It Is Against The Law To Keep These Animals As Pets In The US

Life gets more exciting when you live on the wild side. For some people that means choosing an unusual pet like a boa constrictor, an unusual rodent, or even a large cat. But if you live in the States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has some say over the pets Americans can own. And individual states have their own laws, too. Some states allow almost anything that creeps, crawls, or slithers, while others forbid almost all pets except domesticated cats and dogs.

Simba and Mufasa were fun to watch. But owning your own lion - or tiger, or leopard is pretty difficult to achieve when you live in the U.S. Twenty-one states in the U.S. ban all dangerous exotic pets. And big cats fall into that category.

Sugar gliders have gained a reputation as a cute, nocturnal relative of the flying squirrel. But several states have prohibited their residents from owning these animals as pets. This could be because of the large, aviary-like space they require because of the noise these little animals make.

You might think anyone willing to have a skunk in their home has gone off the deep end. But plenty of people in the U.S. think these animals make wonderful pets. Nonetheless, even if you have a skunk’s scent glands surgically removed, there’s no guarantee you’ll be allowed to own one.

Hedgehogs are tiny, spiky balls of fun. Surprisingly, these little bundles of quills are controversial among animal experts and animal activists.

Slow lorises are small primates native to Northeast India and Southeast Asia. You can purchase them from other countries, such as Russia and Japan, but it’s illegal to export them. Even if you were to acquire a slow loris, it’s unethical to do so. They are typically captured directly from the wild. Then, they get transported in horrible conditions. And often, they have their back teeth painfully removed.

If you want to find out about the other pets, watch this video to the end.