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Reptiles ready to tip scales on
dogs in pet popularity
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Reptiles ready to tip scales on
dogs in pet popularity
Third Party Article
Exotic reptiles such as lizards, snakes and iguanas
have become so popular as pets that, in two years,
they will outnumber dogs in Britain.
A study by the British Federation of Herpetologists,
the breeders' association, has found that 5 million
reptiles are kept as pets.
If the trend continues, their numbers will outstrip
the dog population of 6 million by 2006, and could
threaten the supremacy of cats, of which there
are 7.5 million.
Chris Newman, the chairman of the association,
said that the number of lizards and snakes had
doubled about every five years since 1995, when
there were 1.5 million.
"The days when people bought a five-inch-long
lizard to discover to their horror it grew to
six feet are disappearing," he said.
"It is a better informed, more sophisticated
market."
The figures have been compiled through research
among pet shop owners and suppliers of reptile
food - mice and locusts.
Breeders believe that well-known reptile owners
such as singer Britney Spears, who has owned snakes,
have added to booming sales.
Reptile lovers say that their pets are relatively
cheap to buy while young, are brightly coloured,
and can survive with little or no direct human
contact.
The most popular lizards are leopard geckos, bearded
dragons and water dragons. Chameleons are also
popular with children because of their ability
to change colour; however, iguanas and monitor
lizards are seen as suitable only for specialists,
and few pet shops will sell them to inexperienced
keepers.
The most popular snakes are the constrictors,
such as the American corn snake, which grows to
about 1.5 metres. Bigger species such as Burmese
pythons are dangerous.
But reptiles can be hard work. Some lizards need
live insects most days, while snakes are fed dead
mice once a week.
The trend has prompted animal welfare charities,
such as Animal Aid, to urge the Government to
halt the trade in imported reptiles for fear that
they are not being kept properly. The RSPCA is
also alarmed at the increasing popularity of reptiles,
particularly among children, and says that it
is having to deal with a rising number of lizards
abandoned by their young owners.
An officer at the charity, Tim Wass, said that
the number of abandoned reptiles had increased
by 161 per cent since 1998.
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