Exotic pets can harm your health too!

​Keeping exotic pets carries health and safety risks that are often downplayed or not mentioned at all by pet sellers. People don’t often associate their illness with their pet and also don’t let their doctor know that they keep exotic animals, so a large number of cases go unreported. Children are at greatest risk due to their lower immunity and also their natural curiosity, which can predispose them to injuries. Some health bodies caution against keeping any exotic pets.

​Exotic pet bugs

Keeping exotic pets can pose significant infection risks to people – especially to ‘vulnerable groups’ such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and those who are already ill. Diseases that can be transferred from animals to people are known as zoonotic diseases or zoonoses, and many come from exotic pets. Zoonoses such as salmonellosis from reptiles and amphibians and psittacosis from birds can be fatal in vulnerable groups. 
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​People don’t necessarily have to touch exotic animals in order to get sick. In the home, germs from exotic pets get spread around on surfaces, walls, door handles and clothes. Even thoroughly washed hands can be re-contaminated by touching an area where there are germs from exotic pets.  

​ ​Biting back

​Every year in the UK, hundreds of people are hospitalised because of injuries inflicted by their exotic pets. Unlike cats and dogs, wild animals are unpredictable and their sharp teeth, beaks and claws can cause nasty wounds. Bites and scratches, as well as envenomations and stings can also get infected from germs carried by exotic pets.

Most species that pose an obvious risk to public safety require a licence to keep - but not all of them. For instance, there is no licence requirement to keep snakes that can grow to over 20 feet in length and could kill babies and small children by constriction.

​ ​Not to be sneezed at

​The exotic pet trade promotes reptiles as suitable pets for children with fur allergies. However, many reptile pets are fed with insects such as grasshoppers and cockroaches, which may trigger allergic reactions and asthma.  

Want to learn more?  ​

​​Read this helpful leaflet from the Emergent Disease Foundation.