Regular old dogs, cats, and birds are a thing of the past — at least for some people. Why have a cat, their thinking goes, when they can have some exotic version that may or may not ruin their house, eat their other pets, carry disease, or bite everything within 10 feet?

Your guess is as good as good ours. Each state has its own set of exotic pet criteria — so some may be legal in some states and not others. Check all of that out if this type of pet interests you. And dare we say it — don’t adopt any of these pets casually. There are risks associated with each of them that may surprise you.

Scroll through the gallery to see which exotic pets are becoming more popular by the day.

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