Lion or Tiger??

I'm pretty new on the forum i've posted here and there...i have a ? and i know this is a reptile forum but we (my family) have once again the chance to buy either a white tiger or a panter (both cubs)...which one would you guys lean more towards if you had to pick? thanks for the input.

Wow, that's not a choice that comes up often. First off, are these animals legal in your area? Have you owned either of these animals before?

The white tigers are known to have many genetic problems, that can be an expensive problem to deal with as they get older... so that may be something you want to consider.

Yup we have experience and people that help us take care of them, i've had a female african lion for about 7 years now here are some pics or her and her enclosure.

[img] http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/.../3/4/0/meg.bmp [/img]


[img] http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...3/4/0/cage.JPG [/img]

Yikes.

Things I would look at in purchasing an animal of any species:

Is the breeder taking responsible and ethical care of the animals, keeping them apropriately and humanely, and breeding for the love of it, not just the paycheck?

Are they from healthy stock, and likely to stay healthy, or inbred and weak due to for-profit breeding?

Do you have a vet experienced in the care of the species?

Are you able to provide adequate care, socialization, and housing for the adult animal?

If you are iffy on any of the above, especially with animals as frequently abused, neglected, and turned over to rescue, I'd steer clear. Big cats are a huge challenge and responsibility; there are no minor problems and a bad event can result in their death, if not harm to a person. Are you willing and able to take responsibility for that?

this is shocking.........and you live in NJ? wow everything is illegal in NJ!


but you can't go wrong with the king of the beast........Lion!

but then again i love frosted flakes so a tiger's not so bad either.......




ps. didn't a tiger get loose in Jackson NJ, by great adventures----- a few years ago........you don't happen to know anything about that right?

yup...don't worry guys lol we know the guy and that's were we got Megala from, we have a vet, we have the space, and the experience...just wondering which one appeals to you more. and yes big cats are a HUGE challenge and responsibility. haha no i don't know anything about that...this is not in NJ don't worry it's in our house in Mexico i live there about 6 months out of the year but there's always people taking care of the animals i try and go as much as i can and interact with them and so far it seems to have worked pretty well, the lion we have now comes when you call her and she's pretty much like a puppy but a huge puppy always take precautions.

so what do you do to feed them......wipe out the entire meat section of shoprite? i have a couple of co-workers that you can have! :cool:


lol j/k

hahaha no, it eats baby sheep aka lambs...they're already dead ofcourse i couln't bear to watch it kill them...it can fit 3 in it's mouth at one time

no option there but thw white tiger :) that's so cool ,what are you a drug dealer? or bill gates:)

in between those two...haha j/k, it's my dad that has this i'm only 19 but he's a business man with and owns three different companies....and i meant panther, i just realized that i spelled it wrong

i'd pick the tiger.



just out of curiousity, how much does a white tiger or panther cost?? just a ballpark figure.

awesome... i have to drive over an hour then pay top $$$ to even see one of those animals... you are so lucky over there with the animals you can keep. :snake:

well if you get them from any random person that doesn't take care of the animals you can probably get them for under $70,000, but the people we know have a good reputation so the panther is going for $97,000 and the white tiger $130,000

Ah, to be a gazillionaire...

I actually like both white tigers and panthers, so that's a toughie. I would have said white tiger immediately, but I saw an Animal Planet special on a family that takes in big cats and how they hand-raised this tiny panther cub and I think I fell in love with them after that :)

Your lioness' enclosure is impressive!

Tiger all the way!:D

Yea I like both of them, we'll probably end up choosing whichever one is younger because they'll be easier to work with but if they're close in age it's gonna be a tough choice.

I would say to go for the panther all the way :cool:

damn i live in jersey and it is illegal to own anything how did you get to do that are you part of an endagered species rehabilitation

i posted before it's not in our house in jersey it's in our house in Mexico...anything is legal there haha :D

lol my bad i guess i didnt read that. effin lucky b--tard i wish i could have "pets" like that


GO WITH THE TIGER!!!!!!

we went with the white tiger :) it's probably one of the cutest things i've ever seen...i'm gonna try to fly to mexico next weekend and i'll take some pics

Whoo Hooo! TIGER!!:clap: :gj: I can't wait to see the pics!

I live in Houston and I remember seeing lion cubs in the pet classified section of the Houston Chronicle before they changed exotic pet laws... they were not expensive at only a couple thousand dollars. Tigers I am unsure about.

If I had the space and the money, and the experience to own a big cat, I would see if I could get approval to take one from a rescue. I know big cat rescues turn away hundreds of big cats every year due to lack of space... so that's just a thought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I live in Houston and I remember seeing lion cubs in the pet classified section of the Houston Chronicle before they changed exotic pet laws... they were not expensive at only a couple thousand dollars. Tigers I am unsure about.

If I had the space and the money, and the experience to own a big cat, I would see if I could get approval to take one from a rescue. I know big cat rescues turn away hundreds of big cats every year due to lack of space... so that's just a thought.

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That would be a complete dream for me! They are also having the same problems with wolves and wolf hybrids. People think that "oh, having a wolf would be such an awesome pet" but once they get it and realize that they don't act like the puppy that they thought it would, the pup end up being neglected =(. The only way that I would take a big cat or even a wolf pup was if I was trained to care for them, and only if they were rescues.

What about a Liger, certainly keep you on your toes

And that's just trying to get high enough to tickle it behind the ears.:P




dr del

yup big cat's are a HUGE responsibility and just like how you guys care so much about snakes and reptiles i love all animals and big cats are my passion...the opportunity that i have to own animals such as tigers, lions, and pythons among other things that are looking up in my life well it's just an awesome opportunity that i'm thankful for everyday that i'm able to provide a suitalbe environment for these animals and i know i won't end up abandoning them in the long run because i like challenges and commitments....my next goal is a burmese python, of course in a couple years, just because i know a lot about animals such as tigers doesn't mean i know that much snakes so i know my place and that's why i'm here to get help from you guys about snakes so hopefully one day i'll be as knowledgable(spelling) as some of the people in this forum :D

and from what i know ligers actually have a more docile temperment that tigers or lions...but i don't think i'd like to have an animal like that because it's mixing two breeds that weren't meant to breed and they end up having a lot of weight issues and medical problems

Why make a choice? I'd have picked both of the cats!!!
Congrats on the choice. Hope to see pics

yup the white tiger...i haven't had time to go to Mexico cuz of USA time and college but i know it being taken well care of and don't worry i'm tryin to go to Mexico soon but Management Information Systems sucks..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lucero87

yup the white tiger...i haven't had time to go to Mexico cuz of USA time and college but i know it being taken well care of and don't worry i'm tryin to go to Mexico soon but Management Information Systems sucks..

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dude thats SO crazy. im jealous.
haha im a middle class kid who works in a grocery store in NY so im pretty sure ill NEVER own a big cat..hahaha
although I think I may get into some big snakes.

Never had a chance to ask, what kind of panther? lol....
(leopard? jaguar?)

I'd personally go with a black jaguar, simply because I love jaguars, and creating a semi-arboreal enclosure sounds like fun.

That's if I were, you know, rich. ;D

You definately have to post pics when you get this :) I would have gone with a black panther, just because I love black cats (The one I own is no panther, just an overweight housecat!) and it would be the ultimate black cat. :)

Why get one at all, it's cruel and you should leave them in the wild. Poor things.

I've seen so many cases where Americans (not trying to generalise but no one else really owns them) buy big cats, keep them in cramped, crap enclosures and end up getting mauled. They're not pets and can't really be tamed. So leave them be.

White tigers do not, for the most part, exist in the wild, rather like albino ball pythons...

So in regards to the white tigers, there is no 'leave them in the wild'. The purpose that captive wild animals serve is that of ambassadors of their species. Humans who can observe these animals up close and learn more about them are more likely to want to save them in the wild. This has proven true time and time again.

The lion's enclosure there is lovely, and looks very well kept.

It's not as though ANY pet herp is anything other than a captive wild animal--at least not yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

White tigers do not, for the most part, exist in the wild, rather like albino ball pythons...

So in regards to the white tigers, there is no 'leave them in the wild'. The purpose that captive wild animals serve is that of ambassadors of their species. Humans who can observe these animals up close and learn more about them are more likely to want to save them in the wild. This has proven true time and time again.

The lion's enclosure there is lovely, and looks very well kept.

It's not as though ANY pet herp is anything other than a captive wild animal--at least not yet.

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I know that White Tigers don't really exist in the wild, as I'm sure you can see, there are two options to this poll. Although I agree with you in the fact that we can observe them up close, keeping them in an enclosure is, in my opinion; cruel. There's a big, big difference between a 10ft 380kg active, agressive tiger and an inactive, not predatory towards humans Royal Python.

Pet tigers have been involved in several fatalities as a result of mauling their owners. Even if they don't, many end up as being too much work for their owners and end up in sanctuaries. All those people learn is what a mistake they made. Oh and just some stats for you, there are 10-15,000 tigers in private ownership in the United States, as opposed to only 5,000 in the wild.

Although I too find all animals fascinating and I'm sure that for a short space of time keeping a big cat would be wonderful, but that's where it ends.

My question would have to be.... why?
Are you, your parents rather, running a zoo?
I can't help but wonder why someone needs such types of animals when they are only actually in the animals' location half the year and are, essentially, not the primary care givers.

Sorry to sound so pessimestic but there have been too many legal and etheical issues surrounding big cats that things such as this always make me raise an eyebrow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

White tigers do not, for the most part, exist in the wild, rather like albino ball pythons...

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Albino balls do exist in the wild, where do you think all our morphs came from?:D The wild!

As long as he can take care of the cat, I don't see a problem.

I wish we could leave them in the wild.. but face it theres not much wild left. With the way its going with lost of land and food the tigers of the world might end up all in cages and it might be the safest place for them.. Not saying for one second i wish that to happen not at all.. But there just not many places lett for a good vaiable breeding population for the tigers in wild.. :sabduel:

i haven't gotten a chance to c the cub yet school's been keeping me on my toes...but i just read the above comments and while we only spend half our time there and we aren't the primary care givers they are well trained and trust me, they are not in cramped cages by any means they have a place to move around, a sleeping room, an eating room, and another palyroom they can go to underground if they decide to do so. My dad isn't running a zoo he just had the opportunity to get one of these animals (or 2 now) and he did, and they are being properly cared for if my dad didn't have the financial capabilities to feed them i'm sure he wouldn't have them but as of now we are lucky enough were this isn't an issue and we can provide a good home for them....and as i posted in one of my other posts, one day hopefully i want to open a big cat rescue or an animal rescue of some sort.

Well if you are going to own them, I am glad that you have trained people to work with them, and nice big living quarters. I always like to rescue animals though rather than buying them.. what about rescuing one instead of buying?

Lion or tiger............... hmm why not....... get a LIGER... "yeah its pretty much my favorite animal" :D :D