Caring for Exotic Pets and Wildlife

#348: Dr. Dan Johnson explains the appeal of African pygmy hedgehogs, noting their quiet nature, small size, low maintenance, lack of odor. He recommends scattering hedgehog kibble in a tray with ping-pong balls and other objects for foraging enrichment — along with small pieces of every imaginable fruit or vegetable.

#347: Cara Giaimo tells the story of many fascinating creatures in the sea, along with glorious illustrations of them, in her precious little book “Leaving the Ocean was a Mistake: Life Lessons from Sixty Sea Creatures” including the Vampire Squid, the Sea Mouse and the Blobfish. 

#346: Dr Dan Johnson sees more rabbits than any other untraditional pet at his Avian and Exotic Clinic in Raleigh, North Carolina — and sees many every day, mostly for digestive problems caused by not feeding the right timothy hay.

#345: Meredith Tollison, an intuitive who professionally makes communication connections between people and their pets, has been called upon to find Riley the tortoise FOUR(!) times. As with many "lost" pets, Riley has given Meredith physical descriptions of where she is so that her people can come find and fetch her. 

#344: Paul Radice breeds rare turtles like Elizabeth the albino Chinese long neck water turtle, which is now extinct in China. Angel's Hatchery keeps 4 males for every 2 females to ensure fertilized eggs. One could say they are running a Turtle Brothel!

#343: Dr. Angela Lennox, owner of the Avian and Exotic Vet Clinic in Indianapolis, traces her concern for the welfare of animals back to the eight baby possums she rescued from a roadside as a girl, which morphed into a veterinary degree along with a double board certification in exotic animal care, pro bono work in wildlife rehabilitation — and now a non-profit called Rewilding Indiana.

 #342: Ariel Heinicke in Berkeley California created the Betta World for Bettas advocacy group to raise awareness about the harmful way these beautiful popular fish are warehoused and sold by the big box stores in small plastic "take out" containers. The group's goal is to educate and advocate for Betta's welfare and improved standards of care by those who sell and those who acquire them.  

#341: Doug Mader reminds you that whether it’s a tortoise that lives many decades, or a mouse that only lives a short while, it is never a good idea to give anyone a living thing — other than a houseplant! 

#340: Paul Radice at Angels Hatchery and his wife Judith were the first breeders to create Albino tortoises — and enchanted Tracie by introducing her to Albert, the great grandson of their first breeder Norman, who is now 130 lbs and still lives with them.

#339: Jeff Beane is Herpetology Collections Manager for the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences where he has been documenting the shrinking populations since 1985. He talks about the Southern Hognose Snake in particular, which has lost 97% of its habitat and is on the "Threatened" list but without the environment it requires is unlikely to rebound (and is quite a different creature from the eastern Hognose Snake which James Taylor featured in a song!).