I desperately want a Flying Fox. Ya know? Those huge ass fruit bats!?
Anyway, how do I go about getting one. How much are they? Do I need permits? Does my house get inspected annually? Do they live long enough to make it worth it? I saw one climbing all over Jack Hanna once so I assume they are tamable. Anyone have any ideas?
Hola bear!
You need an Exotic Pet License for one of those in FL, unless they changed the laws since I worked in the pet industry (two years ago). To get one of those requires an application and you have to get specific about what you want to take care of, and you need to show knowledge of how to maintain the animals health and well-being to the proper authorities… now if I could only remember who those were… ergh… two years of alcohol and smoke are not helping…
punk snot dead,
broccoli!
Just say no, Bear. I really don’t want to have to see this thing at 3AM one morning because it’s horribly ill. You won’t know what to do about it and neither will I.
Michi
I gotta agree with Cyndar. An exotic pet might seem cool, but it is NOT a good idea. If you need to be around exotic animals, try volunteering at the local zoo. But you would not believe the number of abused and neglected pet exotic animals. Typical story: someone sees exotic animal on TV or IRL, buys exotic animal semi-legally, gets bored, exotic animal dies or becomes HUGE problem. And most zoos won’t take exotic pets off your hands, since they feel it only encourages people if they know they have a saftey net. And most zoos have all the animals they can take care of at their current funding level. You’d have to find some private exotic pet rescue center if you found you couldn’t handle it, and that’s not easy since they are even more financially strapped than the zoos, who at least are publically funded.
Short answer: Don’t get an exotic pet.
On the topic of buying animals when they are young and “cute” and then getting rid of them when they grow up, see this story about a particularly vicious variety of monkey that became popular in France but became a problem when the monkeys grew up and became adults with an attitude.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,90517,00.html
I’ll have to remember to follow the article’s advice and buy an athletic cup when I go to Paris in case I decide to go for a walk in the Bois de Bologne (sp?) 