About Us

We’re one of the UK’s leading exotic referral services, thanks to the dedication and hard work of our staff members past and present.  

Background  

Great Western Exotics (GWE) was founded by Neil Forbes. We joined Vets Now in 2012 and the clinic was able to grow tremendously. Neil retired in 2017, and his place was filled by Tom Dutton. Tom is an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Zoo & Wildlife Medicine and EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Avian Medicine and Surgery.  

Our eight exotics vets have a wealth of experience in treating:   

Small and large birds – including raptors, parrots, cockatiels, budgerigars and chickens.  

Small animals – including rabbits, ferrets, skunks, sugar gliders and meerkats.   

Rodents – including chinchillas, Guinea pigs, rats, squirrels and chipmunks.  

Reptiles – including tortoises, snakes and lizards.  

Zoo animals, plus fish and amphibians.  

Our pledge to referring vets:   

• We work hard to ensure that, to clients, our service feels like an extension of yours
• We’re happy to listen, and tailor our service to meet you and your clients’ needs  
• We’ll work with you to find a treatment that suits your client’s circumstances  
• We’ll keep you updated throughout the treatment  
• To make it easy to refer, you can contact us by phone, email or our website. If it works for you, it works for us