Do you know people who live alone and get tired of being lonely? Does your neighborhood have a college or many retirement communities? If you have always loved animals and creepy crawly things, then this could be the perfect business opportunity for you.

Cats and dogs take lots of care and time. They get sick and need veterinary care. There are lots of people who are allergic or live in a place where they are unable to have a traditional pet because of building restrictions (such as apartment buildings, retirement homes, and dorms). The answer may be an exotic pet store.

Exotic pets make truly unique and fascinating pets. They require minimal daily maintenance, and can provide entertainment, and even companionship. Although most people do not think of insects, rodents, amphibians, or reptiles as pets, many of them have personalities and can become great companions.

Take the gecko for instance, after they get to know you, they may snuggle on your shoulder and give you kisses with their little lizard tongues! While not all non-traditional pets are quite this friendly, they are sure to provide hours of entertainment and help you to earn money at the same time.

CARE AND FEEDING

Since most non-traditional pets take very little proper care, you will not have to spend lots of time taking care of your products. All you will need to start your business are some tanks, some substrates (bottom material), some heating pads and/or heat lamps, a dark hiding place in each tank for the creature to relax and sleep, and water dishes.

You will need to keep the tanks clean but if you use a good substrate, it is easy to do. Using the heat lamps on a timer will save you the time of shutting them on and off. They will go off in the afternoon and lower their temperatures at night.

Smaller exotic pets will eat mainly crickets and can be fed as little as 2x/week. Pinky mice, mealworms, and wax worms are occasional feeding alternatives. If you choose to sell larger pets, such as snakes, you may need larger mice, rats or small rabbits.

BENEFITS OF SELLING A NON-TRADITIONAL PET

There is very little you can do that will kill them (other than not caring for them properly!). They take very little time and space. They hardly ever need to visit a veterinarian. Most places do not sell exotic pets on a regular basis. They only carry the occasional exotic pets.

There are many exotic pets that you can offer such as: Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Malaysian Jungle Nymph, Thai Five Horn Rhino Beetle, Thai Spotted Jewel Beetle, hundreds of different tarantulas, a wide variety of geckos, and thousands of different types of snakes.

MARKETING YOUR EXOTIC BUSINESS

Finding clients is easy. You can visit your local school or university and talk about your creatures; contact your local retirement communities and offer to provide a talk about some of the different pets; take out a small ad in your local newspaper; or even create a web site that offers them around the world!

RESOURCES

If you are interested in starting a non-traditional pet store, there is lots of information to help you choose and maintain the pets you offer. Here are some links to get you started:

– To purchase exotic insects and supplies:

http://www.bugsdirectuk.com

http://www.pet-care-plus.com/

– To find out more about exotic pets:

http://www.insecthobbyist.com/breeder/

– More information about the care and feeding of exotic pets:

http://www.altpet.net