Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Exotic Pet Survey

Dear exotic pet owner: I appreciate you taking the time from your busy schedule to look over this questionnaire, and hopefully to fill it out. This is a totally anonymous survey about exotic pet ownership.

According to the AVMA and the USDA, no one has ever done such a study, and as an exotic pet owner myself, I see a great need for it. The general public only hears about the abuses, maulings and escapes, so most people tend to believe everyone who owns an exotic pet has a malnourished lion or a six-foot alligator in the basement. I believe it would be beneficial to have some real data about the types of exotics actually owned.

This study will attempt to do this, and also characterize the laws that affect exotic owners, both positively and negatively. This is the second phase of a PhD dissertation, and the results of the survey are very important. READ More



Exotic Pets Finally the Truth

Are you ready to learn the truth about exotic pets? Gabrielle Collins most certainly is. Let me introduce you to this remarkable person.

Collins is a PhD student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Collins also earned a BS and MA from the University of Nebraska. Collins is currently working on a dissertation in Animal Geography.

Collin's PhD work is on exotic pet mammals in the USA. A part of this work includes collecting surveys from exotic pet owners from all over the country.

"My idea for the dissertation stemmed directly from dealing with exotic animal laws and animal rights activists," said Collins. "There are so many claims going around about exotic animal estimates, and when I actually investigated I discovered that no one has ever really attempted to find out the truth of these numbers."

Collins continued, "You can literally throw out any number you like online, and people will pick it up, repeat it, and it magically becomes 'fact'. As a science-oriented person that horrifies me."

According to Collins, the initial idea was to attempt a comprehensive survey and try to reach the many exotic mammal owners however, found it wasn’t practical. Since 2008, Collins has been focusing on cataloging and interpreting the exotic pet laws for all 50 states. "Quite a daunting task; keeping track of 'exotic animal attacks,' (these range from inconsequential scratches to the well-publicized deaths, and now finally getting the survey started)".

According to Collins, the focus is on mammals for many reasons, because there are fewer mammals than reptiles, fish, and birds owned, because most of the publicized material about exotics tends to be about mammals and occasionally reptiles and because there are few laws regarding reptile, bird or fish ownership nationwide, but many regarding mammals.

"I do not imagine I will reach everyone – or that everyone who sees it will fill it out – but the more people who do this survey (and do it honestly) the more data I will have to back up my research and the better the outcome. I think that if real information is gotten and published, rather than sensational ‘attacks’ and random misinformation, it can only be good for both the animals and their owners."

If you would like to see "real information" rather than all the sensationalized drama please do your exotic pet and yourself a big favor and fill out Gabrielle Collins' survey!

Read MORE

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Specialty Serpents Top of the Web Award

I don’t give the award because of fancy websites I give the award only to people that CARE about exotic pets and go out of their way to help exotic pets. Other words, above and beyond!

Read more about Eric S. Roscoe of Specialty Serpents at Exotic Pets BellaOnline.com!





Friday, October 15, 2010

TV Networks and Exotics - A New Problem?

Are Animal Television Networks Tumbling into the Toilet?

There is no doubt that for many years, and quite possibly decades, animal and nature oriented television networks including Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and Animal Planet for example, have long served as memorable, reliable, and entertaining sources of information for all individuals and families alike. This has typically been achieved through the airing of many well known programs and individuals such as Steve Irwin and his loving family/co-workers, Mark O’Shea, and Jeff Corwin to name a few. Within these programs, these noble animal and environmental educators constantly stressed the importance of becoming aware of, learning about, and ultimately respecting animals, nature, and the environment.

However, over last several recent years, a disturbing and appalling new trend has emerged within these television networks as well as many others that has slowly but steadily replaced the aforementioned types of programming that so many people love and enjoy. This “new generation” of television programming now focuses far more heavily on exploiting and appealing to the human’s rudimentary senses or emotions such as fear. To illustrate such a classic example, according to Anne Beck, Animal Planets self described “relaunch” has stated the following in February 2008: “The goal is to move from being perceived by viewers as paternalistic, preachy, and observation-based to being seen as active, entertaining, and edgy. That means targeting adults 25-49, rather than full families, with less voice-of-God narration and more visceral imagery and sounds. Think of it as swapping a drab narrator saying that a lion is about to kill its prey for the blood-curdling scream of the doomed creature as it meets its demise.” Read more Are Animal Television Networks Tumbling into the Toilet?

Monday, October 4, 2010

Halloween Costumes for Pets

Making costumes for your pets can be simple, and inexpensive, if not free. Everyone has old clothing or clothing we don’t wear or need tucked away, taking up space, which could be used for other things. That size six wardrobe put away 15-years ago in all likelihood will never see the light of day again. We also have a whole lot of stuff in our junk drawers that could easily be used to decorate costumes. With a little imagination and improvising skills this could result in some mighty cute costumes.

First things first; visualize what type of costume you want for your exotic pet. Second look at your pet’s proportions. Measure the neck, space between legs both from side to side and back to front. That is, if the animal has four legs. Also measure the circumference of the legs, so on and so forth. Usually simply eye-balling the measurements will do the trick. Some pets just won’t hold still long enough to use a tape measure.

Now think about what you have on hand. You may have to purchase a couple of things but improvise using what you already have is a lot of fun.

Perhaps you’re not so crafty, or just don’t enjoy or have time for homemade costume. There is a bunch of costumes for your pet to look like an exotic pet, your exotic pet to look like a pet, a pet that looks like a child or a child that looks like an exotic pet. Sounds fun, doesn’t it!

If a child can be a lamb why can’t a ferret become a bumble bee for Halloween! The new rage, Halloween costumes for our pets from Halloween costumes for dogs, Halloween costumes for cats, and Halloween costumes for exotic pets.

I have found that many costumes designed for small dogs or cats will work on the skunk, raccoon, coatimundi, iguana, and many other animals. Ferret costumes work great with smaller exotic pets. I have even rigged a costume or two for iguanas. Use your imagination; think about your pet, how the pet is shaped, where the leg positions are, the sky is the limit with converting costumes meant for children and pets to fit other animals. I have seen some pretty cool snake costumes as well. Read more and see the darling costumes at Exotic Pets BellaOnline.com