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Exotic Pets: Degu

Degu belongs to the family of rodents. They are very friendly and intelligent pets when compared to other rodents. They are hassle free and demand less maintenance. Some people compare degus to chinchillas, squirrel and even gerbils. They have a tweed brown color and have a long tail with brush like hair at the end. The tail is nearly one to two third of the body’s length. They use it to maintain balance while climbing and while walking they keep it in upright position. Their belly is creamed color and there are circles around their eyes. Their ears are surprisingly big as well as their whiskers. They hinder the growth of their claws by nibbling on them, so they the claws don’t require grooming. Degu’s forelimbs are longer than their hind limbs. They are born with yellow teeth that turn orange after reacting to the chlorophyll present in plants, which also turns their saliva into orange.

They are originally found in Chile and are exported to other countries. There are some import restrictions on degu in America, so it is uncommon to find degus at pet shops, but they can be found in pet stores, all over Europe. Initially other countries brought them not as exotic pets but to conduct laboratory experiments. They do not have the ability to digest sugar, so they were used to test diabetes.

When young, their size can be compared to hamsters and when they grow to their full size they can be compared to hamsters. They grow in size within few months, so all the equipments should be bought with keeping these constraints in mind. The cage should be big and must have a running wheel. Their average body weight is 160-230 gram when they grow into full adult.

Degus are very playful animals and lots of toys are generally kept in their cage. Baby degus do not fight at all and are always involved in playing. It would be a bad idea to keep their cage in the bedroom, as they will keep people away with all the noise they make. Although they are diurnal, they sleep for short periods and chances are that they stay awake for few hours at night. They are at peak of activity in mornings and evenings and otherwise, shut their eyes a little. Since they are sociable and not afraid of humans, it is recommended never to keep a degu alone. They should be kept, at least, in pairs. If they are kept alone, they life period decreases and they get really depressed, in spite of human attention. They also become aggressive.

Degus have the tendency to shed their tail in defense when animals attack them. So it is recommended never to tug the tail. The tail bleeds and nearly half of the tail dries slowly and falls off or gets chewed by the degu. Even worse is that the tail doesn’t grow back. They even don’t like to be held very tightly and for a long time. Never lift them from top as they have the natural tendency of getting scared as the degus in forests get carried away by birds. Owners can gain familiarity by stretching out their palms and calling out to them calmly. The degus develop voice familiarity and get trained to climb onto the palm of the owner.

In the forests, the degus can live up to less than a year and less than one percent live up to two years. But in captivity, they can live up to five years and more. Females, who live with males, die fast as they become weaker because of constant pregnancies. Their pregnancy periods last for eighty seven to ninety three days. Therefore, it is recommended that members of the same sex should be kept together as pets. If the owner is interested in breeding them, opposite sex can be kept together, but should be careful about not exhausting the female with regular pregnancies. Keep In mind, that they shouldn’t beget a child more than once a year.

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Exotic Pets: Chinchilla

Chinchillas are of small sized crepuscular rodents belonging to the Chinchillidae family, almost the size of rabbit. They are found in the Andes Mountains of South America. There are two different species of chinchilla, Chinchilla Lanigera and Chinchilla Brevicaudata. Although they look almost similar, the tail and ears of Chinchilla Brevicaudata is shorter, its shoulder and neck are broader and is found in the wild. The Chinchilla Lanigera species can be kept as pets. Their standard color is grey and they can also be found in ebony, beige and other colors.

Chinchillas are endangered species. They can be kept as domestic pets, but are very shy animals and are not good with small kids. Because of their fragile bone structure, they should be handled with care and that might be the reason why chinchillas don’t like it when people hold them in their hands.

The life period of chinchillas is about fifteen years, when kept in captivity; some even survive till twenty or more years. They are noisy animals and make noises like squeaks, barks and chirps. They make noise to express their moods. They use a sweet chirping sound to attract another chinchilla for mating. They bark loudly when they get aggressive or scared. Chinchillas are social animals and can be kept together. When keeping the chinchillas of opposite sex, they should be neutered. A group of same sex chinchillas also does well, except that there is a chance of them fighting when a younger or older member is introduced in the group.

Chinchillas are very playful animals. Arranged shelves can be kept in their cage, which they can jump on. Toys like large wheel measuring more than eight inches in radius, hanging wooden toys, and paper towel cylinder can also be placed in the cage. Care should be taken that none of the objects should have a mesh structure as there is a possibility of chinchillas getting their legs stuck in it. Adding to this, when they are given wooden toys or wooden chew stick, the material shouldn’t be conifer wood, because it contains resins which are poisonous to them. Even plastics should be avoided for the same reason as they will block their intestines I swallowed. The cage should be very airy and the bedding again shouldn’t be of cedar wood. Birch, apple tree, willow, and Manzanita are good options for wood.

Temperatures should be maintained below seventy-seven degree Fahrenheit, because chinchilla don’t have sweat glands and do not sweat. When the temperatures get really high, they get overheated and get a heat stroke. Since the animals are hyper active they should be made to spend at least half an hour outside their cage to exercise, in supervision. They clean their fur many times a week by taking dust baths. A container filled with special chinchilla sand dust and fine pumice should be kept in their cage for bathing purpose. The chinchillas shouldn’t be given wet baths because their fur has the property to retain moisture and this could aid fungus growth. Even if they are given wet bath, they should be dried very fast with the help of blow dryer on a low setting.

Chinchillas shouldn’t be given a sweet and fatty diet, like nuts and fruits, as their digestive system is very delicate. Their main diet can comprise of hay based pellet and loose hay. They can also be given small pieces of papaya and raisins sometimes. If they are fed with sugar products, they have a tendency to develop diabetes or diarrhea. Even fresh vegetables block their digestive system which can be very dangerous.

The cause of extinction of chinchillas is that they are killed on a large scale for its superb soft feeling fur. Also, they have a very evenly colored fur which makes it most apt for small apparels and as lining for bigger apparels. Although, now the wild species aren’t hunted for fur, but domestic species are especially bred for this purpose. There are fur farms where chinchillas are bred in larger numbers. They are kept in really bad conditions.

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Exotic Pets: Tigers

Tigers are felines which are extremely popular among pet lovers who have immense passion for exotic animals. At the same time they are also the most dangerous of all the exotic pets. In the first place, it is really difficult to get a permit for them to be kept as pets. And even if the owner gets the permit, they have to face other issues like finance, responsibility, threats, and regulatory issues so much so that even the local inspector drops by every now and then to inspect the animal and the living conditions provided by the owner. Although owing a tiger sounds impressive but it is more like building castle on clouds.

Potential owners shouldn’t get turned down, but they should very well understand the challenges they have to undergo during the whole process. They should work as a volunteer at a zoo which has adult tigers to understand in depth about what they are going to do.

Cubs usually like to cuddle and sleep with humans around. They can be fed with milk bottles like a human baby. They need to be taken out for a walk, frequently. They won’t complain if the owners keep other pets along with them. Tigers like to play wild games around the house. They attack a piece of furniture multiple times and drag them from one corner to other, because of their wild instincts of hunting. They will get companionship and would enjoy playing with each other, inside the house as well as outside. Problem arises only when the tiger outgrows other pets, as they start biting and attacking the weaker one. They should not only be moved out of the house, but also will require a bigger cage, if a smaller cage was built earlier. The expense for building a larger cage will be huge. When they grow, they need to be shifted to a cage which is at least eighty-seven feet long and thirty-feet tall. A small swimming pool should also be built for them, which they can enjoy in the scorching sun.

But when they grow, they become very heavy and the owner finds it difficult to take it outside for a walk as he will find it impossible to manage the leash with the animal’s weight on it. The animals will then begin to miss out the freedom and will sometimes get aggressive and start roaring a lot. To keep them occupied, the owner can place things strategically, so that the animal gets involved in the activity of sniffing out things and food. They can be given toys to play with, but they won’t last for long and should be replaced by new ones frequently. They even throw the toys outside their cage, which the owner should get it back for him to play again. When the owner leaves the house, even for a while, the animals should be securely tied within the cage. There are chances that they can break open and attack humans in the neighborhood.

After the passage of eighteen months, tigers shed their baby teeth and grow four inches canines. That’s when most of the owners freak out because although till then they had tamed the animal, but the wild predator will always dwell in the animal. The owners no longer go inside the cage to feed the animal, and even if they do, they carry a pepper spray along with them. Special protective measures should be taken to ensure the safety of people not only in the house, but around the house as well.

One of the most hectic parts is cage keeping. There are chances of algae growth which requires lot of scrubbing and water. The old hay should be thrown out, which makes really big pile and not to forget animal waste. The water in the swimming pools should also be replaced often. As they are fed with whole animals, the remains accumulate which should be cleaned as they will start decaying. Especially during the summers, maggots grow rapidly if even one cage cleaning schedule is missed.

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Exotic Pets: Chameleon

Chameleons belong to the lizard family. Chameleon has been derived from the Greek words chamai and leon meaning earth lion. The structure and size of chameleons varies a lot. They can be from one inch to thirty-one inch long. Chameleons are kept as exotic pets because of their characteristic color changing capability. They change colors so as to camouflage, communicate with each other and to regulate temperature. They also have a very long tongue to catch prey.

Chameleons do not have the ability to change colors from birth. They are either brown or grey color when they are born. They start by changing to one or two colors and when they reach five months, they gain total control of the color changing ability and are able to change to many colors like green, black, turquoise and blue green. Various colors show emotions such as stress, sense of temperature change, excitement and to communicate with other chameleons. Brighter colors exhibit good mood; darker colors such as black, grey and brown depict stress. Few other colors are also seen when the chameleon takes transition from color to another.

They even have very long tongue, which they use to catch flying preys. Chameleons have the ability to stretch their tongue up to one and half the length of their body. This way they can catch flying preys as well as preys, which are placed far off. They have three toes with two of them facing one side and the third in other direction. This structure helps them to get a firm grip, which facilitates their tree climbing habit. They spend most of their lives on treetops. Some of them also are gifted with prehensile tails, which are also used to take good grip while climbing.

Another amazing fact of chameleons is that they rotate their eyes in two different directions. Both the eyes are independent of each other. The structure of the eyes is globular which they use to rotate and get view of a larger radius. The eyes are used to watch out for enemies and as well as hunt for food. Along with insects and slugs they also eat plants.

Chameleons are kept as pets because many people find them very fascinating. But they are very difficult to be maintained and naive pet owners should not certainly start with them. Although they aren’t the toughest of all exotic pets, they are also not the easiest to handle. Their requirements are very comprehensive and owners simply get tired of them after one point of time. But if the owner has made up his/her mind, they should certainly go for a chameleon, which has been brought up in captivity and is trained. The ones that come directly from the wild are more dangerous, they have a possibility of being infected and it is very difficult for them to adjust to new environment. They will also be more stressed out, which will be a big hindrance in training. Also when the wild chameleons are caught and shipped to destination, there is a possibility of it dying on the way itself.

While selecting the pet, the health of the animal can be determined by close observation. The chameleon should be able to change colors and also should be active. They should be brightly colored and the flesh of the body should be smooth and not scaly. Males are easier to maintain because their nutritional requirements are less.

Species that are kept as pets are Panther Chameleons, Veiled Chameleons and Jackson’s Chameleons. Chameleons basically are solitary animals and their camouflaging ability explains it very clearly. They simply don’t like to be handled. They shouldn’t be kept with other pets and it is a really bad idea to keep two male chameleons together as they will fight and injure each other. They should be put in a cage with lots of foliage, which can cater to their needs of climbing trees and as well give them the desired privacy.

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Exotic Pets: Raccoons

Raccoons are sometimes called the masked animals because of the black fur near their eyes which resembles a bandit’s mask. Their fur is usually of the colors white, black, grey and brown. They can be found in major parts of North America and Europe. Their native habitats are deciduous and mixed forests.

They have five long fingers on each limb which help them in easily opening latches, boxes, jars, open trash cans and turn knobs. There prints have great resemblance to human baby’s handprints. Raccoon’s tracks are found mostly on mud near water, where they usually wander in search of food. Their body weight can vary from six to thirty-five pounds and the length of their body can vary from twenty-four to thirty-six inches. Their bushy tail measures up to ten centimeters and has an alternate coloring of white and black. The black circle around their eyes, make them look mischievous and give them an image of a thief. That is substantiated by the fact that they are often sighted in urban areas stealing human garbage or eating other pet animal’s food.

Raccoons are omnivorous and apart from eating nut, berries, corn, mice, human garbage they also eat fish, shellfish, salamanders, egg, bird, frog, insects and amphibians. They have a habit of washing their food before consuming it, especially those who live in captivity. Pet raccoons can also be fed with cat food, as they enjoy it very much. A female raccoon gives birth to four to five offspring at a time. Raccoons mate in January or February and following by birth in April or May. They don’t hibernate in winter, but do become inactive.

Besides rabies, raccoons can also be the carriers of parvovirus, canine distemper, and roundworm. Nearly thirty-eight percent cases of rabies are a result of raccoon bites, in United States. If any unknown raccoon is spotted in the locality at daytime, the local health department should be contacted immediately. Raccoons show no sign of rabies and their body fluids will have the virus if they are infected.

It is illegal to keep raccoons as pet in majority of states of America because of the reason that they are carrier of rabies which could risk human life. In states where they are permitted, special exotic pet permit should be taken. Orphans raccoons which are rescued from the forest have a higher risk of being rabies carriers. They should not only be vaccinated, but also tamed. Raccoons can be bought from special breeders who would have taken care of everything before hand because taming a raccoon is a really tough job. They have really wild instincts which require thorough and strenuous training.

They have a natural tendency to bite, contaminate the food of other animals by excreting in it and are nocturnal. All these weird habits of raccoons require complete dedication of time and hard work. They can be even made to sleep at night. But raccoons held in captivity face health problems like obesity and develop a strange diet. The problem aggravates due to lack exercise. As they are omnivorous, they should be also fed with non-veg. diet, which is difficult for people who are vegetarian. When people make decision of keeping raccoons as pets, they should be ready to keep it forever, because captive raccoons face lots of dangers when released in the wild.

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