Exotic Animal Adoption Program

This program involves taking in animals that can no longer be kept by their owners and place them in suitable adoptive homes. We also accept  animals that other local shelters aren't trained or equipped to handle. 
This  provides an outlet for exotic pet owners as well as reduce threats on our native animals typically due to the release of these unwanted, non-native animals.

*Note*

We have listed our Adoption Procedures and Guidelines below.  Please read these carefully and in their entirety if you are interested in adopting an animal.

Adoption procedures and guidelines

Quick Links

Finding the animal

Adoption Application

Approval/Denial

Adoption Agreement

Getting your new animal

List of available animals

Adoption Application

Finding the animal:

Find the animal (s) that you are interested in on our Animals For Adoption page. Please feel free to ask questions about the particular animals. Do not ask about general care and maintenance of the animals. It is your responsibility to know about the species, we will tell you about the individual. Adoption fees will apply. These fees vary on a case by case basis, dependant upon several circumstances i.e., vet expenses, time, food, etc... Although, we do our best to keep these fees down to a bare minimum, as our #1 goal is to place these animals in new homes.  

Click here for the animals available for adoption!

Fill out our Adoption Application:

We reserve the right to refuse any applicant for any reason although we will typically provide a reason for denial. Shipping is available, however preference will be given to local adoptions or those that can meet to pick-up within a reasonable distance. Here are a couple points to remember when filling out the application. 

• You much choose a specific animal or animals. Generalizing such as putting "snakes" will be grounds for immediate denial.

• You must complete the entire application. You must answer every question unless the question does not apply, ex: Do you plan to breed? If you answer no, then you don't need to answer the next question about what to do with the offspring. *Special Note* Question # 6 "If you must give up this animal, what do you plan to do?" The correct answer is that you will contact us first to let us know that you must part with the animal. The Adoption Agreement specifically states that if you must part with the animal adopted from us, you must give us first notice and we have the right to reclaim the animal. If we do not take the animal back, we will help advise on a proper placement.

• Please be as specific and detailed as possible. We will e-mail or call if we need a question answered, however if you give a lot of general answers, we will not take the extra time to find out the details. An example of this would be: What equipment do you think you will need now for the animal? Good answer "I will get a cage that is 6'L x 2'W x 3'T made of waterproofed wood, Plexiglas and 1/4" hardware cloth. It will be front opening with two padlocks. I will provide a large water dish big enough for him to soak in. I will have a ceramic heat lamp and an under-tank heater along with a UV light on a  timer set at 14 hours of day light, and large sturdy branches for him to climb on. I will use Carefresh (r) bedding for him.  " A bad answer is " a large cage and a water dish." 

Before you fill out the application, be sure you know everything you need to know about the specific animal and have asked any questions, have read and understand all the guidelines, are prepared to pay any fee’s, and most importantly, are prepared to open your heart and your home to a new animal. Please do not fill out the application unless you are prepared to follow through 100%. It takes a lot of time and effort to review the applications and contact referrals. If we continue to receive applications from people who will not follow through, we will have to start charging for application processing. 

Click here for the online Adoption Application!

Approval/Denial:

Once your application is submitted, it’s time to play the waiting game. It will take some time to review your application, so please be patient. We may contact you via e-mail or phone to ask some follow-up questions. Applications are generally processed twice a month, although it may sometimes take more than a month to review the applications. When we meet to review the application, we will look at all the applications submitted in the time since our last review. WE DO NOT KEEP APPLICATIONS ON FILE, NOR DO WE HAVE A WAITING LIST. If you do not get the animal in which you apply for and you see another come available that interests you, you must submit a new application to be considered. We will choose the best applicants in a given period and give them first shot at adopting. If we receive a couple equally good applications, we will answer them in the order received.

Adoption agreement and fees:

Once you are approved, we will contact you and send you an Adoption Agreement. The Agreement and any associated adoption and shipping fees must be received within 10 days of approval, or your approval will be revoked, your application withdrawn, and the animal taken off of the hold list.

Getting your new animal home:

After we receive the Agreement and fees, we will be in contact to make arrangements to get your new animal to you. This must be completed within 30 days of Approval. After 30 days, the adoption fee will be forfeited and the animal placed back up for adoption. Exceptions can be made, but we may ask for additional compensation for time extensions.

Click here to go to our list of available animals!

Green Iguana	If you are considering becoming a  first time reptile owner, Please visit "So you think you want a reptile." Read this carefully and be honest with yourself as to whether or not you are ready for this commitment.  *NEW CONTACT*:   Be sure to visit the National Iguana Awareness Day website for great information about iguanas or to become a volunteer to help prevent iguana cruelty.
Boa Constrictor	Thank you to Melissa Kaplan for all her hard work in providing accurate care information on the net for so many animals. To the left are a few links for information on some of our most popular animals. Please visit these links to find out everything you need to know about the captive care requirements for these animals.
Burmese Python	Due to the ever increasing need for our services, our dedication to answering e-mails is slightly restricted. We will try to provide as much information as possible about each animal listed. Feel free to contact us for additional details, however, I ask that you limit correspondence to SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY. We will  keep this page updated regularly, so please do not ask if we have any unlisted animals available. If we have them, they will be posted on this site. Also, we are not assembling a want list at this time, so again, please do not ask to be notified if a particular animal becomes available.