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Local stores house exotic pets j
Bob Schlesiger cuddles a 7-foot boa constrictor. The reptile
eats rats, he said.
By Henry Battistoni
Staff Reporter
Pet owners need not come
home to the old, typical dog or cat.
Exotic pets, though often expen
sive, are readily available in Lin
coln.
Most exotic pets offered in Lin
coln are exotic birds, reptiles and
fish. Unusual insects like tarantu
las, scorpions and salt water inver
tebrates are also available.
Bob Schlesiger of the Pet Ark
said, “Any snake can be tamed
down easily. People are interested
in size these days.’’ He said the Pet
Ark receives more requests for ball
pythons than any other snakes.
Ball pythons are gentle snakes
that roll themselves into a ball
when frightened. Boa constrictors
also are gentle and are quite curi
ous about their surroundings.
Other reptiles such as iguanas,
monitor lizards and tegus are sold
in Lincoln. Iguanas stay relatively
still making them relatively boring
pets. They also tend to be tempera
mental. Young iguanas eat insects.
As they grow older, they become
herbivores.
Some monitor lizards reach nine
feet in length. They smash their
prey before eating it. Monitor liz
ards can be fed mice.
Frank Fast of the Pel Ark,
Belmont Plaza, said the cayman, a
South American crocodile, is the
most exotic item he sells. He said
they grow very quickly and their
owners cannot handle them. In
that case, he said, the owner will
either try to sell the animals back to
the store or end up giving them
away to a zoo.
Caymans can feed on mice and
goldfish. When they grow older
they can be fed larger fish like
smelt. They cost more than $100.
Fast said tortoises have been
selling well. He said this year he
has special ordered six. Customers
usually ask for red or yellow
footed, hingeback, or leopard tor
toises, he said.
Fast’s store also carries scorpi
ons and sold five last month. The
scorpions cost around $30 and live |
on insects like crickets or cock- §
roaches.
The most popular tarantula |
among customers is the large bird
eating variety, he said. It costs from
$30 to $50. Young bird-eating ta
rantulaseat crickets or wax worms.
Older spiders eat pinkie mice or
young birds.
Experience is more important
than books, so East suggests that
people start with something
simple. He also added that there
are no veterinarians trained to
work with reptiles in the area.
“Anything not commonly do
mestically bred is exotic,” Ed
Luben of the Pet Ark, 3822 Normal
Blvd., said.
He said he feels strange calling
the birds he works with daily,
raises and breeds “exotic.”
When buying a bird for a pet,
Luben suggesLs buyers do re- i
search to prepare themselves for
the animal. He said it is best to buy
a bird domestically brcu and hand
raised because these birds will be
better imprinted on humans.
Luben suggests cockatoos for
those buyers that want a bird that
will especially enjoy handling, and
African gray and Amazon parrots
for those who want a bird that
talks.
Luben said the prices for exotic ■
birds start at $1(X). Cockatoos and fl
Macaws can cost $ 1,000 and up. 8
Jason Dreith of M&T Tropical fl
Fish, 302 S. 19 St., said salt water fl
animals are the most exotic fish fl
However, some exotic freshwater fl
species are available. 1
One such freshwater exotic is fl
the freshwater ray. Rays cost nearly fl
$90. They require a sandy-bot- I
tomed tank to hide in. When not I
hiding they glide gracefully I
through the water. I
A salt-tank environment offers I
myriad exotic animal possibilities. fl
The problem with salt tanks is that fl
they require a fair amount of atten- fl
lion. To begin with, it lakes one or I
two months to establish the proper fl
bacteria levels and lest for nitrate, fl
nitrite levels and salinity levels, fl
Then the one quarter of the tank’s fl
water must be changed every fl
month or two. Dreith said most fl
people buy clown fish, trigger fish, fl
damsels, tangs and the less expen- I
sive angel fish.
Eels are also a popular item, he fl
said. Eels range in price from $20 to fl
$60 according to size and type, fl
They are sturdy animals and eat fl
well. fl
Sharks are also durable fish A fl
wide variety can be ordered, fl
Sharks do not get along well with fl
other fish, however. They must be fl
placed with large or tough fish fl
such as big clown triggers. They fl
are interesting when they eat, but fl
otherwise bump around the tank fl
aimlessly fl
Octopi are fascinating to watch fl
but have a major drawback -- they fl
only live a couple of months. They fl
must be isolated or the risk exists fl
for an ink filled tank At $30 to$4Q fl
per octopus, they arc expensive fl
and extremely temporary enter- fl
See EXOTIC', on 11J
A Savannah moniter is easy to take care of says Bob Schlesinger. It lives in an aquarium and eats
