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Background  There has been increasing concern expressed about the welfare of exotic pets worldwide. For the purposes of this article, an exotic pet is considered to be a non-domesticated species, where there are knowledge gaps on good practice (minimum standards of care), veterinary diagnostics and treatments. The categories of exotic pets included in this study were: small mammals (< 20 kg), large mammals (> 20 kg), birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. Dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, mice, rats, and ferrets were excluded from the study. An online survey of pet owning staff at University College Dublin was conducted between July and August 2020 to provide the first empirical data for Ireland. In this pilot study (the first in this thematic series) we aim to characterise exotic pet ownership, the challenges and benefits of keeping exotic pets, and access to veterinary services from the pet owner’s perspective.    Results  Using an online survey this pilot study gathered evidence from 83 domestic and 32 exotic pet owners within the staff ( n  = ~ 3600 FTE) at University College Dublin, the largest third level institution in Ireland. The prevalence of exotic pet ownership was determined to be 34.4 % of households with more than 10 % of pet owning households owning only exotic pets. Fish ( n  = 15), reptiles ( n  = 13) and birds ( n  = 8) were the most common types of exotic pets. Thirty-four per cent of exotic pet owners never sought veterinary services, the most common reasons were due to lack of local veterinary specialists ( n  = 10) and good owner knowledge ( n  = 8). However identifying appropriate guidance on the animals’ needs was a common challenge for exotic pet owners ( n  = 13). A reasonable monthly cost of caring for an exotic ranged from €20–180, depending on the species.    Conclusions  This pilot study contains important implications for veterinary education to support the veterinary community with providing services to the exotic pet owning community. Policy issues with exotic pet ownership also need to be considered and further research into the proposed strategies to support the health and welfare of exotic pets should be carried out such as the introduction of white lists and guidelines on responsible pet ownership.    Supplementary Information  The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13620-021-00190-6.

Exotic pets in Ireland: 1. Prevalence of ownership and access to veterinary services