How to Get an Alligator for an Exotic Pet

tags: alligator, exotic pets

Baby alligators have been popular as exotic pets. They can be bought in special pet stores and souvenir shops. Some states have made rules against taking care of alligators.

But if you are still keen on getting one as pet, read on the things below so you’ll know what to do or what to expect.

1. You need a special license to buy an alligator. In Florida for example, this is being practiced. There are laws regulating alligators that are taken as pets. People who wish to buy an alligator shouldn’t only be licensed. They should also know exactly what they are doing.
2. Taking an alligator from its natural habitat isn’t allowed in some States. Before you go to the wild and get an alligator, check the local laws of the state first. There are states that don’t allow it entirely. And some even control the feeding and harassing of alligators.
3. Alligators require a large habitat. An alligator can grow to as long as 12 feet, which is about average. Some species can even grow longer than that. That being the case, you have to make an alligator pen for them, maybe in your backyard, as big as thrice its size.
4. Alligators can be dangerous. Everybody knows this. So just because you wanted to have something exotic as a pet shouldn’t be the only reason why you get an alligator. You should be ready for all the things it can do to you and the rest of the people that it can come in contact with it accidentally or intentionally. If you don’t have any experience in controlling a full-grown brusque alligator think, twice in getting one for yourself.
5. Most alligators are used to a subtropical wetland climate. If you live in a rather cold state, please, don’t get an alligator. It isn’t used to that environment and it is going to be harmful to it and in certain instances, to its owner as well.
6. It isn’t advisable to keep a baby alligator with an intention of releasing it when it is grown up. Many alligator pet owners do this. But this is really not a good practice. It makes the alligator do one of two things – to be fiercer or to lose fear entirely.

The lesson? Don’t get an alligator and make it a pet unless you are ready for the responsibility that comes with it. Know what you have to know about alligators. And decide for yourself if you really want one.

Best Places to Look for Exotic Pets A Few Tips to Make Your Blind Dog Safe

Alligator Pets News

• One alligator saved, one still missing (The News-Herald)
  Though the fate of the Chagrin River alligator is in doubt, a similar reptile captured late last month in Painesville Township has found a new home in Florida.
• See You Later, Baby Gator (The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register)
  MOUNDSVILLE-His name is Dudley, and he needs a home - the problem is, he's an alligator. According to Marshall County Animal Shelter Director Cindy Brautigan, Dudley was brought to the shelter Wednesday by Marshall County Animal Control officers.
• Zookeepers pull beady-eyed immigrant out of Lake Springfield (KY3 Springfield)
  Someone likely dumped their pet alligator in the lake, where it would have had a hard time surviving the winter.
• "Fluffy" the Python recovering from bout with traffic at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary (The Palm Beach Post)
  A 12-foot-long, 100-pound Burmese python is recovering from doing battle with traffic- and nearly losing - on Indiantown Road earlier this week.
• FloriDUH: New idea for family pets -- 'gators and a croc (Sun-Sentinel)
  Really, why not just get a dog?