An Exotic Menagerie
Some local animal lovers just aren't satisfied
with anything less than extraordinary pets.
Dogs and cals are nice, most
of the tiinc. but for some people
only an exotic pel will do.
You used lo hear about them
all the lime, an unusual animal
someone was keeping as a pel
However, in the last 10 years it
has become illegal to keep or sell
some of the once popular
animals, such as monkeys,
ocelots and the larger cats But
there are still plenty of strange
animals in the homes of Eugene
residents
Area pet store managers say
they stick mostly to stocking and
selling typical domestic animals
though some stores offer slight
variations from the norm Bren
da Henry of Little (Xcan pet
store says large snakes, li/ards
and exotic fish arc some of the
more unusual pets sold The
store also stocks caimans, or pet
crocodiles, which Henry says
will “<fat anything” and often
grow to be four feet long Boa
constrictors, pythons, king
snakes, chameleons, gheckos
and iguanas arc popular pur
chases from among the reptile
family.
Melissa ivcs oougni ncr un
ombian boa constrictor, David,
and her conchcad li/ard, Conie.
from Little Ocean. Ives and
Da\ id recently celebrated their
one year anniversary together
David got a rat “I had to wait to
get him until I moved out of my
house,” Ives said
It seems her mother detests the
idea of snakes.
On a diet of four rats every
one to two weeks. David has
grown to live feet two inches in
four years, and Ives estimates he
should reach eight to 10 feet in
length Ives' friends have mixed
reactions to her pet. and she gets
asked many questions When
people are around, it helps lor
David to be holding his own pet,
a plastic frog named Jasper.
“He doesn't look as threatening
when he's holding it with his
tail.” Ives says.
With a male boa in the room,
one could almost forget about
Come, who is only a foot and a
hall long and blends into his en
vironment by standing stock
still "He doesn't have a
cage he's very independent
When he wants to eat he gets on
top of his box of crickets, and I
feed him,” Ives says.
Hut she suspects Conie might
be* a bit "mentally slow ”
“To gel him to drink I have to
put him in his water dish so he
can feci the water on his feet “
She also described Conic's
had case of what she calls
“aquarium complex."
“We can't keep him in an
aquarium because all he does is
scratch at the glass for hours.
Even in this big apartment he
will go to the window and
scratch on the glass. He thinks
he's in a big aquarium."
Ives' roommate, I .aura Bar
tholomew, also has a fetish for
the big snakes although hers is a
red tailed boa named Sheba
“They say boas are the labrador
retrievers of the snake world.
They tolerate a lot,” Bar
tholomew says.
It’s a busy household in which
the two snake-lovers live. In ad
dition to the two boas and the
lizard, Bartholomew also has
two smaller lizards, two
parakeets, a cockaticl and a cou
ple fish tanks complete with a
newt or two. And it’s all done
legally in the confines of their
apartment laws “We can't have
any animals that carry fleas, but
our manager seems to like them
(the snakes),” Bartholomew
says.
University freshman Melissa
Schwartz also has an unusual pet
that seems to have the run of her
house Her ferret, Nikolai, is
seven months old and is n«»t con
fined to a cage regularly. She
swears he's totally potty trained
"You've heard of stupid pet
tricks. ' Schwartz says. "Watch
this." Tempted by a drop of
sticky vitamin/mineral supple
ment. Nikolai first sniffs then
props himself up impressively
on his hind feet A satisfying lip
smacking is evidence his reward
was well worth the effort
High quality cat food is
Nikolai s main staple, but he
eats things like grapes and potato
chips to supplement his diet.
"He's a fiend for chocolate,”
Schwartz says He’s also a licnd
for her roommates' socks.
“He's a kleptomaniac." she
says.
Veterinarian T homas
Danclski specializes in the treat
ment of exotic animals and says
most problems with unusual pets
are nutrition based. "Most have
inadequate diets or calcium defi
ciencies. A lot of times they
come in with pathological frac
tures from falling off a table or
something, and their bones
aren't strong enough." he says
Danelski is glad to see the
dropoff of exotic animals as
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I aura Bartholomem holds her red-tail boa constrictor. Shehu, ufler allowing her to run loose in
her apartment. Bartholomew says she has to he careful the boa doesn't get under the refrigerator.
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