There are a wide variety of animals that can be kept as domestic pets. However, while some, like cats, dogs and rabbits are fairly common, others are much less popular. In the past, an exotic animal was a species that was considered to be ‘wild’ in nature and not usually kept as a pet. However, today, an exotic pet is pretty much any animal that isn’t a cat or dog, although obviously some types of animal are still much more exotic than others.
The following animals tend to be classified as exotic animals and represent some of the more unusual pets in need of specialist veterinary care:
Amphibians - this includes frogs, newts, toads and even salamanders.
Birds – including budgies, parrots and birds of prey.
Crabs – in particular hermit and fiddler crabs.
Farm animals – including goats, llamas and pigs.
Ferrets
Insects and millipedes – including cockroaches, stick insects, praying mantis and even ants.
Rabbits
Reptiles – such as lizards (including dragons, geckos and chameleons), snakes, tortoises and turtles.
Rodents – there are a huge number of animals classed as rodents including chinchillas, hamsters, rats, gerbils and guinea pigs.
Scorpions - in particular the emperor scorpion.
Spiders – the tarantula is the most commonly kept pet spider in the world.
