Yeah none are that close except for Hershey's Zoo America.Maybe there...I live in York and zoos in Pennsylvania are few and far between.So I am creating a zoo that I am keeping cost in mind with.Not to say that in the next 10 years something will happen and priced will drop or rocket.It will be called MoonGlow Wildlife Park and here is a small sampling. I will start off like a said,with a plot of land with many out buildings.The first will be a reptile house with plenty of lizards,turtles,snakes,baby tortoises and alligators (adults will have outdoor/indoor pens),frogs,salamanders,toads,and invertabrates.Maybe a couple of small mammals or a parrot too.Fish will also be in here.Outside it will be a lush native plant garden with toad abodes,bat boxes,and birdhouses that children can build at "Scale Stations" (educational stands where kids get to go hands on,creating enrichment and other items for the park).A koi pond is crossed with a bridge.The outdoor reptile enclosures are nestled into the foliage,making it look very natural.Outdoors there will be American Alligators,Sulcata Tortoises,Red Footed Tortoises,and Aldabran Tortoises.Also in this area are enclosures for Marmosets,Ring Tailed Lemur,and Wallaby.
Sounds neat. I am pretty much lost on what I want to do. There are so many species I like I don't know where to start. I was hoping to start breeding ball pythons before I went off to college but after I got a tortoise my parents said they didn't want any more pets. Which really frustrates me since all you have to do is pretty much change their water ever day. Feed once a week and clean. Anyways Wallabies are really easy, don't have experience with Ring Tails I do know they through stink bombs with their tail though. As for Common Marmosets they smell like dirty socks. I would like to do this type of thing in college if I have the time. Get a bunch of people that are into animals and pool your money together. Then open it on weekends. Buy surplus mammals from other places and adopt birds and reptiles through adoption services.
Yeah that's a good idea.I love tortoises though.Maybe if this site is alive in about 10 years or so I will dig it up and see who wants to travel to be a part owner of a small zoo. I might replace the marmosets and lemurs with some sort of gibbon.
This is a neat thread. I'm a big fan of Asian wildlife as well as deep forest dwellers. If I could have anything regardless of cost, my list would look something like this: gharial, black panther, mugger crocodile, silvered langur, barashinga, sun bear, okapi, brown hyena, pygmy hippo, drill, cassowary, white-backed vulture, serow, dhole, asiatic lion.
I've been thinking more about how my ideal - but completely realistic for me (ie animals which can actually be kept and maintained rather than an exotic wishlist so no cranes, lemurs, red pandas or pudus) private collection if I had the financial resources would look. I'd probably need to employ someone for assistance in maintaining the gardens and animal collection. I would buy some land and build an eco-house, mainly wood with a turf roof. Inside the house, the main open plan sitting room-dining area-kitchen would have some tanks for musk and map turtles and fire-bellied toads as well as a couple of fish tanks. A low wing of the house would reach into the garden. This would have an indoor aviary for chipmunks with access to a large aviary outside. A similar enclosure would house chinchillas but with a larger inside area which would allow them to have plenty of space for exercise and enrichment. It would be climate controlled, particularly important for the chinchillas. Outside, across a path from these aviaries which are sheltered with stands of bamboo would be a wooden deck attached to the living area of the house. Underneath the decking is the filtration system for a koi pond. The large pond is surrounded by naturally landscaped gardens and a stream flows out of it. Next to it is a summer tortoise paddock. Next is a natural wetlands area with ponds and streams where native wildlife can flourish. I'd love to have a box turtle enclosure here as well but might have to settle for a terrapin pond. There are tall trees and bamboos all around creating a feeling of seclusion and calm. The gardens are long but relatively narrow and the bark paths with stepping stones in places never run in straight lines, inviting you to follow them. Next is a turf-roofed shed with three large netted aviaries attached. The supporting poles are tall, rustic and natural-looking logs. There are large moss-covered rocks, gently flowing streams and ponds with logs, bamboos and evergreens in the background. The focus of the aviaries is Asian birds with peafowl, pheasants including tragopans, mandarins (also North American wood ducks) and some red-breasted geese. On the other side of the path is a fenced in area for muntjac and there is a shelter which like the other buildings has a turf roof. The path winds around the back of the aviaries and here is a hilly paddock with rocks, surrounded by mature trees. The paddock is divided in two. Here are two small groups of ungulates: soay sheep and reindeer. They have a shelter which is also turf roofed. Given the issues of deer husbandry and aggression in males, I'm not sure how realistic the reindeer idea is. The whole garden is surrounded by a high solid fence which extends a few feet underground and has electric wire to deter foxes and intruders with holly bushes planted around the perimeter and the aviaries have onions and garlic planted around the edges to deter rodents. Does this sound realistic, obviously assuming I had pots of money? If I ever win the lottery I will add some pictures to the gallery!
I'd have a collection of canids. Coyotes, African Wild Dogs, Raccoon Dog, rarely kept species of wolf, and jackals. Depending on availability, dholes.
Was just doing some theoretical research and reindeer, it seems, should under no circumstances be kept near sheep so that's that decision made. I also read a very upsetting article about reindeer. Someone bought a male to be hired out for christmas events but had it destroyed after it gored them during rut. How awful, it was only doing what reindeer do, makes me very angry. I hate that ignorance and lack of responsibility.
I was also interested in getting some reindeer. Maybe two does, then if I can find a breeder near me with a stud borrow him or send the two over there during rut. What's the reason sheep can't be kept near them?
Reindeer are vulnerable to disease when kept near sheep, I'll see if I can find the article about it. I think you could keep some females and you can definitely hire males when needed, I saw that on a website too. EDIT: Here is the article I read.
DragonCaverns Here is a list of "sections" in my park I am designing called "Dragon Caverns Wildlife Park" 1.Paradise Path: Some featured animals include waterfowl, Caribbean flamingos, and various parrots and toucans.The animals chosen were picked because of their usually docile nature. The parks tortoise collection is also kept her consisting of Galapagos tortoise,Aldabran tortoises,and Sulcatas. 2.Main Reptile Complex: Some featured animals includes too many different species to name, this is the parks largest section. 3.Forest of the Land Crocodile: Some featured animals include the Komodo dragon and crocodile monitors. 4.Bamboo Trail: Some featured animals include Chinese alligators,red panda,muntjac deer,and bintaroung (spelling?). 5.African River: Some featured animals include Nile crocodiles,hippopotamus,greater flamingos, and marabou storks. 6.Island Rarities/Madagascan House: Some featured animals include saltwater crocodile,Fijian banded iguanas, Cayman Islands blue iguana,Panamanian golden frog,and Puerto Rican crested toads. 7.American Crocodilian Cove: Some featured animals includes a white American alligator,normal American alligators,American crocodiles, and a Cuban Crocodile. Any questions or comments or criticism is welcome
my own collection I have had exotics for many years. I have bred wallabies, marmosetts, chins, puppies, exotic parrots, hand fed cockatoos, blue and gold macaws, sun conures, parrakeets, canaries, finches. I love all of God's creation.
@lizard insanity: Are you planning on being AZA or ZAA accredited? Where do you plan on getting the komodos and red pandas from? I asked you in the other thread what places have red pandas since you said that they are common in private collections". Sounds like a nice collection it would be awesome if you did this on a marsh/swamp. Hippos would be quite expensive to upkeep but might be do-able. @rebeccavies: What species of wallabies did you have? I currently work with Parmas and Red Kangaroos as far as macropods go.
I depends on how things go,eventually I would aim for AZA accreditation .I'm not sue exactly what private collections have them but I see them fairly often for sale.As for the Komodos, I'm not sure yet. Probably from another park like St. Augustine or someplace.The Hippos wouldn't be as bad because, I only plan on 1.1 at first and then expanding and because they are the only large mammal planed in the park.
What website/publication do you see them offered for sale at? Exotichobbyist.com, Animal Finder's Guide, and exoticanimalsforsale.net are the only websites I know of that put out ads for people selling their exotics. Red Pandas were "once" offered on exoticanimalsforsale.net but the ad was deleted in a day. My guess is a scam. Does Augustine breed their Komodos?
I'm not exactly sure where I saw it but it was on a private breeders website. About St.Augustine,I believe right now they only have the male named Krakatoa, but I would imagine in the 15-20 years it would take for me to even begin building they would have gotten a female and have bred. I was just using it as an example.
right now i have 1 gray short tailed opossum,, 1 african pygmy hedgehog, 1 common degu, 2 domestic ferrets, and 2 domestic dogs my master plan for when i get my own place is all my existing pets plus... 1 richardson's ground squirrel 1 southern flying squirrel 1 reeves muntjac 1 pot bellied pig 1 african pygmy goat 1 chinese hamster 1 long tailed chinchilla 1 siberian chipmunk 1 sugar glider 1 black tailed prairie dog 1 cuiver's dwarf caiman 1 natal rat 1 spiny mouse 1 pygmy mouse 1 duprasi plus a maybe a few other interesting animals if i have the time to take proper care of them but as of right now, besides my current collection, my mom has 2 roborovoski dwarf hamsters and 1 domestic mouse which i am stuck taking care of. the thing is when my mom buys an animal, its a momentary spontanious impule buy, but when i buy an animal its educated and well researched and well thought out
A few of the above animals you named live in social groups and you would need more than one. In the future I would like amongst others thick tailed bushbaby Marbled polecats Zorrila African Crested porcupine
i will definately consider getting mates for those group and pair animals i want, and i also want to start a hoofstock collection on a large property relatively close to my house, animals i want in that collection include... American bison Elk Arabian oryx Bongo Sitatunga Addax Common eland Fallow deer Thomsons gazelle Dama gazelle Transcaspian urial Nubian ibex Blesbok Nyala Nilgai Hog deer Barasingha Pere davids deer Gemsbok Sambar deer Indian muntjac Red lechwe Markhor Scimitar horned oryx Grants zebra Alpaca Grants gazelle Aoudad Himalayan tahr Warthog amongst many other great amazing ungulate species one of my reasons is that many of these animals are kept on game ranches for hunting, and as a die hard animal lover i feel a need to care for, nurture and preserve this astonishing species
@ungulate nerd: I don't like to be picky, but is recommended that rats and sugar gliders are kept in 2s or more to keep them from getting stressed. As for my collection, it currently stands at: 0.0.1 Chinese Fire-Bellied Newt larva (belongs to javan rhino) 1.1.0 Paddle-tail Newt
