Kennel for Exotics?

[EightLeggedFrea]

Surely we’ve see kennels for dogs and cats all over the place, but what they built those kinds of places for exotics? You know, like a hotel for snakes, Ts, etc? Like if the owner had to go out of town for a while and couldn’t find anybody to care for his 10-foot snake or vast menagerie of tarantulas or cobra (if I was the owner I'd welcome hot snakes if I had the right staff and if ownership of such animals was legal in the area)? I’m not sure if any such specific place exists, but I got the idea when I drove by a store that sells exotics and aquatic flora, and then a dog kennel.

Do you think this would be a profitable business plan seeing as more people than before are keeping exotic animals? How would one go about setting up such an establishment? I’m not really talking serious, it’s just an idea I got and felt I should mention since I’ve heard anything like this come up before?

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Well, for starters it might depend on your locale. It wouldn't fly in a lot of places because your customer base would be too small. You might have better luck if you offered your services to do in-home care, but that would depend on the level of trust people would have in you. It's a pretty common business model for dog-sitters, I think.

 

[pitbulllady]

Surely we’ve see kennels for dogs and cats all over the place, but what they built those kinds of places for exotics? You know, like a hotel for snakes, Ts, etc? Like if the owner had to go out of town for a while and couldn’t find anybody to care for his 10-foot snake or vast menagerie of tarantulas or cobra (if I was the owner I'd welcome hot snakes if I had the right staff and if ownership of such animals was legal in the area)? I’m not sure if any such specific place exists, but I got the idea when I drove by a store that sells exotics and aquatic flora, and then a dog kennel.

Do you think this would be a profitable business plan seeing as more people than before are keeping exotic animals? How would one go about setting up such an establishment? I’m not really talking serious, it’s just an idea I got and felt I should mention since I’ve heard anything like this come up before?

Seconding what has already been said, for the most part, the customer base in most areas would be too small. There ARE exotic animal-sitting businesses, who will come to your place and take care of the animals during your absence, however. The thing with many exotic animals, especially mammals and birds, is that they become very attached to their "place" and only feel really secure there, and are likely to stop eating and get stressed out if moved. Most such animals aren't like dogs(and to a lesser extent, cats), which can be boarded away from home or even dropped off at a "doggie day care" on a regular basis, without becoming very stressed out. The thing with most reptiles and arachnids is that unlike cats and dogs and other warm-blooded animals, they do not require daily care, anyway. Unless the owner is planning a long trip away from home, one that will last more than a week or two, most snakes and spiders and scorpions will do just fine being left alone with a supply of water during the owner's absence, and would only require someone to perhaps check in to make sure the temps inside the home do not exceed or drop below certain levels during more extreme weather, in other words, to make sure the heat or AC is working properly. That's a pretty far cry from animals that have to eat, drink and poop every single day, or have to be exercised on a regular basis, or have a deeply-ingrained need for frequent social contact.

pitbulllady

 

[bugmankeith]

Sometimes by me you can find ferrets,parrots,iguanas,rabbits, and hamsters up for adoption at a local animal shelter, but it's not very often.