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Can you train an exotic pet?
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My greyhound, Andy Warhol, wonders why Boomer the tortoise gets to
eat a cherry tomato and he doesn't.
Most animals, from a tiger in Las Vegas to a snake at your house, have the ability to learn from their owner. You cannot train all animals like a dog. But, if you understand their behavior and how they react to things, you can get a desired response from them.
Things can go wrong though too. You always need to remember that you are dealing with a wild animal. I’ve got scars all over my arms that show I’ve been careless at times. Too many iguana nails have dug through my flesh. I was once scratched by a barred owl while giving a talk and I kept going, not wanting to stop and wash my arm. That too resulted in a nasty infection.
Working with wild animals can be a challenge. Years ago I worked with a coati mundi, which is a south American raccoon. They are notoriously aggressive, but I could give a decent talk using him if I filled my pockets with food while I held him. He would dig find raisins, apple slices, and peanuts. Once the coati dove head-first into a glass of water and started chewing ice cubes. It was good for a laugh and I learned another way to keep him busy.
North American porcupine.
Photo by Marc Cohen.
I also worked with a north American porcupine who whimpered and begged for food. I could get him to stay in one spot or to walk in whatever direction I wanted by laying vegetables in a line. He would walk, eating the vegetables as he went along.
Tortoises, and many reptiles, love to eat foods that are orange and red in color. I had a tortoise named Boomer who would crawl through a mine field if he knew there was a cherry tomato or a strawberry on the other side.
Big snakes pose a different type of challenge. You really do NOT want to wiggle food in front of one while trying to hold it. If you gently pet the snake before getting it out of the cage, it will eventually learn that it is not being fed. It takes many repetitions of the procedure, but eventually they catch on to the idea. Snakes have feeding response, which means they act first and think later. If they see a hand coming into the cage, their instinct tells them that it’s probably food. You don’t want your 150 lb. python thinking you are food.
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My African grey parrot, Oliver,
taught himself all kinds of things.
My parrot has learned some things all by himself. He rings exactly like my phone, makes smoke detector noises – often scaring people as he does it – and can imitate the microwave and a car horn. He learned all of those behaviors on his own, no training required.
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