Talk:Exotic pet

Hi, I would like to add more sections on owning exotic pets in other countries and also adding some other sections on other common exotic pets

Biased sections
Let's keep this article unbiased, or at least present BOTH sides of the issue. In addition, some of it is misinformation and should not be included in this article. Please see the NPOV page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view


 * Certainly the article should be kept unbiased. The correct way to do that, however, is not to remove the information you don't agree with.  Exploding Boy 17:13, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

NPOV tag
Please explain your reasons for placing this tag on the page, or it will be removed. Exploding Boy 04:52, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Changes 05/07/08
This article was a mess and it still needs lots of improvement. Most of the previous references went to a site whose domain is now for sale. Others were not to the original source, but to an advocacy site (although they were accurate, I changed them to the primary source or published media account). I added a reflist, formatted the refs, and deleted most of the existing "references" since the sites either did not work or were commercial or linkspam. I added a See Also section for the one link that seemed appropriate. I added a bunch of fact tags since the referencing of this article is pretty poor. Please review these changes and make any corrections or add references or additional content. I know there have been "epidemics" of disease because of exotic pets (turtles, birds, monkey pox, etc.) so maybe those should be included. Many municipalities have banned various pets, so maybe that should be included. I have heard that the exotic pet trade is more profitable worldwide than drug smuggling, which is hard to believe, but if there is a citation for this, it would be interesting to include.Bob98133 (talk) 13:19, 7 May 2008.(UTC)

Ferrets
Ferrets aren't exotic pets. They are common pet animals, whoever put ferrets on the lists of exotic pets probably believes the Soviet Union still exists & that communists are everywhere & secretly controlling the hippies that whoever put ferrets on the list believes are still a large segment of young people when of course nowadys none of this true. Series premiere (remake) (talk) 06:57, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Amero-Centric
Perhaps some things on what is considered an exotic pet worldwide would be beneficial —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.234.96 (talk) 20:52, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Non-human primates worldwide view
For the person who put the globalize tag on the section "Non-human primates", what worldwide view are you looking for? Yes, pet primates are quite popular because they (or their babies) are "so cute!" What other view is there on this topic? What sources are there to go off of? The breeders and traffickers obviously think it should be both legal and unregulated for profit motives, and claim that (some) people might be able to properly care for a pet primate, but are there reliable sources to support their views? The (reliable) literature is predominantly one-sided, and it largely comes from the academic community.

If you want think a point of view is being omitted, please find a reliable source and add some content. Otherwise I'll remove the tag. No strawman, please.

... On second thought, maybe you were suggesting that we need to address why people in impoverished countries hunt and sell these animals. If that's the case, that's an excellent point. In fact, think I found a source for it earlier tonight. I'll try to add it soon as I work on re-writing the "Conservation" section of the Slow Loris article over the next day or two. –  VisionHolder « talk » 04:10, 7 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Ehh... Since the bot recently slapped a date tag on the template, I assumed the tag was new. It looks like it's been there for a while.  Either way, I encourage feedback on what it would take to make the section more "global" in view. –  VisionHolder  « talk » 04:14, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Legal def.
My attempt at finding a legal definition for "exotic pet" was not as productive as I had hoped. - Anyone who can do a better job, please do ! Especially international laws. ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 00:59, 12 October 2012 (UTC)<


 * I don't think that there is a legal definition. I know that in the US various states have definitions for, and restrictions on keeping native wildlife, and some likewise have restrictions or definitions on potentially invasive species/agricultural pests.  I'm pretty sure some also have definitions of livestock and/or domestic animals.  But "exotic pet" seems to be a rather vague, catch-all term. —Quintucket (talk) 02:08, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Potential source
In addition to menageries and animal welfare, this article from the BBC talks about exotic pet ownership in Victorian England and gives a good bit of detail about the history of exotic pet ownership.


 * When wild beasts roamed the UK

– Maky  « talk » 15:04, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

Definition and scope
I removed cockatiels because it seems odd to include the second most-commonly kept species of parrot (looking at the history, somebody added budgies and cockatiels, and budgies were removed by a later user). But truth be told, I'm not really enamored of this article, since it seems to be a lot of original research with no clear definition. If this article is going to be a real article, to start with it really needs some reliably-sourced idea of what "exotic" means.

I was told by a vet that there's three main specialties of veterinary medicine: "small animals" which means commonly kept companion mammals (he mentioned cats, dogs, rodents, rabbits), "large animals" (he mentioned horses and cattle, which seems to indicate livestock) and "exotics," which is everything else. If this is true, I could probably find a source, but this article isn't about veterinary medicine (and he may have been oversimplifying anyways.

This article seems to be about two things: trade in endangered species/illegal pet trade, and pet primates. It seems like the most sensible thing might be to split off the latter, and turn this into an article about the former, perhaps moved to "exotic pet trade." (We have an article on CITES and an article on wildlife smuggling, of which the exotic pet trade would seem to be a sub-category.) An article on the exotic pet trade, and another on primates as pets would both seem to provide scope for verifiable coherent articles. But right now it seems to be a confused and poorly-referenced model, reeking of original research, with no clear scope or verifiable definition.

I'd say I'm asking for thoughts before I do this, but really if I do decide to be bold, I'll probably do it at some indefinite time in the future. So this is more an invitation for anybody else to do my work for me if (as is highly likely) I don't ever get to it, and an invitation to argue/explanation of my rationale with me if I somehow do get to it, and someone objects. —Quintucket (talk) 02:05, 11 June 2013 (UTC)


 * There doesn't seem to be a perfect single definition. Informally, I think the rough definition of "exotic pet" is anything kept as a pet (especially inside the house) other than domesticated dogs, housecats, fish, or "farm animals" (poultry, cattle, sheep, goats, etc.). Practically any animal you can think of has been kept as a pet by someone. We should acknowledge that there is no perfect definition. I think that some people would consider ferrets exotic, and we should acknowledge that while also noting that they are a domesticated animal. If we say that some people keep parrots as exotic pets, and we provide examples of parrots that are kept as pets, I think we should include the parrots that are most common as pets (including cockatiels and budgies, since those are parrots too). Similarly, if we provide a list of examples of rodents that are kept as pets, I think we should include the rodents that are most common as pets (including rats, gerbils, guinea pigs, and hamsters), even though that might seem a bit silly. —BarrelProof (talk) 17:24, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

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"Some animals kept as exotic pets"
The section entitled "Some animals kept as exotic pets" has been the subject of some questionable edits – for example, someone recently added whales, dolphins, giraffes, gorillas, hippos, manatees, and dugongs, among others. That seems like basically just vandalism, but it does raise the question of where to draw the line between what we include and what we do not. It may be true that in some rare cases practically all animals have been kept as pets. But I suggest that this section should be just a list of examples – there should be no attempt to make it exhaustive. I further suggest that we should remove all examples that seem very very rare as pets in households. For example, I suggest we consider removing alligators, apes, caimans, crocodiles, bats, bears, coyotes, coydogs, dingoes, dingo hybrids, jackals, jackal hybrids, wolves, deer, hyenas, kangaroos, lemurs, orangutans, otters, bobcats, cheetahs, cougars, lions, ocelots, tigers, seals, slow lorises, and sloths. We can discuss any particular species, of course, but I think we ought to have some broad principle about what we put in that section. —BarrelProof (talk) 23:42, 6 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't personally mind including centipedes and millipedes, as I've personally seen some of them in pet shops. But if we add centipedes and millipedes, we should probably not put them as a separate grouping called arthropods, because insects and arachnids are also arthropods, and they are currently listed separately. (And hermit crabs and Sea Monkeys are arthropods too, and we don't list them either.) Also, I repeat that this should just be a list of examples without trying to include every possible animal, so I don't think it is necessary to include them. —BarrelProof (talk) 03:09, 10 March 2019 (UTC)
 * After some studying, it seems that centipedes are much more rare as pets than millipedes. Centipedes are reported to be venomous and aggressive. —BarrelProof (talk) 03:44, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

The thing is, some people do have some of these species as pets.Thenabster126 (talk) 03:39, 10 March 2019 (UTC) Perhaps we can add a section to this article for extremely rare pets such as the above.Thenabster126 (talk) 03:40, 10 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Maybe a few people have giraffes, whales, lions, etc., but if we try to list everything that has ever been kept in captivity, it would just be silly. Probably a couple of people have had elephants and rhinos too, but it could become a pointless list of almost every animal in the world that anyone can think of. —BarrelProof (talk) 05:06, 10 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Reading the chimpanzee article, these animals are large and extremely strong and tend to become aggressive as they age and they have complex social needs. Very few people would be capable of having such an animal as a pet, and some of the people who have tried have received major injuries. Only professionals would seem likely to be able to care for them adequately. We have other examples of primates. We don't need to list every animal that has been kept as a pet – it is just a list of examples. —BarrelProof (talk) 03:44, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
 * We've had some editors recently add sharks to the list of examples. Sharks are fish. We don't have any other fish listed as examples. Why should sharks be listed, when no other fish are listed? If we start including fish, aren't there lots and lots of fish species that could be considered exotic? I think it would be simpler if we just leave out the fish from the list of examples. —BarrelProof (talk) 22:06, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Maybe we could add a couple examples of exotic fish. Thenabster126 (talk) 17:56, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
 * How would we decide which fish to include? —BarrelProof (talk) 22:19, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I also don't think fish are generally considered exotic pets. Lots of people have aquariums. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:58, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

The addition of various extreme and absurd examples has continued – primarily by anon IP editors who do not engage in any talk page discussion. I urge editors to please think carefully about adding examples and participate in the discussion here – we do not need to list every possibility! —BarrelProof (talk) 17:11, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
 * This also applies to registered editors. Please engage in discussions, provide edit summaries, and avoid "edit warring". —BarrelProof (talk) 18:46, 8 April 2019 (UTC)
 * FYI to others – Joseth Felix Torres was indef blocked shortly after that comment. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 04:49, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

There seems to be a continuing campaign to add absurd examples. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:58, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

I suggest that rabbits aren't considered exotic. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:58, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

Sabhaider's additions
Hello Some of what you added is cited with good sources, some are not so good so  removed it all. If you could add only the parts that are more seriously cited you would really have something. Invasive Spices (talk) 22:31, 11 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, please don't be discouraged. Just take a look at WP:RS and trim out the bits that come from blogs and other self published pet sites. - MrOllie (talk) 22:32, 11 November 2021 (UTC)

If some of it was good, why remove all of it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sabhaider (talk • contribs) 17:01, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Poor citations, incorrect information.
The section about ferrets contains incorrect information, pet ferrets were domesticated from the European polecat, they do not exist in the wild, nor do they inhabit North American prairie dog burrows. The black footed ferret does, and while related and similar in apperance, it is a seperate species and they are not kept as pets, they are in fact quite endangered. The cited source does not make this statement. The citations are not adequate or legitimate. 174.212.228.69 (talk) 21:04, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Then, please feel free to fix it, using reliable sources to support your contentions. ‡ El cid, el campeador  talk  19:30, 3 June 2022 (UTC)