5 Weird Exotic Pets You Can Keep in the UK

Exploring unconventional pets can be an exciting venture.

Here are five of the most unusual exotic pets you can legally keep in the UK:

1. Capybara

The capybara, the world’s largest rodent, weighs between 35-66kg and stands up to 65cm tall at the withers. Native to South America, capybaras are semi-aquatic with webbed feet and require a spacious environment with a swimming area. This means you’ll need a swimming pool with ramped access and minimum depth of 3.5 feet!

Capybaras are vegetarian and their diet consists of grasses, aquatic plants, fruits, and vegetables, making them excellent natural lawnmowers. You should also feed your capybara hay and cattle pellets because, like many rodents, their teeth are constantly growing. Providing chewing material will help naturally prevent dental problems.

Due to their unique needs, you can keep a Capybara in the UK but you’ll need a licence from your local council to certify your accommodation and land is sufficient to ensure proper care of the capybara.

2. Marmoset monkey

Marmosets are small primates native to South America’s tropical rainforests. They can live up to 18 years and are highly intelligent, requiring social interaction to prevent boredom and stress as they usually live in packs forming social structures in the wild.

Their diet includes tree sap, fruits, leaves, seeds and flowers. They may also eat insects and small vertebrates such as snails, lizards, frogs and baby birds. Given their complex care requirements and dietary needs, it’s crucial to provide appropriate care.

3. Octopus

Octopuses are fascinating and intelligent creatures that often interact with their human keepers. They can even differentiate between people, and will often prefer one more than others, meaning they are capable of developing personalities!

They are big creatures so require a large, well-maintained aquarium with stable water conditions as they are very sensitive to changes in their water. They live off a diet of frozen krill to be fed around 3 times a day. Their sensitivity to environmental changes necessitates diligent care.

To manage the specialised care costs, consider our exotic pet insurance options designed for unique pets like octopuses.

4. Sugar Glider

Sugar gliders are small, nocturnal marsupials known for their gliding ability. They can make endearing, playful, and entertaining pets but having a sugar glider is a long-term commitment.

They thrive in spacious, tall cages. A cage 24 inches wide, by 24 inches deep, by 36 inches high is a good minimum size for a pair of sugar gliders. Bigger is always better and the height is more valuable than the floor space due to the gliding activity.

Sugar gliders are omnivorous. They require a diet rich in nectar and sap, and will also eat both plant material and meat including fruit, insects, and even small birds or rodents. Social by nature, they need regular interaction to remain friendly and healthy, especially if you have a colony of them!

5. Giant African Land Snail

Giant African Land Snails are large terrestrial molluscs, and their shell can reach up to 7.8 inches in length and 2.7 – 3.9 inches in height. They require a warm, humid environment of about 21 degrees Celsius. The best way to achieve this is to place a heating pad under half of the snail’s tank. You should only place it under half the tank, so the snail has somewhere to go to cool down if need be. A good container for a snail is a glass or plastic aquarium tank to allow easy cleaning and visibility.

The snails like to burrow, so fill it with several centimetres of peat-free compost and a large piece of bark. They require a diet rich in vegetables and fruits. Due to their classification as an invasive species (they could significantly affect the ecosystem of your local area if released into the wild, decimating greenery and removing food sources from our native snails) it’s crucial to prevent their release into the wild.