Well, I come from rats, which, for whatever reason, are considered "exotics." (Err, they've been domesticated for a few hundred years now. Domestic rats can't survive in the wild. Throw my rats outside, and they'd be scratching at the door wondering where their fleece blankets and cookies went. [8D]) Here's my take on the whole thing.
I personally think there is nothing inherently wrong with the keeping of exotics in itself. The problem comes from the complete idiocy of so many of the people who do it. It's mind numbing. Imagine the worst, most ignorant BYB dog owner you can think of. Now multiply that by 10,000. There you have your average reptile, rodent, or bird owner.
I did rat rescue, and bred, for several years. The main reason I quit breeding? Finding good adoptive homes was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. My site is out of date, since I don't breed anymore, but here's a link to my adoption application: [link
http://ratsiclesrattery.bravehost.com/Adoption.html]http://ratsiclesrattery.bravehost.com/Adoption.html[/link]
Seems pretty simple and straightforward, right? All it covers is the basics of rat care, nothing major or super advanced. You wouldn't BELIEVE the number of people who answered simple questions such as "What do you feed your rats" with answers such as "dog food." [
] Or, when asked for their vets contact information, became completely outraged that rats ACTUALLY NEEDED TO SEE A VET! (Didn't you know, vets were only for cats and dogs?? [8|])
I would say I was able to approve less than 2 applications for every 100 that I received. I did 2-3 litters a year, averaging 8-12 kittens in a litter. I was able to adopt out maybe 3-4 per litter, and those usually went to other breeders. You can see why breeding isn't particularly feasible when you have to keep 75% of every litter.
I run a pet rat forum, and am active on several others, and you wouldn't believe the numbe of people who have had rats for 5-6 years, yet are still keeping them alone, on pine bedding, feeding them hamster food, and denying them vet care. There simply isn't enough information out there, and when they finally do find that information, most of those owners dismiss it, saying "it's only a rat, I'm not wasting my money on it."
I stopped doing rescue for the same reason. I was tired of seeing, emmaciated, deathly ill rats whose owners were so ignorant that they didn't even know they were sick. It's so insanely difficult to see animals in such horrible shape, when whatever caused it could be prevented by something as simple as good diet and some cheap antibiotics.
And this is for a widespread, common, found-in-all-pet-stores animal like a domestic rat. It's much, much worse for more exotic animals.
The cruelty in keeping exotics lies in the lack of information about them, and the lack of motivation to learn about them on the part of most of their owners. Anyone can buy a 20 dollar iguana at a pet store, and, on the advice of the petstore employee, feed them crickets and lettuce. And when that iguana suffers and dies, hey, it's no big deal, it was only $20 and you certainly didn't waste alot of money feeding it. On the other hand, you COULD spend a ton of money properly balancing a varied plant based diet for said iguana, make sure it gets proper heat and lighting and vet care, handle it so that when it hits 6 feet long it's still manageable, and otherwise educate yourself. Which route do you think the average pet store impulse buyer is going to take?
I could cite examples of how idiocy and apathy prevales for pretty much every commonly kept exotic out there.
And not only does the ignorance lie with owners, but with veterinarians too. Keeping rats and other exotics, I've had to familiarize myself with every single symptom of every single illness that these animals can get. And every single medicine and procedure used to treat it. Finding a vet that will even treat exotics is difficult- when you finally find one who doesn't scoff at you for even asking them to treat your pet, you're treatedt like a second class citizen, ignored, belittled, and only seen at all when all of the dog and cat patients are done. Then, you have to be able to go in and say "This is what's wrong with my pet. This is what I need you to do to fix it." That makes most vets angry, and rather than admitting that they know nothing about that species, they argue. I recently moved from an area where I had a GREAT rat vet who knew me well, and basically gave me whatever I needed, and did whatever I asked for my rats. Shortly after moving, my colony came down with SDA. I was frantic to find a vet, and managed to find only one here that would even see them. They needed an ELISA test to confirm that it was SDA- a blood test sent to a specific veterinary school. They hadn't heard of the test, claimed that "It was impossible to draw blood from a rat" (no, just difficult. You draw it from the tail.) and refused to do it. So I had to go just on my assumption that it was SDA. So I told them that I needed some serious antibiotics for them to fight of the secondary infections- direct injections of Baytril for the worst and then a 14 day course of Doxy/Amox was the first thing I wanted to try.
No such luck. The vet laughed at me, insisted that the ONLY safe thing to use on rats was an incredibly diluted form of Baytril given orally. He then insisted that the only way he would give me enough medication for my whole colony would be to bring in every. single. one. of my rats. I had 38 rats. There would have been a 40 dollar office fee per rat, and then another 50 dollars per rat per course of antibiotics (which, like I said, was only dilluted baytril and wouldn't have done a thing.) Obviously I couldn't afford that. My old vet had always just had me bring in the sickest ones, and then he'd gice me whatever I needed for my colony. That's pretty standard practice for most vets who see rats. This one would have none of it.
So, because of this incompetency, I ended up losing 29 of my 38 rats. I ended up having to treat them with cheap Baytril from the feed store, since it was all I could get my hands on. After spending an obscene amount of money at the vet, effictively wiping out what little savings I had. If I had been able to get the testing and medications I asked for, I doubt I would have lost more than 5 or so. [
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I say all of this to illustrate the point that there is SO much misinformation and ignorance out there pertaining to exotics. So many people get these animals, have no clue how to care for them, and then can't tell when they're sick from poor care until it's too late, and when they finally do go to the vet, the vet doesn't know what to do either. It's so, so disheartening to see how little knowledge there is out there for these types of animals. To make things worse, virtually all of the books, and many of the websites, contain nothing but misinformation and completely outdated facts. The average person who is new tot hat type of animal can't possibly be expected to be able to tell what sources are good, and what aren't.
In all the years that I have been invoved in various exotic animals, I have yet to see one. single. person outside of the hobby who knew how to properly care for their pet. Not one. That's where the problem lies. Ignorance.
Do I think that the ownership of these animals should be banned? Obviously not, since I own them. I do think that VERY specific licensing should be in place for ALL species of animals (dogs and cats included) and a simple, basic test designed by real experts should be a requirement to get a license. Without one, you wouldn't be able to buy or sell an animal. I also think that VETS need to have more training in species other than dogs and cats- you simply have no idea how difficult it is to find a REAL exotics vet who actually knows their stuff.
So theres my little (long) exotics rant. [8D] I think the solution lies in requiring that owners demonstrate that they're educated and responsible before allowing ownership, rather than an outright ban of that species.