Here’s a List of 14 Exotic Animals That You Can Legally Own in Texas
Texas has an estimated 7.2 million dogs, according to the American Veterinary Association that's more than any other state. Safe to say, dogs are a Texan's best friend. But perhaps you’re interested in adopting a less common pet into your Houston, TX home.
While there are few you might actually want living in your home, here are 16 exotic pets that you can legally own in Texas.
My wife's once front-runner for an exotic pet: a galago. It's also known as a bush baby. Bush babies average just 7 inches in length and weigh about 2-3 lbs. They eat insects and fruit, and in captivity they can live up to 16 years. They are primates, but as you probably suspected that are much closer to a lemur than a monkey.
Not unlike many human babies, bush babies have big round eyes, and are nocturnal by nature, but the similarities don’t end there, they also often smell like their own urine.
If you're worried about having to chase your dog up and down the road, or losing track of a teeny-tiny bush baby, then maybe a super-slow sloth is perfect for you.
While their natural habitat is found in South and Central America, no reason why you couldn't build your new sloth a suitable habitat right here in East Texas, and they're not much bigger than a small dog.
Sloths range in size from 8 to 17 lbs., depending on the particular species. But heads-up, if you choose a sloth as your forever pet, it'll actually be close to forever. They usually live for about 20 years in the wild, and they are recorded to have lived for up to 30 years in captivity.
In Texas the list of exotic animals approved for you, according to Texas Capital, is actually quite exotic and long: kangaroos, orangutans (for example King Louie in "Jungle Book"), even one of the biggest Big Cats, Tigers, with a few stipulations are allowed to be privately owned.
But word to the wise, steer clear of cheetahs, chimps, jaguars, lions, and gorillas, all of these animals are prohibited in Texas... And pretty dangerous too.