Welfare of exotic pets - evidence: scoping review

Scoping review conducted by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) on the evidence of the welfare of exotic pets in Scotland.


Methods

The literature search used the search engine “Web of Science”. Each search string included the common and scientific name(s) of the selected species (see table 1), plus the terms “‘behaviour; transport; captivity; infectious disease; husbandry; welfare; mortality; nutrition; nutritional disease; metabolic bone disease; trauma’. Additional search terms added after a preliminary search were “self-injury, self-trauma, aggression, destructive, vocal*, pain, lethargy, stereotypy, pacing*, distress, fur chewing*, grooming and feather pecking*” (*included where relevant to the species).

When search results for “behaviour OR behavior” returned a large body of work relating to wild animals in their natural habitat, or were used as experimental models, the terms “AND captive OR pet” were added as modifiers. The term “transport” was ambiguous and often returned studies of physiological processes (e.g., ion transport), whereas studies of welfare in transport mostly used the term “transport stress”. Therefore, to refine these results, the search line “(transport OR relocation) AND (stress OR welfare)” was included.

The journals: “Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice” were also searched according to the species being examined. Additional sources were EAZA Best Practice Guidelines, AZA and USDA APHIS Animal Care Guides.

Owing to the large number of species covered with vastly differing degrees of information available, the search criteria were adapted according to the level of information available on Web of Science. Where the available studies did not provide any information about the life of a particular animal in captivity, additional avenues were explored:

1) Cascading by searching the references cited by the publications available.

2) Searching Pubmed, Google Scholar or Hobbyist/ sales websites.

3) Searching for RSPCA care guides.

Evidence from Scotland was prioritised and where evidence was unavailable, studies were included in the following order of priority: Rest of UK, Europe/ North America (for easier comparison, evidence was prioritised in studies where the climate and pet-keeping practices are more similar to Scotland, and where species are kept as “exotic” pets rather than in their native countries). Regulatory monitoring is mentioned where it applies to a particular species (with respect to CITES, importation into the UK and “Dangerous Wild Animal” regulations).

Table 1. Animals included in this review, as defined by Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC). Terms are listed at species (S), genus (G), Order (O), Class (C) or Family (F) level.

Mammal

Insectivore
Common name

African pygmy hedgehog

Scientific name

Atelerix albiventris (S)

Rodents
Common name

Chinchilla

Scientific name

Chinchilla lanigera (S)

Common name

Chipmunks

Scientific name

Tamius striatus, Eutamius sibiricus (S)

Common name

Degu

Scientific name

Octodon degus (S)

Common name

Dwarf hamsters

Scientific name

Phodopus roborovskii, Phodopus campbelli, Phodopus sungorus, Cricetulus (barabensis) griseus (S)

Carnivores
Common name

Coatis

Scientific name

Nasua spp. (G)

Common name

Leopard cats

Scientific name

Prionailurus bengalensis, Prionailurus javanensis (S)

Common name

Meerkat

Scientific name

Suricata suricatta (S)

Common name

Ocelot

Scientific name

Leopardus pardalis (S)

Common name

Serval

Scientific name

Leptailurus serval (S)

Primates
Common name

Bushbabies

Scientific name

Galago spp., Otolemur spp. (G)

Primates

Common name

Capuchin monkeys

Scientific name

Cebus spp., Sapajus spp. (G)

Common name

Lemurs

Scientific name

Lemur catta, Varecia variegata, Eulemur fulvus (S)

Common name

Marmosets

Scientific name

Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix geoffroyi, Cebuella pygmaea (S)

Common name

Squirrel monkeys

Scientific name

Saimiri spp. (G)

Common name

Tamarins

Scientific name

Saquinus spp., Leontocebus spp. (G)

Marsupials
Common name

Sugar glider

Scientific name

Petaurus breviceps (S)

Common name

Wallabies

Scientific name

Macropus spp., Notamacropus spp. (G)

Birds

Parrots
Common name

African grey parrot

Scientific name

Psittacus erithacus (S)

Common name

Amazon parrots

Scientific name

Amazona spp. (G)

Common name

Cockatoos

Scientific name

Cacatuidae (F)

Common name

Eclectus parrot

Scientific name

Eclectus roratus (S)

Common name

Macaws

Scientific name

Ara spp. (G)

Common name

Ring-necked parakeet

Scientific name

Psittacula krameri (S)

Perching birds
Common name

Finches (except canaries)

Scientific name

Fringillidae (F)

Common name

Barn owl

Scientific name

Tyto alba (S)

Common name

Eagles

Scientific name

Accipitridae (F)

Common name

Eagle owls

Scientific name

Bubo spp. (G)

Common name

Harris hawk

Scientific name

Parabuteo unicinctus (S)

Common name

Lanner falcon

Scientific name

Falco biarmicus (S)

Common name

Saker

Scientific name

Falco cherrug (S)

Common name

Peregrine falcon

Scientific name

Falco peregrinus (S)

Fishes

Common name

Cichlids

Scientific name

Cichlidae (F)

Common name

Clownfishes

Scientific name

Amphiprion spp., Premnas spp. (G)

Common name

Koi carp

Scientific name

Cyprinus rubrofuscus (S)

Common name

Siamese fighting fish

Scientific name

Betta splendens (S)

Reptiles

Common name

Ball (Royal) python

Scientific name

Python regius (S)

Common name

Burmese python

Scientific name

Python bivittatus (S)

Common name

Bearded dragons

Scientific name

Pogona spp. (G)

Common name

Chameleons

Scientific name

Chamaeleonidae (F)

Common name

Corn snake

Scientific name

Pantherophis guttatus (S)

Common name

Garter snakes

Scientific name

Thamnophis spp. (G)

Common name

Green iguana

Scientific name

Iguana iguana (S)

Common name

Tegus

Scientific name

Salvator spp. (G)

Common name

Tortoises

Scientific name

Testudo spp. (G)

Amphibians

Common name

Alpine newt

Scientific name

Ichthyosaura alpestris (S)

Common name

Argentinian horned frog

Scientific name

Ceratophrys ornata (S)

Common name

Fire-bellied toads

Scientific name

Bombina spp. (G)

Common name

Tree frogs

Scientific name

Hylidae (F)

Invertebrates

Common name

Cephalopods

Scientific name

Cephalopoda (C)

Common name

Decapods

Scientific name

Decapoda (O)

Common name

‘Tarantulas’

Scientific name

Theraphosidae (F)

SAWC agreed to exclude species that are already prohibited from sale/transfer/breeding under invasive species legislation, such as raccoon dogs, Nyctereutes procyonoides, raccoons, Procyon lotor, red-eared terrapins, Trachemys scripta elegans, etc. but left in South American coatis, Nasua nasua, as other species are being traded (e.g., white-nosed coati, Nasua narica).

Contact

Email: SAWC.Secretariat@gov.scot

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