Greetings

[TexasYankee]

Hello, I'm a Massachusetts native about to relocate to the Lone Star State, hence the name.

I had parrots from the time I was ten until the time (shortly after college), I attempted to move abroad permanently. Though that attempt lasted only two years, I gave up my parrots to a retired guy and haven't gotten any more animals in the years since, mostly because I still wanted to live abroad. Now that I've finally realized that my future lies in this county (I love my homeland, I just really enjoy being a foreigner), I've decided to get some more pets, but figured I'd wait until I get to Texas, then after I'm settled in I'll go on Craigslist, where people are always giving up parrots.

I also figured that I'd look into getting some exotic mammals. Massachusetts has fairly restrictive laws on exotic animals (though oddly slightly less restrictive than the Live Free or Die State to our north where birds and mammals are concerned). So I was initially excited about moving to Texas, because Texas allows lions, bears, and chimps as pets with a license and monkeys without one, so obviously they'll allow the mammals I've always fantasized about having.

Well, as it turns out...

1. Texas banned #3 on my exotic mammal wishlist--the nine-banded armadillo--because the wild ones carry leprosy.
2. Several other mammals on my wishlist (Virginia opossums, ringtails, and raccoons) are banned for pet purposes as "furbearers." I read somewhere, and now cannot find the source, that this is a very recent development. Apparently a few years ago the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife decided to reinterpret the laws on furbearer licenses as implicitly banning the holding of these animals for all other purposes.
3. Meerkats and dwarf mongooses are illegal as pets in the entire United States. The Lacey Act prohibited the highly invasive small Asian mongoose and gave the Secretary of Agriculture authority to prohibit other potentially invasive animals. The FWS now bans most mongooses including meerkats. Of course most mongooses are limited to small ranges in Africa, and non-invasive. The FWS claims that the ban is required by the original text. I emailed the FWS asking politely what their reasoning is when the Lacey Act only names a single, highly-invasive species. I have yet to get a reply.
4. Of the remaining animals I've fantasized about keeping, all but one (the prairie dog) are rarely or never kept as pets in the United States.

On the plus side though, mousebirds and prairie dogs are legal in Texas, and kinkajous (which I'd never been interested in), seem like they might make better pets than raccoons or ringtails.

[TamanduaGirl]

Racoons are better than kinkajous but kinks aren't horrible. They can be good if you research their care, are highly invested and have nice big enclosures for them and tons or enrichment. Health wise they are often prone to seizures and like parrots many become fur pluckers.

[TexasYankee]

Hi all.
I moved to Texas and can't remember my old password. And my email isn't working, I think I used a different email address, one which I now no longer use.

So this is me again. I've been to Texas over a year. In that time I haven't actually gotten any animals, because I've realized that I don't have family here to watch them if I leave town, and the only local friends I'd feel comfortable asking to watch them travel more than I do. And it's a big city, so I feel weird paying a stranger to watch them. Still want to get animals, but that will have to wait until I'm either better established.

[Ash]

I'm glad you're being responsible about bringing animals into your life. :) It's not easy waiting, but I'm sure the wait will pay off. I'm sure you'll meet new people who you trust just as much to watch your animals but who stay at home. ;)

[TexasYankee]

I'll be honest: if I'd been able to find a hand-raised mousebird, I might not have been so cautious about it, particularly once I realized that there seems to be only one place left still selling hand-raised mousebirds, and they don't have them all that often. However since there's people constantly rehoming sugar gliders and parrots on Craigslist, and people are selling baby prairie dogs all over Texas every spring, there's no urgency. I really want an animal, but I keep telling myself "maybe after Thanksgiving," "maybe after my cousin's wedding," and so on.

[Ash]

Well, and it's not a bad thing to get an animal when you're in the position. You just have to be honest with yourself mostly and ask how often YOU travel. Or how much travelling your willing to give up. ;)

[TamanduaGirl]

Yes it's good you are weighing all the pros and cons. It's one reason why I've waited So long to get a fennec even though I moved to a legal state in '05 just never felt they'd be a good fit for the household till now.

However if you're trips are just day and weekend trips then if you can find some bonding time for when you get a new animal you may consider something like that prairie dogs. Get a couple so they keep each other company and it's easy to leave their kind of food out for a few days and not even need a pet sitter for them, just maybe have a couple water bottles up to ensure nothing goes wrong with water supply and you're good. If you are needing to leave them for longer periods of time though then that's different.

[TexasYankee]

I usually make three 4-5 day trips every year for family events. Thanksgiving is the big one, since everybody I'm comfortable asking to watch my animals also has extended family out of state.

[TamanduaGirl]

Aw yeah that's too long to leave a critter without someone checking on them. You could look into an actual pet sitter that does exotics.