Exotic Pet Wonderland is Tennessee's first and only 501(c)3 sanctuary for captive bred wildlife and difficult exotics.
Who are We?
Exotic Pet Wonderland
At Exotic Pet Wonderland, we wish to give sanctuary to the captive born animals who have no where else to go, educate the public on our local wildlife and ecosystem, help to leave the planet a little more wildlife friendly and less polluted, and help to prevent difficult exotics from ending up needing homes by educating owners and potential owners.
What do we do at Exotic Pet Wonderland?
My name is Linsey, and I started this sanctuary with a couple amazing, like minded people. Why did we start this sanctuary? We have all grew up rescuing and loving animals, from the time we could walk. In fact, the first time my husband and I spoke it was about rescuing a dog! We each started out as animal and nature lovers and cared for lots of different animals, but in 2014, my husband and I brought home our first fox. He was a handful and we learned a lot from him, and in January of 2017 our lives changed in a way we never guessed it would. That's the year we rescued our first fox in need, Mordecai. Bringing him home and earning his trust is what made us want to educate and rescue these animals. We aren't expecting to end world hunger, or bring world peace as much as we'd like to do those things, but we are hoping to change the world for as many of these amazing animals as possible. The animals that other sanctuaries and shelters overlook and say they can't take. We don't want to only focus on the captive bred wildlife that needs our help though, we also want to help the ecosystem that the wild animals call home, along with educating others on how to live in harmony with our wild friends.
This is our wonderful vice president Taylor, who immediately jumped in and said,"Count me in, I want to support this!", the second we mentioned the idea of starting this sanctuary. Taylor is a very busy lady, helping animals every second of the day, either with Exotic Pet Wonderland, or at her own personal safe haven filled with many exotics, wildlife, and farm animals. She also runs a neonatal rescue for kittens and puppies, where she cares for abandoned or surrendered babies and adopts them out after they are fixed, healthy, and old enough, even offering to fix the parents of the animals in some cases.
This is Ariel, our project manager, who came to me in June of 2018, full of energy and questions about fox ownership. At that time I had no idea that I was speaking to someone that would not only become an amazing fox caregiver and educator, but an irreplaceable friend and wonderful asset to Exotic Pet Wonderland. Ariel is the voice of responsible ownership, and is on her way to becomming the best exotic animal nutritionalist possible. Like the rest of us, she is also a huge animal lover and on top of her foxes and reptiles, she also has a few special needs animals that have stolen her heart.
And lastly, this is Tim, our animal habitat construction manager, and my(Linsey) husband. Without him, none of this would be possible. He is generally hidden behind the scenes, but is our biggest support system. He has been caring for animals of all kinds his entire life, and when we brought this idea to him about opening a sanctuary for difficult animals, he wasn't even surprised, and has supported us from day one. He makes it his top priority to create the best, safest enclosures and enrichment for all the animals here at Exotic Pet Wonderland, and also helps with all the day to day care.
