Animal Aid Campaigns : Wildlife

Home > Pet trade > Focus > Special report: May 2000

A Selection of Statements made by Petworld Sales Staff

Recorded undercover by Animal Aid.

HINKLEY
...green iguanas* are going to make 6ft in length. That's from nose to tail. Which means that basically he is going to want a spare bedroom when he is fully grown. Although they are very small and sweet now, 18 months down the line you are going to have 4 ft of animal, which is going to be hard to house... they can get quite moody. When you've got 6ft of animal with a tail capable of breaking an adult's rib, you don't really want to leave him in the care of a small lad.

....a leopard gecko ...grows to be about 12 inches long... I've got wood bark in there. The problem with the sand that is available to the pet trade is that the lizard will eat the sand with the crickets. Now it's not the same sand that we find naturally in the desert, and it clumps together in his gut and blocks it... And what's happening is that they were keeping them on sand and they were all dying and when they did the autopsy they were finding all this sand had blocked their stomachs.

...those are small Mediterranean lizards. They are fully grown. They won't get no bigger. Also, because they are wild-caught you won't handle them. You will never make a pet out of them. They are like greased lightening. You open the cage and they will be off up the wall. We have to be very careful when cleaning them out.
Animal Aid: Why do people buy them?
They look nice. You can make some really nice displays with them.

...the iguana will quickly outgrow the boy. I've got scars from a 4ft iguana. I was told it was a male, it wasn't it was a female. It took me 12 months to tame it. And I bear the scars. She would bite, shred, slash. Her claws were a bed of germs and diseases. All sorts of rubbish in their claws and that's why I've got this dirty scar.
Animal Aid: Have you got any leaflets?
No I haven't. I can tell you anything you need to know.

* Green iguanas are among the reptiles sold by Focus Do It All.

BULLWELL, NOTTINGHAM
Animal Aid: Can I have that bearded dragon?
You got a vivarium set up?
Animal Aid: Umm.
Do you want to put your name and address and sign just there?
Animal Aid: Do I have to do that?
It's guaranteed for up to two weeks you see, and if you don't put it on, you don't get no guarantee.
Animal Aid: I could stick down anything couldn't I?
You could.

CORBY
Animal Aid: I've got a 9 year old son and I want something suitable for him.
The leopard gecko is best for him... they are £29.99 each. Basically, what you feed them on is live crickets. They grow to about 3 ft... they are OK for handling. Better than these small lizards, which are £4.99 and aren't any good for handling... they are too fast and they tend to break their tail off.

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