No Vets for Exotic Pets: Why Are Wild Animals Kept as Pets Suffering?

There are many reasons why someone should not get a wild animal for a pet. For starters, wild animals kept in captivity can be aggressive because they often act on their instincts when they feel threatened and may escape their enclosure or attack someone as a result. Living in captivity also prevents wild animals from engaging in behaviors they would normally conduct in their natural habitat, like climbing, swimming, ranging over vast distances, and socializing with others of their own kind. This level of behavioral restriction causes extreme boredom, frustration, and even various states of psychosis for many wild animals.

Medical Care Is a Rarity for Exotic Pets

In addition to those listed above, another factor people often fail to consider is that wild animals kept as pets rarely receive the medical care they need to be physically and mentally healthy. Wild animal owners often (albeit unintentionally) fall into the following two groups at some point during their pet ownership: 1) failing to notice any health issues their animal has because they are unfamiliar with the species’ typical behaviors, and/or 2) lacking access to a veterinarian who is both willing and knowledgeable enough to treat the animal effectively.

Due to their complex, species-specific needs, many wild animals kept as pets die traumatic or premature deaths simply because of neglect or misinformation. Many of the wild animal species promoted by pet stores as “low maintenance” or “easy,” like fish, reptiles, or small mammals, have very sensitive requirements for temperature, diet, and social stimulation that are nearly impossible to meet in the small, restricted cages or tanks kept in homes.

Wild Animals often Hide Illness

To make matters more complicated, many wild animal species engage in “masking” or “preservation” behaviors to minimize the severity of their health issues. This behavior is often beneficial in the wild because it decreases the chance that an injured or sick animal will be targeted by a predator during their moment of weakness, but in captivity, masking only functions to delay the veterinary treatment necessary for the animal to recover. By the time a wild animal openly demonstrates that they are feeling unwell because they no longer have the energy to mask their ailment, it may be too late for the animal to be saved, even with veterinary intervention.

Even Veterinarians that Treat Exotic Animals Usually Do not Treat All Species

Exotic veterinarians specialize in the care and treatment of non-traditional pets and animals. Within the exotic veterinary field, there are different types of veterinarians, and each type of exotic veterinarian may require specific training (depending on the state in which they practice), certifications, experience, or further specialization beyond general veterinary education. Thus, an exotic veterinarian is likely not trained in treating all types of wild animals. The different types of exotic animal veterinarians include small exotics (rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, and rodents), avian (birds), reptile and amphibian (snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs) and aquatic (fish, marine mammals, and invertebrates). The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) estimates that only 3-5% of veterinary practices in the U.S. focus primarily on exotic animals.

For example, despite being one of the most kept wild animals as a pet, fish have one of the highest mortality rates among all animals in captivity. Estimates suggest that as many as 90% of all marine ornamental fish die within the first year of captivity due to a variety of factors including water quality issues, health complications, inappropriate social groups, restrictive tank size, inadequate diet, and rough handling/transport from the provider. This is in addition to the widespread failure of many fish owners to seek or find veterinary care for these animals when they become ill or injured. Estimates based on membership of major veterinary trade bodies suggests that only 0.2% of U.S. veterinarians focus on the treatment of fish. Exact figures for veterinarians that specialize in treating other wild animal species are not available, but are likely similar in terms of miniscule percentages compared to the veterinarians that treat domesticated companion or farmed animals.

Lack of Available Veterinary Care Is Just One of Many Reasons Not to Keep Exotic Pets

While the known mental suffering of wild animals kept as pets (regardless of the species) should be enough of a deterrent against privately owning them, perhaps knowing that many exotic pets live in physical pain without relief or with diseases that are never cured better illustrates the torturous existence these animals live in captivity. Join us in our fight to end the private ownership of all wild animal species by reading and sharing our resources:

• Teachers’ Pets: The Exploitation of Wild Animals in the Classroom (2025)
• Oceans Away from Home: The Suffering of Fish in Captivity (2023)
• Public Danger, Private Pain: The Case against the U.S. Primate Pet Trade (2021)

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,

Devan