Can you buy meerkats nowadays on the open market i.e. from dealers or pet shops? They are so popular nowadays it wouldn't surprise me- I'd like to add I have no wish to buy any...just interested to know.
See this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/38/meerkats-pets-97687/ in which this web page is mentioned: Jack and Mila, Meerkats in the House
Yes you can buy them very easily, I was offered a pair a couple months ago for peanuts! They have to be kept in groups, but then of course they breed very easily! They dont make good pets, they do best as they should be, wild and in family groups.
you dont need a license, you can keep almost enything wid one, but the meerkat trade started off becoz of meerkat manor+compare the meerkat.com
No. They have been available as exotic pets in smallish numbers for many years already and I've not seen any increase in interest so I think Meerkat Manor and Comparethemeerkat can be exempt from blame
=) ive noticed it in my area, not sure down south (cornwall, devon, Jersey) but i think the adverts had kids asking parents "can i have a meerkat" etc... and that story.
actually they make good pets for the very reason that they ARE social animals. If you have one pet meerkat then you become its family group, same as with any other social pet such as a dog or parrot.
that is a true point, but am sure a few other members might agree with me, its better to have a natural bonding (meerkat+meerkat) than a unnatural (meerkat+man) while why do we complain about this, since they have used meerkats/mongooses for many years in Africa to catch venomous snakes
Yes, I agree. But you need to be able to spend a lot of time with them. I guess they make very similar pets to dogs on a lot of levels really.
that's the whole point really, when it comes down to it, if the meerkat is a pet (as the thread title says) and it is kept singly then the owner needs to spend as much time as possible with it to give it an acceptable life, just as with the examples of dog or parrot. Unfortunately, owners rarely do, and the dog is restricted to a kennel all day alone and the parrot is stuck in a little cage all day alone. Ideally meerkats being kept privately should be in social groups so thye can keep each other occupied, but in that case they're not really pets any more than the ones in zoos are. I do always find it interesting that people get so het up about "wild" animals being kept as "pets" (ie by private owners) but not a word is spoken about the atrocious conditions that many other species such as rabbits or hamsters are kept in. Relatively few "wild" animals are kept privately and many of those keepers are very dedicated, often providing better conditions than in the zoos.
You could also blame Disney. If it weren't for The Lion King then no one would even know what a meerkat is and they definatley wouldn't be as popular as they are.
i think the lion king has actually had a good influence. It was part of what sparked my interest in animals.
