Can you buy owls as pets

In most cases, there could be a hidden caveat where owning an owl may only be for certain purposes. Technically, you can keep them, but your ownership is supervised by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

If you cannot keep an owl or provide for certain standards, they can recall or take the owl away from you. Ultimately, I think that just because your state may not explicitly ban you from getting an owl does not mean you should get one. While some exotic animals can be low maintenance pets, an owl is not one of them. In fact, some species of owls imprint on humans, so while they may be docile in your presence, they may be aggressive or stressed out when someone else takes care of them in your absence.

Despite their silence and mysterious demeanor, owls are actually birds of prey that feed on invertebrates, fish, reptiles, smaller birds, and smaller mammals. This depends on the type of owl you have since some owls feed mostly on insects while species like Barn Owls prefer to hunt for rodents. Doing so puts your owl at risk for developing health problems due to their diet. In professional owl centers, owl caretakers have large containers of live rodents and insects that can serve as owl food.

In some cases, there are large freezers filled with gopher and rabbit carcasses to be thawed and cleaned before being served to owls. Sounds nasty? It is. Now, consider that owls have a 10 to year lifespan. Do you and your household intend to feed an owl this way several times a day? Owls sleep during the day and are active at night. If you get a male and female owl, the sound of their mating may even be louder. Specialized veterinarians can cost way more than your regular veterinarian visit.

But if you like owls, it is best to sponsor one by making a cash donation at a rehab center near you. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.

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The first sign of trouble is usually a loss of appetite and general disinterest in things. As with most creatures, it is quite likely that owls will need medical treatment at some point in their lives. Barn Owls have a life expectancy of about 20 years and people often find that their circumstances change or that for some reason they no longer wish to keep their Barn Owl. Alternative suitable homes can be very difficult to find. Bird sanctuaries often refuse to take captive bred Barn Owls as they already have as many as they can accommodate.

The hardships caused by properly caring for an owl are a big reason why it is best to leave them in the wild, as beautiful and captivating as these creatures may be.

For starters, owls cannot be kept inside a standard indoor parrot cage. They must be kept in a large aviary with both indoor and outdoor access, as well as access to a bath pan that must be kept clean.

Owls fly silently, but their feathers will make noise if they are not kept clean. This noise is detrimental to their hunting. These birds are raptors that live and hunt independently. Unlike other types of large birds like macaws or cockatoos , owls do not live in flocks in the wild, making them extremely antisocial when it comes to other birds except for their mates and their offspring.

The flock mentality is what allows a parrot to successfully integrate itself into a human family. Since owls lack that sort of mindset, they view everyone except for the one person they choose as their "mate" as an enemy or prey, and will likely attack others on sight. Diet is another concern that makes it nearly impossible to successfully keep owls as pets. Since owls are technically a bird of prey, they have specialized nutritional needs that cannot be met by feeding them seeds, pellets or fresh foods like fruits and vegetables.

As a matter of fact, if you presented any of these treats to an owl, he or she would likely not even recognize them as food. As one might imagine, this can be a less than pleasant ordeal to witness, much less to have to take part in several times per day. Like all birds, owls can be quite messy eaters, so cleaning up after meals is another chore that most people would find hard to stomach.

They are destructive and can easily rip apart anything you might have in their enclosure.