In a country where squirrels are more or less the most exotic wild animal, unexpected visitors arrived in England.
“I have four bearded dragons looking at me right now, and I’ve already found new homes for three of them,” said Charles Thompson, from his snakes and charms reptile store, where he both sells animals and rescues them. “And all this in less than a month.”
For several weeks, there has been a steady increase in the number of owners giving up keeping exotic pets or releasing them into the wild. The increase in energy prices – in some cases, double what they were a year ago – has increased the cost of maintaining a warm environment for reptiles to the point that their maintenance hurts the household budget.
Some exotic animal owners are already making decisions to downsize and that means there has been a lot of work especially in the niche profession of reptile rescue.
“I can imagine people looking at their electricity bill and thinking, ‘God, what am I going to do?'” said Monte Jackson, a volunteer at the National Reptile Health Center in Tunbridge, England.
A bearded, overweight woman
In the center, things are moving at a not crawling pace at all. Among the new arrivals is Phoenix, a bearded, overweight raccoon, and Champagne, a cobra whose scales glisten under the fluorescent light in the center. “My ideal is up to 2 meters, you can manage with that,” Jackson said. “It will grow to a length of four meters – that’s a lot of snake.”
Hundreds of other snakes, bearded dragons, lizards and frogs were brought to the center for various reasons. They are all watched over by Speedy, a 60-year-old turtle who roams the corridors.
Speedy, who arrived in June, used to live in an enclosed garden at the center with other turtles – but after repeatedly escaping, he is now allowed to freely chase the volunteers, often giving their shoes a kick or two. “The words ‘speedy’ and ‘gentleman’ don’t go together,” Jackson said.
Saving the reptiles
Unlike cats, dogs and hamsters, reptiles have to live in special containers with heating and powerful lamps that mimic their living conditions in the wild. This equipment is expensive in itself, and this is in addition to the increasing cost of the insects to feed the reptiles. In addition, pet ownership has increased in the pandemic and some people have found that it is not so easy to care for a pet after life has returned to normal.
At this time last year, the donation-funded National Reptile Health Center was home to just under 700 orphaned reptiles. That number rose to 1,055 – an increase that mirrors the levels seen in reptile shops and animal rescue centers across England.
In Sheffield, the Snakes and Charms store has rescued more stray reptiles in the past two months than it has in the entire past two years, Thompson said.
In July, for example, they rescued a bearded dragon from someone’s garden, another from the sidewalk, and more, a total of nine cases of physical rescue in just three weeks.
Some residents do not understand what is happening.
lost lizard
“Is anyone missing a lizard in Sheffield,” read a June Facebook post on Sheffield Online, a community news site. The post said there was a lizard running around the store, and included a photo: “Is this someone’s pet?” Almost 300 people responded, wondering if it was a lizard or a bearded lizard – and who to call. “Look how cute” was written in one of the comments.
A bearded vulture, an animal that lives in the wild in the hot regions of Australia, is one of the most unusual signs of inflation in the UK.
Chris Newman, director of the National Reptile Health Center, said “bearded shrews behave more like dogs than reptiles,” a trait that makes them a popular choice for reptile-loving families. Phoenix, who arrived at the center this summer, exemplifies this behavior — though, as she clings to Jackson’s shoulder, he admits she’s “a little sleepy when she’s feeling insecure.”
In order to take care of all these animals, you need a glass terrarium 1.5 meters long, three lamps and a regular supply of insects.
One recent afternoon, Newman’s ringtone rang in the car. He pressed the radio until he turned on the speakerphone and heard a hysterical voice on the other end. “I found a sea turtle and I don’t know what to do.” The woman described the situation – the turtle, its size, how she felt it didn’t look natural to her in the town where she lived in the north of England. “Don’t worry,” Newman reassured her. “We’ll take it for you.”
“I get calls like this all the time,” he said as he put the phone back in his pocket. “Every day”.
30 tarantulas at home
Not all the reptiles at the center found a new home. Two turtles, Tiny and Betty, who have lived since World War II, and another, Barrel, has lived since World War I. Because of their age, they are no longer candidates for adoption, and spend their days in cages full of yard alongside two huge iguanas, Aphrodite and Jack.
Jackson, the volunteer, has 10 reptiles and 30 tarantulas at home. He says that some reptiles, like the striped gecko, don’t need much electricity to care for them – and that taking care of a dog or cat is much more expensive, considering the cost of food and vet bills. Kiara Cribb, another volunteer, who keeps 6 reptiles and 15 millipedes at home, agrees. “They are definitely a factor, but they are not the main factor,” she said. “I have five brothers and sisters who always leave the light on.”
Karib is not reduced. In fact, it does the opposite. She took home Percy – a brown and white snake – after someone gave him up this year. Before Percy, her dad was afraid of snakes, Cribb said, but the animal was so calm that he quickly changed his mind. Within five months of adopting Percy, Karib was allowed to bring home another snake, a yellow regal python named “Mashmesh.” My mother fell in love with the snake, she said, and most of her family followed suit.
“They’re both so calm,” she said. “They just sit or climb on us while we watch TV.”