Snakes and lizards are escape artists - and are also often discarded by owners suffering from the 'gross-out factor' involved in having to defrost dead mice to feed them. But while these stray 'exotics' are a problem, the really bad news is that tigers and wolves are also becoming popular pets, writes Edel Morgan
Stray and unwanted snakes, stowaway lizards and bald, nervous parrots are some of the exotic problem pets encountered by the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).
Until recently, there were 14 snakes at the DSPCA shelter in Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham. Some were left there by owners, the rest escaped from houses or were abandoned and found slithering through the undergrowth of gardens on hot summer days or curled up in hot presses or behind bathroom sinks in cold weather. Last week, the society received calls that a woman had been seen dumping a seven-foot bull snake in the Phoenix Park.
Most of the shelter's snakes have been rehoused or fostered to experts. Only three remain. Sylvia, a five-foot six-inch American bull snake, was an escapee and is now a veteran of the shelter. The common boa became too big and unwieldy for his owners, while the rat snake was a stray found in a hot press.
"Total panic" is the usual reaction to such discoveries by the public, followed by frantic phone calls to various emergency services, says the society's education officer, Gillian Bird.
"Snakes should be kept in a properly sealed case because they can wriggle through gaps. Being cold-blooded, they need heat to digest their food, so will head for warm places if they escape," she says.
Lizards are also frequent visitors to the shelter. One small gecko was discovered in an imported box of car parts.
The term "exotic" is applied to a range of species including reptiles, some kinds of bird, and arachnids such as tarantulas and scorpions. Another category of exotic, wild and potentially dangerous animals such as jaguars, servals, tigers, wolf hybrids and monkeys are becoming increasingly popular as pets.
A large percentage are imported illegally as part of a live animal trade that is now worth more than $5 billion a year globally.
The ISPCA, together with the DSPCA, drafted suggested legislation several years ago which dealt with the licensing of exotics, but the Government has yet to act on it.
Ray Cimino of Wild! says the problem with strays is widespread as snakes and lizards are "notorious escape artists. Pet shops sell them all over the country, but when they go missing it's more likely they will turn up in built-up areas than in open countryside.
"Also, there is more scope in the countryside for keeping bigger animals like wolves and big cats. We've had recent cruelty cases involving hybrid wolves in Cavan, Mullingar and Kildare. A lot of SPCAs don't operate shelters as such, and often don't have the training to deal with exotics."
The shock value of an unusual pet can be part of the thrill. That, and the fact that some species are low-maintenance in terms of their emotional needs.
"People want them for the cool factor," says Bird. "They are easier to care for, in people's minds, than a cat or a dog and some of them don't need to be fed every day or exercised. They don't even need to be loved."
Many exotics have highly specific comfort and dietary needs. Lizards, for example, are prone to crippling bone disease if they are not fed the correct diet or if they are deprived of the right lighting. Some species of snake start off eating insects but then, as they grow, require pinkies (small newborn mice, which can be bought frozen and defrosted). "They eat very little, about one mouse a week or fortnight, depending on the size and breed," says Bird. "Sometimes parents will let a kid buy a snake, but when they start leaving mice in the freezer or on the draining-board to defrost, there's a gross-out factor."
SIZE and temperament can also be a factor in an animal's downfall when the infatuation wears off. Rock pythons and Burmese pythons can grow to 16 feet and iguanas to five feet (with a tail like a whip and half-inch nails), while terrapins - popular in the 1980s but now being abandoned by owners in ponds - can develop into 12-inch vicious, messy little monsters.
The expense of keeping an exotic can also be off-putting. Wooden glass- fronted units called vivariums are the recommended container for snakes, and these need to be replaced as the animals grow. Both snakes and lizards require desert-like conditions, recreated with UV bulbs, heat mats and heat bulbs, all of which means hefty electricity bills.
Some of these pets do need love and attention. The DSPCA recently took in a parrot that developed a nervous disorder and plucked its own feathers out of sheer boredom. "Parrots have the mental age of a three-year-old child and need to be stimulated," says Bird. "The previous owners bought it and stuck it in a cage with nothing to look at."
Some pet shops have been criticised for selling exotics without the correct equipment and care information.
Thomas McElheron, of McElheron Reptiles in Dublin, who breeds snakes, lizards and spiders, says he won't sell to kids unless they are supervised or to "messers who are buying a pet because their buddy thinks it's cool".
The cost of a baby corn snake, basic housing and a month's supply of food is around €120. A jungle python and equipment is priced between €500 and €700, while a leopard gecko lizard costs from €60 and a bearded dragon lizard from €95. Spiders are not as popular. They sell to one in 20 customers, says McElheron, who breeds Mexican red knee spiders and Mexican red rump spiders, which cost from €45 each.
If cared for properly, reptiles make excellent pets and can be quite beautiful, contrary to popular opinion, believes Graham Little of the Herpetological Society of Ireland
"It depends who you ask," he says. "I know a couple who have a milk snake that is vivid red and black and white, and I had a chameleon that was purply green and changed to the spectrum of the rainbow. Some people are fascinated by the dull-coloured ones because they are masters of camouflage. Also, reptiles have no hair and therefore no fleas, so they are hypo-allergenic.
"The problem is the showman element, where people buy them to drape around their neck or scare the neighbours," says Little.
