The page tends to lead one to believe they are great pets and there isn’t really a downside compared to having a regular housecat or a dog, but I’ve never known anybody who kept one.
I don’t intend to run out and get one either with or without the blessing of the SDMB, I’m just really curious because they are very exotic and beautiful animals.
Are they really legal to have without any kind of a permit?
What special requirements would a pet like this have?
How would one go about getting a serval kitten? How much $$$?
I’d appreciate any comments from anybody who keeps or breeds servals, as well as any other thoughts on the issue.
A serval kitten may be adorable, but a full grown serval is about the size of a cheetah, which makes it a very dangerous animal to keep in your home, where it will almost certainly attack smaller pets and/or children.
You do NOT want a large predator living in your home. End of story.
Random- Thanks for the link, but that site is somewhat anecdotal and biased.
astorian- Whatever else may be the case, they are not nearly as large as cheetahs. Adult servals weigh 18-44 pounds and adult cheetahs weigh 90-125 pounds. More like the weight of a mediumish to small dog.
Again let me stress that I’m not trying to justify getting one at this time. I just want the straight dope
I am not sure where you are from. But here in Connecticut, in the middle of the summer, a lady raising Servals lost one. The largest I might add. And for several weeks there was an article ni the local paper about sightings of the lost kitty – Which weighed 60 pounds.
The lady assured people the cat was not dangerous and no one had anything to fear. The story has since died down and the cat is still at large. Yes a permit is required here in CT but I am not sure about in other states.
Uh, the site contains newpaper articles that accurately report the actual facts and resulting court rulings. The cat in question repeatedly attacked children and at least one adult One attack resulted in an injury to a three-year-old that required over a hundred stitches. I’ve seen photos of what she looked like afterwords, and it wasn’t pretty. One article contained the following quote:
“The jungle cat, which is a common wild animal in Egypt, Sri Lanka and Indochina, has not been tamed like the common house cat through thousands of years of domestic breeding”, said Rodger Philips, lead keeper in the Brookfield Zoo’s mammal department.
What would you consider to be a better source of information?
I have seen servals at the Austin Zoo… where, by the way, virtually all of the larger animals were taken away from private citizens who’d foolishly tried to keep them as pets.
The Austin Zoo’s lions (enormous ones, btw) were taken from a guy who was keeping them in a trailer park. One of their bears WAS a mascot at Baylor University (where stupid frat boys fed it nothing but cookies and Dr. Pepper), until he was no longer a little, cute cub, but had become a large, aggressive adult bear. Their tigers were also former “pets” that various idiots had bought, and tried to keep as pets.
I don’t know how large the average serval in the wild is, but the ones I saw at the Austin Zoo were about the size of cheetahs. I’m sure the people who originally owned those servals were told they’d only get to be 30 pounds, too- but the ones I saw were a LOT bigger than that. That’s probably why those owners had to call the zoo and say, “Umm… you guys couldn’t use a serval, could you?”
The serval is a beautiful animal, but it’s not a docile little kitty. Maybe you’ll be lucky, and yours will remain 30 pounds- but I’ve SEEN first-hand that you might very well end up with a predator MUCH larger than that in your home.
If you’re willing to risk it, be my guest. But I STILL say it’s a bad idea. Give the Austin Zoo a call, and find out from them what you’d be taking on.
I visited a small zoo in Central Florida in the 80’s, & had a rare chance to pet a serval, & stroke its fur.
Under the careful supervision of a keeper.
Who cautioned me to keep my fingers away from its mouth, to treat it with great respect, & to never touch a serval under any circumstances other than with the supervision of a trained professional.
Random- Well, it’s anecdotal in that all the articles refer a single animal that was frequently, if not continually chained up outside. Any dog owner will tell you this can lead to agressive behaviour.
I consider it potentially biased in that these are news reports who make their money by stirring up hysteria - and given all the misinformation about guns in the media recently, not necessarily accurate.
And finally, the quote you posted above, is contradicted by this one, in the link I provided above:
I don’t which quote is correct, hence my post here. Granted the lead keeper in the Brookfield Zoo would be assumed to be an authority, but I highly doubt any servals kept at the zoo were raised as pets with the requisite human contact.
What would I consider a better source of information? I don’t know, perhaps someone with actual experience in keeping or breeding them (for better or worse).
Also, Phlosphr I have done a bit more research and virtually all of the sites I have found, excluding the one in OP, list the maximum weight of an adult serval at 30-40 pounds. Maybe her kitty was obese.
At the risk of sounding like I’m arguing a point (I’m honestly really not), here is another site stating they have been kept as pets for thousands of years, and while not truly domesticated, “they can become comparatively as tame and friendly as many species of animals which are termed domestic”.
Eleusis, your initial link led me to this article detailing the dedication needed to successfuly raise and keep a wild cat (including the serval) as a pet. Some quotes from the article:
“They are wild animals by nature. They are unpredictable and strong. Cats act instinctually, loving and willing to cuddle, and then something triggers them, perhaps a smell or a sound and they can attack.”
“You must get past the fantasies of owning a large non-domestic cat and understand the true nature of the cat and all the responsibilities that go with captive husbandry. It takes a tremendous amount of planning before you can begin to think about the initial purchase.”
"Owning an exotic cat is a lifestyle; most of your time will be spent caring for this cat. You must be responsible for any property damage or injury that the cat may cause to someone’s property or physical person. "
"These cats are wild. They are efficient predators and don’t think twice about attacking something two to three times their size. They act on instinct. Smells, sounds, and unfamiliar movements can provoke an attack. "
Definitely not for me. But if you want to be the next Sigfried and Roy, by all means. Just be sure to keep your liability insurance current!
LOL shelbo- The next Sigfried and Roy, eh? Well I wouldn’t mind their fame and fortune, but I don’t think it would be worth converting to homosexuality.
I have visited a lion rescue farm in Arkansas. Several such facilities exist in the USA, to rescue the “pets” that were abandoned by their owners when they became unmanageable. Keeping an animal like that in your house is a bad idea.
The Animal Protection Institute, at their Exotic “Pet” Campaign page (which has other relevant information), lists attacks on humans, attacks on other animals, and escapes from cages by felines held in private possession as “pets” in the U.S. since 1990.
