the wild, not in the breeder's lounge :)
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Different animals have different habitat needs that can easily be catered for so they live comfortably.
 
Im reminded of the rattle snake round ups in certain parts of the USA. They got so bad with people killing all the rattlers that eventually rats and other animals started decimating their crops. They now buy rattlesnakes from private breeders to release them back into the wild.
 
ghoti said:
Different animals have different habitat needs that can easily be catered for so they live comfortably.
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Absolutely; hence my not being opposed to keeping pets (certain ones, at least... including sloths).. though in terms of helping a species and nature in general (as all wildlife/nature/etc. is interconnected), I believe that breeding in the wild is a completely different ball game to creating/perpetuating a culture of keeping them as pets.

Sure it may lead to more sloths being alive but not having them in the wild still leaves that gap in the foodchain/environment/nature/whatever-Im-trying-to-say-here-without-the-proper-terminology :)

Again, I'm not opposed to it, just saying that in my opinion, breeding for pet purposes doesn't do much - maybe something in terms of awareness - but not much else for conservation efforts.

ghoti said:
Im reminded of the rattle snake round ups in certain parts of the USA. They got so bad with people killing all the rattlers that eventually rats and other animals started decimating their crops. They now buy rattlesnakes from private breeders to release them back into the wild.
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Fair enough with snakes, though I'm way too ignorant myself to know whether a domestically bred and raised sloth would survive in the wild. Maybe it would come down to how early they are released.. -shrugs-
 
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Dean said:
Absolutely; hence my not being opposed to keeping pets (certain ones, at least... including sloths).. though in terms of helping a species and nature in general (as all wildlife/nature/etc. is interconnected), I believe that breeding in the wild is a completely different ball game to creating/perpetuating a culture of keeping them as pets.

Sure it may lead to more sloths being alive but not having them in the wild still leaves that gap in the foodchain/environment/nature/whatever-Im-trying-to-say-here-without-the-proper-terminology :)
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Hopefully there will be enough private breeders to be able to release more into the wild if poachers continue wiping them out.
 
Even a regular pig would be fine, as pigs are such intelligent and majestic creatures. But yes, a pot-bellied would be great. Imagine the chicks you could pick up with such a cute beast!
 
creeper said:
I heard they are slow eaters.

( please note. I'm bored waiting at a MTN store. So my posts might be silly, stupid or irratic.
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They are. They have many stomachs that break down their plant matter. It takes a long time to go through their system and as much as 2/3`rds of a sloths weight can be disgesting plant matter.
 
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