Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Finding good data to determine trends in the exotic reptile pet trade is hard to do. Here’s how one ..
. [+] researcher tapped Google's data to solve this problem. getty A recent article published in the academic journal Animals suggests that bearded dragons–a medium-sized Australian lizard known for their distinctive “beard” of spikes under their chin (pictured above)–are the most popular animal in the exotic pet reptile market, followed by ball pythons and leopard geckos.
On the other hand, four reptiles whose popularity has waned over the past decade are green iguanas, Burmese pythons, chameleons and red-eared sliders. The ball python was rated as the second most popular pet reptile according to a recent study that ..
. [+] analyzed data from Google Trends. Their popularity is due to their small size, docile nature, ease of care, and the variety of designer morphs available, such as the "piebald" morph pictured here getty “Reptiles are one of the most popular exotic pets in the world, resulting in a quickly growing billion-dollar pet industry,” says Jose Valdez, the lead author of the research.
“Their popularity as pets has made reptiles one of the most common animals in the wildlife trade, with evidence suggesting that over a third of all described reptile species are actively bought and sold around the world.” Despite the size of the market, tracking the buying and selling of exotic pet reptiles is noto.
