Snakes and lizards as pets? Some people shudder just thinking about it. But the pangolins also have many fans. Sometimes the exotics are bought too carelessly.
Instead of looking at a television, Helmut Mägdefrau looks at two large terrariums from the sofa. In one, room-high, green tree lizards are eating some crickets for breakfast.
In the other, a Chinese crocodile-tailed hump lizard remains motionless on a rock even as the maid pushes open the glass door. “He’s relatively deeply relaxed,” he says. Nevertheless, he would never pick up the male for a photo in his living room in Lauf an der Pegnitz: “They are not cuddly animals”.
As a biologist, the 68-year-old cared for polar bears, gorillas and other animals in the nearby Nuremberg zoo for many years until he retired. But reptiles and amphibians like frogs fascinated Mägdefrau the most even as a child. At the age of five he got his first terrarium, he says. He loves observing lizards and similar creatures and studying their behavior. “They are completely different from us.”
The origin of the animals is often incomprehensible
Many people feel the same way as Mägdefrau. According to the industry association for pet supplies, there were around 1.3 million terrariums in Germany last year.
Estimates of how many reptiles and amphibians are currently kept as pets are hardly possible. He assumes several million, says Axel Kwet from the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Science (DGHT). “Similar to how there is usually not just one fish to be found in an aquarium, terrariums, which are a reflection of natural biotopes, usually have several inhabitants, who can often be found in the hundreds in a household due to their ease of breeding.”
The majority now come from offspring, says Martin Singheiser from the Federal Association for Professional Nature, Animal and Species Protection. “For many species, you can completely do without wild catches.” But that’s still not the rule, says Katharina Lameter from the animal protection organization Pro Wildlife. The origin of the animals is often not comprehensible for the consumers because the traders sometimes did not provide any information or this was re-declared.
problem for species protection
Another enormous problem for species protection is that rare or newly discovered species are popular, says Lameter. Special breeds, for which much more money can be demanded, are also particularly in demand. “Just like with dogs, there are fashion trends. The animal should have a special look,” she says. However, this can lead to torture, for example by removing the scales from reptiles or changing the colors and patterns of the animals, which could lead to neurological problems.
“This trend with the color morphs spilled over from Asia and the USA and is associated with a lot of money,” says Markus Baur from the sanctuary for reptiles in Munich. “There are keepers who collect animals like stamps and dream of breeding a certain color.” An animal with a different spotting or a special color can be worth tens of thousands of euros. But as soon as others succeed in doing so, the price drop is exorbitant.
He also gets to feel the past trends in the sanctuary. “We always got what was no longer popular.” But the association does most of its work with species such as certain turtles, corn snakes, ball pythons, boa constrictors, leopard gecko and bearded dragons – i.e. those that are commercially available in large numbers, sometimes even in hardware stores or garden centers.
“You shouldn’t be able to buy a reptile like a flower”
Veterinarian Michael Pees is rather critical of such offers. He is director of the clinic for pets, reptiles and birds at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover. At work, he repeatedly encounters not only well-informed pet owners but also those who do not know the needs of reptiles – including some who do not even know what kind of animal they are keeping.
“You shouldn’t be able to buy a reptile like a flower,” he says. This promotes impulse purchases and suggests that the attitude is simple. In addition, some animals grow immensely over time – and with it the problems. A python snake, for example, can grow to be over four meters long, Pees explains.
Then it happens that sanctuaries like the one in Munich have to take over the exotic animals of overwhelmed owners. Sometimes these are simply suspended. The Pees veterinary clinic gets more calls from the garbage disposal because employees discover boxes with reptiles next to the bins, he says. Turtles have also been parked in the clinic’s public toilet. And the media regularly reports that the fire brigade had to catch an exotic snake somewhere.
Commerce is shifting to social networks
Reptilian fan Mägdefrau is annoyed by such cases. “The black sheep make headlines.” As a result, the entire terrarium industry has fallen into disrepute. Baur from the sanctuary also thinks that the majority of the keepers are responsible. “Very few keep snakes to boost their ego or as a mere accessory in the living room.”
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation sees a major problem on the Internet. There, trade is increasingly shifting to social networks. The Federal Office in Bonn announced that protected animals could be offered in closed groups or via private chats from messenger services without the authorities being able to control this. Therefore, a task force is planned to combat illegal online trade in protected species.