Exotic Pet Care Goes Upscale

Oct. 14, 2003 -- -- — Man's new best friends don't bark or purr. They might have eight legs or no legs at all. Move over, Rover. Exotic pets are taking over.

Ferrets represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the pet industry, with Americans purchasing an estimated $300 million in food alone for these furry creatures. They're joined by miniature donkeys and potbellied pigs as some of the most popular members of the burgeoning exotic pet population.

While some pet owners are cuddling up to giant pythons, others find comfort in banana slugs, whiptail scorpions, bombardier beetles, tarantulas, and other creepy-crawlies that might be considered more pest than pet.

From Mauling Tigers to Hissing Roaches

The danger of exotic pets came into focus in the wake of the Oct. 3 mauling of entertainer Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas. Horn remains in critical condition following the attack by a 7-year-old white tiger named Montecore.

Earlier this month in New York, authorities had to evict a 425-pound tiger named Ming and a 5-foot-long alligator from a Manhattan apartment after resident Antoine Yates was hospitalized with animal bites. Animal rights experts fear there could be thousands of potentially dangerous animals secretly kept as pets.

Smaller animals might not hold the inherent dangers of a tiger. But some fear that nontraditional pets could be connected to the spread of disease. Earlier this year, a batch of prairie dogs in the Midwest was linked to an outbreak of the monkeypox virus, though fans of the burrowing rodents maintain their critters are safe.

Such concerns have grown internationally. As unlikely as it sounds, giant hissing cockroaches had become a popular pet in Thailand. At one point, the African insects — about twice the size of anything you'd find in a garbage can in Times Square — were selling for about $20.

But last year Thai officials banned pet roaches, fearing they were connected to health concerns. Officials even offered to give the insects traditional Buddhist funeral rites, out of respect for bereft pet owners.

"These really are charming creatures," Sue Hasenpusch of the Australian Insect Farm told Reuters. "They're not stinky at all and there really is nothing horrible about them except for the name cockroach."