Answers to the questions people actually ask
Six free tools, each on its own page, built on the same 158 fact-checked care guides as the rest of this site. No ads, no affiliate links, no sign-up, and every one of them shows its working — including what it deliberately does not model.
Is it big enough?
Floor area or volume, judged against the recognised standards — all of them, when they disagree.
Open tool →Can it eat that?
Staple, occasional, rare treat or never, with the reason. An unlisted food comes back "not on our list", never a guess.
Open tool →What does it really cost?
Setup, monthly, first year and lifetime, itemised — with electricity worked out from real wattage.
Open tool →Which of these two is easier?
Two species on identical axes: space, company, cost, lifespan and daily time.
Open tool →Is this ammonia reading dangerous?
Free ammonia from your kit's total, the pH and the temperature — the number that actually harms fish.
Open tool →Is this bedding safe?
Safe, caution or avoid for the animal you keep, and why.
Open tool →Three things every tool does
The arithmetic is the easy part. What makes these worth using is what they refuse to do: guess, smooth over the disagreement between standards, or hide the formula.
The same calculators also run on every species page with the animal already chosen, so a guide and its numbers never disagree.
- Shows its workingEvery result ends in a "how this is calculated" panel: the formula, the assumptions, what it deliberately does not model, and dated sources.
- Never guessesAn unrecorded minimum says so. A food we have not checked comes back "not on our list". A capped list says how many it dropped.
- Reads the same data as the guidesThe tools and the 158 care guides load the same files, so a number here is the number on the guide — and where the recognised standards disagree, you see all of them.
Finding an exotics vet
We do not publish a vet directory, and that is deliberate. A list of practices we have not verified, presented as though we had, is worse than no list — and this is the one page where someone might be reading it in an emergency.
What we can tell you is where the real directories are, and what to ask before you need them.
Where to look
- Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians — the professional body for reptile and amphibian medicine, with a member directory. arav.org
- Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians — the equivalent for rabbits, rodents, ferrets and other small mammals. aemv.org
- House Rabbit Society — chapter-maintained rabbit-vet lists. Coverage is patchy by region, which the organisation says itself. rabbit.org
- Your nearest exotics-only or avian practice — even if they do not treat your species, reception will usually know who does.
- Local keeper groups and rescues — a rescue that handles your species has already found the good vet in your area, and will tell you.
What to ask when you call
- Do you see this species routinely, or occasionally?
- Roughly how many do you see in a month?
- Who covers your out-of-hours, and do they see this species too?
- Can I register now, before anything is wrong?
Register before you need to. The last two questions are the ones that matter at 11pm on a Sunday, and neither can be answered then.