# How many Exotic Cat owners?



## Mongouk (Apr 17, 2012)

Hi Guys,

Basically, I'm just trying to gauge how many people on this forum are Exotic Cat owners?

I'm researching towards my DWAL, potentially for a serval (to start.... the missus has been warned that although we've only had our house since September, we might be looking for bigger gardens outside of town ), and basically wanted to see which figures in the community were around?

Also just wondered what the general concensus on enclosure sizes were for these sized cats (Potentially looking at Jaguarundis or Ocelot etc)?

I've been quoted minimums from 15' x 20' to 10m x 20m?

If I get an animal, I want to house it somewhere happily and comfortably for it's whole life, not mess around with expansions later on.

Thanks guys,

Mongo
(Mark)


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## theman (Nov 11, 2010)

servals need a height of at least 2.5m
they are hardy and could be kept all the year outdoors with weatherproof sleeping boxes 
the size of the enclosure must be at least 15m squared


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## theman (Nov 11, 2010)

same for ocelots aswell


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## Mongouk (Apr 17, 2012)

Sounds good. The plan is to move out of the city. Get some land and get building going i think!

So plenty of time for planning yet


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## theman (Nov 11, 2010)

what species have you decided on ?


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## Mongouk (Apr 17, 2012)

Thinking serval to start as they seem to have the better reputation. Then take it from there. If we can get a farm or somewhere and see what the serval is like to keep price wise then see how we're going to expand. 

Still vry very early days yet though!

Have you got any?


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## theman (Nov 11, 2010)

no i don't have servals but would love to one day :2thumb:

for servals your looking at around 5-10k per serval


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## Mongouk (Apr 17, 2012)

So that would limit any first hand advice then as apparently no one has exotic cats then.... Lol

Ive seen the evidence for ABB so must just be shy!

Anyone else hiding out there? Pm would do haha


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## MrFerretman6 (Sep 1, 2011)

No offense but seriously consider this. Some of these cats can be extremely aggressive and in no way should be taken on by a novice.

You can get Savannah cats which are Serval/domestic cross. This may be a better idea for your first as they can be kept in a domestic environment but should be provided with an outdoor enclosure.

I looked into keeping Exotic cats a few years back but after all my research, I had put myself off. The space being one of the main reasons, in addition to animal ethics.

It will cost you a fortune and take up a lot of your time. Do the right thing for the animals sake. If in a couple of years you still want one then hopefully you will have the knowledge to keep them happy.


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## Mongouk (Apr 17, 2012)

Thanks for the advice, im well aware of potential issues, and fully intend to continue on my research.

I have lived and worked with a variety of animals of different temperamentss, and apart from an aunts dog who was jealous of me when i was small, i've faired fine.

To be honest im not sure whether i particularly agree with savannahs and bengals but i appreciate where you are coming from.

If you had decided after years of driving that you wanted a ferrari and someone told you that you should get a toyota mr2 with ferrari bodykit, what would you think?

Like i say appreciate the warning and assume plenty of people go in blinkered but i have considered my options so far.


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## kev mac (Apr 13, 2016)

*serval*

Hi have just joined and i have a serval and she is really tame but she has had her moments up till she was 8 months old she would bite and purr at the same time servals play hard.


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