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ExNOTic: Should We Be Keeping Exotic Pets?

Grant, Rachel, Montrose, V., Wills, Alison·2017·Animals
DOI 10.3390/ani7060047PMC PMC5483610
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Abstract

There has been a recent trend towards keeping non-traditional companion animals, also known as exotic pets. These pets include parrots, reptiles, amphibians and rabbits, as well as small species of rodent such as degus and guinea pigs. Many of these exotic pet species are not domesticated, and often have special requirements in captivity, which many owners do not have the facilities or knowledge to provide. Keeping animals in settings to which they are poorly adapted is a threat to their welfare. Additionally, owner satisfaction with the animal may be poor due to a misalignment of expectations, which further impacts on welfare, as it may lead to repeated rehoming or neglect. We investigate a range of commonly kept exotic species in terms of their suitability as companion animals from the point of view of animal welfare and owner satisfaction, and make recommendations on the suitability of various species as pets.

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Metadata

Authors
Grant, R., Montrose, V., & Wills, A.
Affiliations
  • Animal Behavior and Welfare Research Group, Department of Animal and Agriculture, University Centre, Hartpury, Gloucestershire GL19 3BE, UK
  • Animal Health Research Group, Department of Animal and Agriculture, University Centre, Hartpury, Gloucestershire GL19 3BE, UK
Venue
Animals
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2017-06-19
Volume
7
Issue
6
Pages
47
ISSN
2076-2615
DOI
10.3390/ani7060047
PMC
PMC5483610
Cited by
94
References
0
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)

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Grant, R., Montrose, V., & Wills, A. (2017). ExNOTic: Should We Be Keeping Exotic Pets? Animals. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani7060047