Search Results for: blog is your exotic pet legal

Dangerous Exotic “Pets”

Exotic pets have been in the news lately. I define exotic pets as wild or barely domesticated animals that you’d sooner expect to see in a zoo than someone’s home. They’re often illegal to own. Even then the classification gets tricky; I’ve previously written about potbelly pigs and hedgehogs, two uncommon pets, that are sometimes illegal in certain states or counties. In these cases, however, the illegality issue has to do with invasive species; certain types of hedgehogs and pigs are not native to the country and officials want to keep out the non-native breeds. When I’m talking about exotic … Continue reading →

Taming Your Chinchilla

Chinchillas are active and playful pets, and can become accustomed to human handling with a little time and patience. The younger your chinchilla is, the easier time you’ll have. Try to find a chinchilla who has been handled frequently — this will make your work a lot easier. But you can tame just about any chinchilla of any age. Here are a few basic tips: Take your time. When you first bring your chinchilla home, give him a chance to adjust to the new environment. Keep interaction and cage maintenance to a minimum for the first few days — that … Continue reading →

Moving With Small/Exotic Pets

Moving — whether you’re headed cross-town or cross-country — can be stressful for everyone. Here are some tips to help make a move with small pets, unusual pets, and birds safe and stress-free. Moving Birds By Car Birds can usually travel in the same cage they use at home. Cover the cage while the car is moving to help keep the bird calm. Make sure the cage gets good ventilation. You may want to remove water dishes from the cage to prevent spills — a water bottle is a good alternate choice. Birds are very susceptible to drafts and quick … Continue reading →

Bringing A Pet To A New Country

Bringing a pet to another country is not an easy task! You may be moving because of a career change, health consideration, or retirement, and naturally, you’ll want your pets to come with you. Start planning your move early. You may need four to six weeks or more to obtain an export license. The importing country may require certain vaccinations — like rabies and other diseases — before you can be issued an export license. You’ll also need to know the animal health laws in your new home country and local area. If you are bringing a pet into the … Continue reading →

Paris Hilton’s Exotic Animal Sends Her To The Hospital

Perhaps Paris Hilton should have read Aimee’s blog on exotic animals. The hotel heiress made an emergency trip to the hospital this week and she has her pet kinkajou Baby Luv to thank for it. Hilton’s publicist told news reporters that the raccoon-like animal bit Hilton on her left arm. The 25-year-old “Simple Life” star was not badly hurt, but did receive a tetanus shot before leaving the hospital. According to her publicist, Hilton was playing with her exotic pet early Tuesday morning “the way some people play with their cats and dogs” when the animal became excited and sunk … Continue reading →

Insurance Podcast Roundup – Week of April 23, 2012

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Every week, the Insurance Podcast Roundup brings you brand new episodes of podcasts that discuss a variety of topics relating to insurance. This is a great way to keep up with the news, and with the changes that could affect the insurance policies that cover you and your family. PBS NewsHour has an episode that was released on April 20, 2012. This episode is called “VA Adds 1,600 Workers to Fix Backlog, but ‘Always More We Can Do’”. Host Jeffrey Brown speaks with Sonja Batten, a senior mental health official at the VA. They discuss the reasons behind the problems … Continue reading →

Dolphin Intelligence Sparks New Ethics Debate

A unit in my college environmental ethics class studied the different ethics systems we follow in order to determine how we treat others. It focused on sentient verses non-sentient: the idea that some life, although not as intelligent as humanity, is still aware of itself (animal) and that other, while still alive, has no self-awareness (plant). The question of sentience was one factor used to determine what level of ethical treatment was appropriate for different members of the environment. Up until now humans for the most part have lumped all animals into one category and treated them the same: humanely, … Continue reading →

Irwin the Kangaroo Requires Insurance

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What’s the most exotic pet that you have ever had? The answer to that question, for most people, might be a ferret, or a snake, or perhaps a parrot of one kind or another. Those that are even more adventurous might have once owned a tarantula, or a small scorpion. A woman in Oklahoma has been keeping a pet kangaroo. This has lead to problems involving insurance for her very exotic pet. The story of Irwin, the red kangaroo, and Christie Carr, his now owner, started in Safari’s Interactive Animal Sanctuary. Christie Carr was volunteering there when Irwin had a … Continue reading →

Helping Animal Shelters During a Recession

Some say the worsening economy is not quite a recession yet, others are convinced we’re already there. Whether we are or not, one thing is clear: with gas and food going up like they are, people have less to spend. Not only less discretionary income, but also less charitable giving monies to distribute. Some charities are going to feel the pinch more than others. Especially because historically this time of year (from now until fall) is when people tend not to give. (Come the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year, people tend to be more generous.) That’s why I say … Continue reading →

Giant Tegu

Also known as the Argentinean tegu, the big headed tegu, or the black and white tegu, the giant tegu is a gentle giant lizard. Don’t confuse an Argentinean tegu with a Columbian tegu — the Columbian is somewhat smaller and less docile than the Argentinean variety. These lizards truly are gigantic — an adult black and white tegu can reach four feet or longer (including the tail). The whole body sports a pattern of white and black dots and stripes, making the giant tegu a distinctive pet. Despite the intimidating size of the giant tegus, these lizards can be very … Continue reading →