How to Find Pet Sharks

Make sure you have a home for the shark before you even consider buying one.

You’re not about to keep a great white named Jaws in a bathtub, but you’d really like to have a pet shark. Many smaller fish known as “sharks” can be found in pet stores and are completely compatible for a freshwater community tank. But if you’re looking for something that’s really a shark, you can find pet sharks with a few simple tips.

Things You'll Need

• Research skills
• Tank big enough and set up to house the thing
• Knowledge of what you’re doing

Instructions

1. Before you even begin to seek out a shark, make sure you are ready to own one. They need huge tanks that have already been set up to create a healthy, saltwater environment.

2. Learn more about sharks, especially which are considered endangered or not suitable for captivity. Call wildlife organizations, hit the library and research online.

3. Visit your local pet stores. Note their variety of “sharks” and see if that’s good enough. If not, check out their bulletin boards and ask the manager, owner and workers about shark and other large fish keepers and breeders in the area.

4. Check out fish breeder and fish enthusiast magazines. The classifieds in the back may help you out, as will writing a letter to the editors.

5. Cruise the internet. Be wary, as with any live animal, of buying things unseen online. Research the keeper’s reputation before you plunk down any cash.

Tips & Warnings

• Sharks eat a lot and their diet may include your other fish. Make sure other critters in the tank can hold their own with their size, speed or other factors that make them less than a tasty meal.

• Do not buy a shark just so you can say, “Hey, cool, I have a shark.”

• Do not buy an endangered species.

• Do not simply go snag one from the ocean and plop it in the bathtub.