Animal husbandry must always be taken VERY seriously (see golden rules video).
If you can (1) buy pets from ethical sources, (2) provide a suitable environment with correct culture conditions, (3) only obtain the quantity of pets that you can properly take care of and (4) ensure that no pets escape into habitats in which they do not belong, then looking after weird and wonderful pets, and showing their life cycles and natural history stories to the next generation is an incredible way to inspire young minds and help nuture the next generation of naturalists, scientists and conservationists.
The following are strongly recommended as ethical suppliers of livestock based in the UK with fantastic ranges of weird and wonderful pets:
Martin French
BugzUK
Graham Smith
Metamorphosis
Peregrine Livefoods
Reptiles Plus
Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm
ALSO CONSIDER JOINING THE FOLLOWING SOCIETIES:
The Amateur Entomologists’ Society and The Bug Club
The Phasmid Study Group
The Royal Entomological Society
Know any other suppliers or societies that we should include here? Please contact the Weird and Wonderful Pets team by emailing sales@redfernnaturalhistory.com