With the holiday season upon us, this is your yearly reminder that exotic pets are not disposable. Hamsters, lizards, budgies, mice, fish etc are all living creatures that feel pain and suffer when not properly taken care of. Before you buy an exotic pet for your kids as their first pet or to teach them responsibility, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Are you willing to take care of this pet? No matter how âresponsibleâ your kid is, theyâre still a kid. You as the adult are ultimately responsible for making sure this animalâs needs are met. It is extremely cruel to let an animal suffer to teach your kid a lesson.
2. Are you willing to pay for veterinary care if this animal gets sick? If the answer is no, donât buy it.
3. Are you willing to continue to care for this animal even after your kid inevitably gets bored with it or gets too busy to take care of it?
4. Do you know the lifespan of this species? With proper care, reptiles, birds, rabbits, chinchillas, and even many fish can live more than a decade. Are you prepared to care for this animal if it is still alive when your kid goes to college?
5. Have you taken the time to properly research how to care for this species? The info pet store employees give you is never sufficient. Improper care is the number 1 cause of illness in exotic pets.
6. Are you buying this pet as an accessory or decoration for your kidâs room? If the answer is yes, rethink what youâre doing. Those dinosaur shaped hamster cages or vases for betta fish (and similar set ups) are completely inappropriate for live animals.
Just because an animal is small or inexpensive, it doesnât mean their life doesnât have value. Instead of letting your kidâs new pet suffer and die because you donât want to pay for vet care, how about teaching your kid that even the smallest creatures deserve compassion? Teach them how to properly care for their pet, and how to research their care needs. Listen to them when they say that their animal seems sick and be willing to get them the medical attention they need. It breaks my heart when an animal comes in and Iâm speaking with a kid/teen who clearly is worried about their pet and wants to do everything possible but the parents donât think the animal is worth spending money on. What a great lesson to instead teach your kid the value of preventative care (which will hopefully translate to taking care of themselves) and letting them take the lead when talking to the vet. Obviously parents will have to step in to help sometimes.
One of the most rewarding moments Iâve ever had in vet med was a kid who brought his leopard gecko in for a wellness exam. His dad was standing to the side, guiding him when he forgot a certain detail or couldnât answer a question. I remember telling this kid he was doing a great job, and good for him for being so responsible and bringing his pet in for a check up. His face lit up. Iâll never forget that kid and his lizard, and I hope he will remember how rewarding it was to bring his lizard to the vet and be told he was doing a good job. Doesnât that sound like a better learning experience for your kid than telling them that a living creatureâs life is worthless because their sale price was cheap? Pets are a wonderful addition to our lives and can certainly teach valuable lessons to both kids and adults, but it shouldnât be at the expense of their welfare.