Interest in exotic pets, such as African Grey Parrots and Geckos, has increased over the last decade. That interest was heightened during COVID lockdowns which saw millions of UK residents getting a new pet. But, while the number of exotic pet owners is on the rise, there are concerns that owners may not fully understand the immense levels of care needed to look after them. Before getting any new pet, please research the species to ensure you can meet it’s welfare needs such as habitat, diet, lifespan, and cost of care.
For those of you who simply want to know a little more about some of the beauties in the exotics field, here’s a few fun facts for you. Enjoy.
1) Bearded Dragon
These guys are very tolerant of being handled, and they’re active during the day unlike other nocturnal lizards. This makes the bearded dragon a pretty sociable pet.
2) Terrapins
Terrapins often get confused with turtles. Whereas turtles spend nearly all of their time in the sea, terrapins share their time between land and brackish water. The name Terrapin means ‘Little Turtle’ and some of these cuties can live up to 30 years, growing up to 25cm!
3) Pygmy Hedgehog
The Pygmy Hedgehog is a species of miniature hedgehog but contrary to popular assumptions, they’re not rodents. If you’re considering a Pygmy Hedgehog as a pet, you might want to take into account that for enrichment, they need live insect food for them to carry out their natural foraging.
4) Python
Most people associate snakes with venom, biting their prey to subdue and kill. However, Pythons don’t produce any venom. They kill their prey by squeezing them until they stop breathing, and then they eat them whole. Typical diet for a pet python would be domestic mice, rats and chicks – great news for the snakes, not so great for the rodents!
5) Giant African Land Snail
The Giant African Land Snail’s shell is as large as an adult’s fist, approximately 5 inches wide! Females start to lay eggs at about 6 months old, and can lay up to 1,000 eggs every year. Yikes!
6) Gecko
Did you know some Geckos can fly, sort of? The Parachute Gecko from South East Asia are able to glide up to 60 meters using the flaps of skin on their feet and their rudder-like tales.
7) African Grey Parrot
We can learn a lot from African Greys. These fellows are willing to help strangers in need to get food when they don’t have any. A study published in the Current Biology journal explained how African Greys were trained to exchange a token for a nice nutty treat. However, as clever as they are, they’re also super kind. These beauties then went on to share their tokens with other birds who had none in order for them to get a treat too. That’s just too cute!
Caring For Exotic Pets
Taking care of exotic pets is a huge responsibility. They have complex welfare needs, and are not cheap to look after. Please only consider getting an exotic pet if you have the time, money, and suitable environment and diet to fully care for it.
For more information, take a look at our Care guides below.
For more general information on exotic animals, check out some of our other articles.
