How much is that iguana in the window?

Many families enjoy a family pet or two. Lots of children are fortunate to have looked after hamsters, cats, goldfish and dogs. It’s increasingly common for kids to have as a pet something you can’t (in the words of the famous song) take for walks.

It’s possible for kids to keep spiders, iguanas, frilled lizards, snakes, chameleons or even cockroaches as pets. As long as you read up about the correct habitat, diet and other conditions, and contact your local nature conservation authority about the need for permits, your child could also be cuddling up to something scaly, or carefully cleaning out a terrarium.

Some tips for those considering an exotic pet:

• Will your child be afraid of it? Buying a kid a tarantula to help him over his spider phobia is not an effective method of dealing with it!
• Go to a reputable, licensed dealer, and make sure all of his creatures are healthy.
• Don't remove an animal from its wild habitat to keep as a pet. It may not be suitable as a pet, and you could be prosecuted.
  
• Will your child be able to look after it properly? Some exotic creatures have highly specialised diets and other living requirements. Only a very responsible child would cope with this. If you try and teach your child responsibility by giving him a pet which he fails to look after, the pet is the one who will suffer.
• Are you prepared to muck in? If your son has to go on a school camp, would you be prepared to handle his pet, and feed it, or clean out old food or droppings? If you hate snakes, for example, you should probably reconsider allowing your child to have one.
• Is your child old enough? Some children don’t grasp the concept that some animals are relatively fragile, and need to be handled gently. Also, if the pet is only active at night, a younger child would hardly ever be able to spend time with his pet.
• Is the animal potentially dangerous? Venom, sharp teeth and claws could all present a danger to a child.
• Costs and specialised care: If you have to import rare maggots from Peru as food, it’s obviously going to be expensive. Is your local vet able to treat possible ailments, or will you have to travel to a vet who specialises in exotics? Veterinary care can be very costly.
  

If you pop around to your local petting zoo or animal shelter, you are likely to see many creatures whose former owners couldn’t cope with them. Perhaps the novelty wore off, or they were too much hard work- for whatever reason, they get donated, sometimes in a poor state of health.

If your family is more suited to a plain old puppy, then don’t knock the enormous amounts of pleasure you’ll all get from one, and leave the scaly, slimy or creepy creatures to someone who is happy to make sure they are well-looked after.

Would you consider getting an unusual or exotic pet for your child?