Brown Bear's

[TamanduaGirl]

I understand and respect the choice not to involve others however I think that's as personal a choice as having the animals in the first place.

I mean what about zoos,entertainers, educators etc who all have employees who get involved with the animals and don't own them? Is it okay to pay strangers to work with your animals but not have a good friend volunteer?

If a person can choose to put themselves in danger by having a large exotic then I don't see anything wrong with a person also choosing to put them selves in danger by helping them.

Like I said I respect the decision not to put others in danger but I think we also need to respect others decisions to do things that may be dangerous. And isn't that part of having friends, being willing to do stupid and dangerous things for them(pick them up from a bad part of town, go with them to collect their things from a scary (ex)boyfriend's place).

a lep/jag that jumped me from behind as I was leaving his cage, that felt like a ton of bricks.

I had a donkey do that to me once. Managed to cling to the gate till she got down. Problem was there was a small herd that all rushed the gate soon as I had gone for it. So if I hadn't managed to keep off the ground it would have been very bad. In the end the only safe way to get out was climb the fence away from the gate.

[Legend]

Pat,

I think you have a great plan for the new website. I think a larger emphasis on care articles/sheets, as well as Pro's vs Con's to keeping certain animals would go a long way to help this particular community expand.

It seems a lot of our members are aspiring exotic owners(myself included), who are constantly seeking new information. From personal experience I will tell you that I adore websites with lots of care sheets, even if I'm not interested in the particular animal they are addressing I still like to read about them.

But if you do decide to put a large emphasis on care sheets, pro's vs con's, etc. I think it would be a really good idea to have personal accounts as well. I mean a care sheet should be only the starting point of your research, but I think every personal account I have ever heard or read is better then just a cut and dry care sheet.

I'm sure the new site would have a lot more to it then that, but that's just an idea I think is worth putting a lot of emphasis on.

Plus I would LOVE to hear more about Cynthia's experiences.

[Lionsniper]

Thank you Legend, lol, how much time do you have? There is an excellent book called Exotic Animals as Pets, I read this before I got my start in this field, I will look up the author's name as I did a quick search on 2 book sites and did not see it. It may be out of print, however. But this book is exactly what you are looking for, real accounts of owner's experiences with all sorts of critters plus photographs, one story in particular of the baby-sitting cougar.

[Legend]

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo Legend likes! lol

I would buy that book without a second thought. Thank you Cynthia, if your able to find it, please let me know!

[Lionsniper]

Hey Legend,

Another book you can still get on Alibris internet site is Tiger!Tiger! by Arjan Singh. Just don't buy the last copy, lol, I don't own it yet. Arjan raises a tigress in India and sets her free, he also does this with a leopard as well. Amazing man.

[pat]

I have to ask a dumb question here because bears do not hibernate in Florida, but do your bears stay in their dens the whole time of hibernation? I know they live off their stored fat, but since they are captive, do they do this?-

they mostly stay in their den. once in awhile they will come out. I am a little confused and surprised about the florida bears.
even though the winter is warm, I always thought that bears natural behavior is to hibernate I thought I read somewhere, or someone told me, that bears will hibernate in warm climiate states. maybe not as long as in cold climates.


I get the AFG, I will look for that article. how long ago was it written?
I don't get time to read all the articles

I agree with about the preference of our neighbors.

Sure, I would be happy to help in anyway I can for your new website.

thank you, I appreciate it.

[pat]

mary,

good point. but, I have to wonder if the travis's owner made it clear to her friend that travis could be dangerous.. I doubt the owner even thought that.

everyone thinks different, but, I personally, would never involve anyone with a problem that could occur with my bears or any animal.

I would think that zoo employees would have been trained and made clear of possible attacks, and to have a back up plan. if this is true, there will always be someone that don't follow the guidelines. I don't know, just my guess.

[pat]

thanks legend.

this is "with hope" will be a group effort.
all we can do is try.

[Lionsniper]

Well, the poor bears I cared for were kept on concrete, no way to build a den but Silver Springs has nice habitats for their bears, hmm, I wonder, honestly never gave it a thought until you wrote about your bears. There were 4 chimps at the sanc where I worked and I never trusted them, observed them alot and played catch but witnessed an over 6 ft. burly man foolishly fall for Joe's innocent attempt to shake hands and this guy was pulled over the barrier fence, I went and got Rusti, only she could handle this with the chimp but luckily the guy only got a torn shirt out of the deal. Chimp's strength is incredible. Travis's owner's friend had to know the dangers, from what I recall she was with this chimp alot thru its life. But you can grow complacent with these animals, living day after day with them. You can easily forget what they are capable of. And if that poor chimp was on antidepressants, hell, it makes humans crazy, why not a chimp? I don't think our chemistry is quite the same with non-human primates, I could be wrong, not a biologist here.

[trish_clare]

Pat,

I think you have a great plan for the new website. I think a larger emphasis on care articles/sheets, as well as Pro's vs Con's to keeping certain animals would go a long way to help this particular community expand.

It seems a lot of our members are aspiring exotic owners(myself included), who are constantly seeking new information. From personal experience I will tell you that I adore websites with lots of care sheets, even if I'm not interested in the particular animal they are addressing I still like to read about them.

But if you do decide to put a large emphasis on care sheets, pro's vs con's, etc. I think it would be a really good idea to have personal accounts as well. I mean a care sheet should be only the starting point of your research, but I think every personal account I have ever heard or read is better then just a cut and dry care sheet.

I'm sure the new site would have a lot more to it then that, but that's just an idea I think is worth putting a lot of emphasis on.

Plus I would LOVE to hear more about Cynthia's experiences.

I think personal experiences is something that we were looking into doing as well, kind of like testimonies from owners. There is not enough research out there to say "this animal acts like this" like you can with some breeds of dogs. I think something we were going to do is about a day in the life of owning exotic animals. For example, I know someone who owns a cougar/five bobcats and he spends a good part of his day cleaning out enclosures and feeding - so it's not all play. But he also spends time with his cougar, going inside and playing with him.

I believe a major goal for this website is to not just keep away people who are "impulse buyers" (thus helping to lessen some of the negative sterotypes), but to show the hard work and dedication that many owners are willing to go through to be responsible and caring towards these animals.