Care first, always

What's here

• 1,468 species: only animals with documented captivity evidence and sourced species-specific care (hand-written in-depth sheets, Seriously Fish species profiles, or referenced species values). Others stay in our research files until their evidence is strong enough to publish.
• Complete species lists for the most widely kept groups (every parrot, duck, goose, swan, waxbill, pheasant, turaco, toucan and flamingo; every python, boa, chameleon, monitor, crocodilian, turtle and tortoise; popular gecko, colubrid, venomous, poison frog, newt, tarantula and scorpion genera), drawn from the eBird/Clements Checklist, The Reptile Database and GBIF. Rarely kept members of these groups are labeled as such.
• 68 in-depth sheets with hand-written care sections drawn from veterinary schools, zoos, breeders and keepers (including the care guidance from Just Wright Exotics at Beacon Fire Farm).
• Every other sheet combines species-level data (lifespan, size, water chemistry, breeding) from scientific databases with a group care guide for its family or order, written from veterinary and keeper references.

How the numbers work

• Each species' lifespan, weight, length, clutch size and similar numbers come from AnAge, the Amniote Life History Database, FishBase or SeaLifeBase. When more than one reports a value, the sheet shows each and their average.
• Group care guides give typical temperature, humidity and husbandry ranges for the group, with their own citations. Always compare them with the species-specific numbers and sources.
• Clint's Reptiles ratings appear where Clint has reviewed the species, with a link to his video.

How the law snapshots work

• Each species is checked against the current federal injurious wildlife list (50 CFR 16), the Endangered Species Act list (50 CFR 17.11), CITES listings from Species+, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act list (50 CFR 10.13), the Big Cat Public Safety Act, CDC and FDA rules, and USDA Animal Welfare Act licensing.
• State and local law isn't summarized species by species, because it changes often and varies so much. The Laws page links every state's wildlife and agriculture agency.

Only animals people actually keep

• Every species needs evidence that it is kept in captivity: our hand-checked list, FishBase aquarium-trade records, AnAge captive longevity records, living zoo or aquarium specimens in GBIF, captive observations on iNaturalist, a Seriously Fish profile or a Clint’s Reptiles review. Each sheet shows its evidence in a “Kept in captivity?” panel; species with no record yet are labelled, not removed. Only animals no private keeper could ever obtain are left out: marine mammals limited to public display, extinct species, species never kept in captivity, and species their home country never releases to private hands.
• Photos must show the real, living animal. Scientific illustrations, museum specimens, maps, stamps and coins are filtered out by file name and by Wikimedia Commons category.
• Fish sheets add species-specific care notes from Seriously Fish profiles; reptile and amphibian sheets link the matching Reptiles Magazine and ReptiFiles care articles; every sheet links peer-reviewed veterinary and husbandry papers from PubMed where they exist.
• Public Facebook groups and pages can’t be read reliably without logging in, so they aren’t used as sources.

Please read

• This is educational information, not veterinary or legal advice. Every animal is an individual: work with a qualified veterinarian, especially for diet changes, medications and vaccines.
• Many species here are large, dangerous, venomous, endangered or simply not suited to private homes. Their sheets describe professional care so you can understand them, not as encouragement to keep one.
• Never release a pet, fish, plant or invertebrate into the wild.

In an emergency

Call your emergency vet right away. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: 888-426-4435 (a consultation fee may apply). Venomous bite or sting: call 911, then Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.