How would humans be cared for in an alien zoo?

Question

So I am writing a story where aliens invade earth. The aliens kill most humans and take some humans and keep them as pets or place them in zoos. My question is: how would these people be cared for?

The aliens planet is similar to Earth. Same amount of gravity yellow sun. And it also has a breathable atmosphere.

The humans are not affected by alien diseases.

I would like to know how the zoo would be run.

What food would the humans be given?

What habitat would they be placed in?

The aliens in my story are Gastropod like humanoids and their government Based upon imperial rome. Whenever they meet a new species of aliens they either assimilate them into their society or kill and enslave them. These aliens view humans as cute and keep them as pets and put them in zoos. The story I am currently writing revolves around the descendants of the human who were first enslaved who organize a rebellion against their alien masters.

Also, some of these aliens keep some humans as pets much like how people today keep dogs as pets.

Hope this helps! https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/75001/how-do-i-keep-my-slaves-happy — Seraph Myrmidon, Dec 09 '17 at 21:48
Reminder to Close Voters: The OP can't fix problems if he is not aware of them. We are talking about about a completely new user here! Please give him some feedback. @Jayden: Welcome to WorldBuilding.SE! A problem with your question is that we don't know anything about your aliens and that "What will they do with the humans?" can't be answered somewhat objectively as we don't know of any aliens. — Secespitus, Dec 09 '17 at 22:59
All answers are therefore equally valid, but to be on-topic there have to be somewhat objective criteria to decide which is the best answer. That's why I will vote to put this question on hold temporarily until you [edit]ed it to make it on-topic and get it reopened. Any edit will automatically put this quesiton in the reopen review queue if two more people with at elast 3,000 reputation vote similar (it takes a total of 5 for putting on hold/reopening). Please take the [tour] and visit the [help] to learn more about the site. Have fun on the site! — Secespitus, Dec 09 '17 at 22:59
And seeing that you are unregistered you might also be interested in this question: Why should I register my account?. Registering allows you to better keep track of your answers, questions and your favourite questions from other users. It also allows you to collect reputation for your answers and questions on the site, which unlocks things like the ability to comment everywhere, vote to put questions on hold/ reopen questions and vote on stuff. — Secespitus, Dec 09 '17 at 23:08
In Aurthur C. Clarke's Rendevous with Rama (or was it the sequel?), the zoo consisted of individual enclosures on a massive vessel that mimicked the homeworld environment. There's a thousand ways to answer this question. Please tell us more about the aliens, their nature, their motivation for keeping humans as pets or in zoos, etc. As written, the question is too opinion-based. — JBH, Dec 10 '17 at 01:32
It's a good idea to wait at least 24 hours before accepting an answer so that people from every time zone get a chance to weigh in. — sphennings, Dec 10 '17 at 02:26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menagerie_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series) — RonJohn, Dec 11 '17 at 06:45
A book I read ages ago did just that, I cannot recall what they fed the humans but they were in a cage with some stone age equivalent human comforts and some trinkets from their captured space ship. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jupiter_Theft — KalleMP, Jul 04 '18 at 21:51

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 09 '17 at 22:22

I think it is a little boring to model the alien zoo on modern zoos, where natural habitats are recreated. Instead you could model your alien zoo along Roman lines.

https://www.explore-italian-culture.com/ancient-roman-animals.html

The treatment of animals generally in the Empire was a direct reflection of ancient Roman culture and traditions. The Romans were especially fascinated with wild animals. They liked looking at them, marveling at their strangeness, watching them perform tricks - and watching them being hunted and killed.... We know from writings, for example, that monkeys would be dressed as soldiers and ride in small chariots pulled by goats.... Unfortunately, in a contradiction often seen in the treatment of ancient Roman animals, many pets were also considered a delicacy and a pet fish or parrot might eventually end up on the table. Parrots' tongues were a particular delicacy.

Humans would be kept because they could imitate the conquering aliens much as the monkeys imitated soldiers. The aliens could treasure the ridiculousness of the human imitators, and humans who knew which side their bread was buttered on would ham it up. Because fighting humans are also interesting, and dead humans can be tasty.

Another modern idea would be to model the zoo after something like the Wild Animal Safari

A bunch of animals are in a huge lot, assembled without regard to where they were originally from. Water buffalo, elk, giraffes, donkeys, monkeys, mule deer etc. They sort themselves out, more or less. And then you drive through and they come to your window to beg for treats. How do they get along when there is no treat begging? Who knows, because when you show up it is all about the begging.

Your humans could be the same, in with a bunch of other earth animals and animals from other worlds. The aliens would trundle through in vehicles and the humans and everything else would run up and beg.

How would humans be cared for in an alien zoo?

1 Answers1