Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am currently a student at a university in Chicago. For my final I am writing a research paper arguing why private owners should be permitted to house exotic pets. I would like to clarify all types of exotic pets and I need enough information to support an 8 page paper. Any books, websites, articles, etc. available to help would be appreciated. Thank you!

You might ask some zoo keepers some pointed questions.
Like which zoo was the first to breed Bushmasters in captivity?
Ooops that was a private keeper.
Hmmmmm, what zoo has the best success at breeding tigers?
Oooops another private keeper.
In fact, many of the successes of the private sector have allowed zoos the luxury of keeping animals that they really don't have the time or money to research. Are there abuses?
Of course there are!
Seen any bad zoos?
They are out there too.
"Exotic" in the pet trade can be applied to anything that is not a dog or a cat. You can find ads for exotic mice, prairie dogs (which occur naturally in a great portion of this country), fish, birds, etc.
Dogs and cats. Everything else is exotic and therefore weird and we should obviously control what goes on in our neighbor's house since we have such a good grasp of what goes on in our own!
Karl H. Betz

Thanks. May I ask where you got this information? It will work great in my paper! However, I need sources, you know... research papers, can't just come up with things...
Thanks