Periscope

To reptiles with love

by Hedy Wong

L izards, snakes and amphibians are not just exotic a nimals featured in wildlife television s hows— people do keep them as pets at home.

Rastoni Ip, chairman of the Hong Kong Reptile & Amphibian Society (HKRAS), has been keeping unusual pets like spiders, geckos and snakes for over 15 years.

“Some people may keep reptiles just because of their uniqueness, but I love them because they're closer to nature,” Mr Ip said. Most people have misunderstandings on those animals, he said. “When talking about reptiles, for example, people mostly come up with descriptions like terrifying, horrible and disgusting.”

But to Mr Ip, looking at reptiles is like watching creatures from the Jurassic Period. “Reptiles are living fossils. Their ways of living or their appearances haven't changed much for millions of years. That's amazing,” he said.

Mr Ip founded the HKRAS in 1996 to change the negative image most people had on those animals. “We saw the need of promoting reptiles to the public. Besides, there were no organisations for reptile lovers in Hong Kong at the time.”

The group has more than 200 members and a number of volunteers and helpers. The members gather regularly to share their experience of keeping their special pets and exchange news and knowledge about reptiles. Mr Ip said they gave talks in schools and took part in pet exhibitions such as the First Pet Festival of Hong Kong in March.

“When people actually see the creatures and touch them, they will find them cute and interesting. Their attitudes will totally change. The process may only take one or two minutes,” he said.

Keeping lizards and snakes as pets, however, is very much different from keeping cats and dogs. “It requires much knowledge,” Mr Ip said. “The wild animals have to live in an artificial habitat. Owners have to create a living environment with similar temperature, humidity and even the number of hours of sunshine as their pets' natural habitat.”

To replicate a hot and dry environment for his 14 lizards and four snakes, former soccer star Leslie George Santos bought cages with high-heated lights for his pets. His geckos and bearded dragons now live as if in their desert homeland.

Although making a home for reptiles may be much more complicated and costly than building a dog house, the daily care of reptiles is simpler. “Every day I just need to leave some food and a little bit of water. They don't need much water. They are desert animals,” Mr Santos said.

Still, he suggests reptile owners to play with their pets like cat and dog owners do. He plays with his corn snakes, heterodon and ball python from time to time to build up trust and good relationship with them. “They may not be able to recognise a certain person, but experience tells them that human beings are friendly. If you leave them alone for a few days, probably they won't let you touch them again. They may harm you, or simply ignore you. They don't have a good memory,” he said.

Body language is the key element in building up relationship with lizards and snakes, Mr Santos said. “For the larger geckos, you may stroke them softly on the back. For little lizards, you may let them creep on your hand. Snakes will wind up around your fingers or arm when you put them on your hand. They sometimes lick your skin for detection.”

In Hong Kong , keeping unusual pets like reptiles needs to have a licence. Mr Ip estimated that over 80 per cent of reptile owners did not have the permit.

“Most people don't know much about licensing,” he said. “It's difficult for ordinary people to identify which species need licences and which don't. If they find that it's illegal to keep their pets, they'll just keep them secretly.”

A possession licence has to be obtained for keeping those animal species listed in appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

“We're now fighting with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for loosening the law. We hope keeping animals listed in appendix II will no longer need a licence. The government is still pondering the matter,” Mr Ip said. 

Still, at home, some owners face family opposition to keep the unusual pets. “If your family doesn't oppose keeping those pets, I'd say you're really lucky,” he said.

Anson Cheng Chung-woon, owner of a reptile and amphibian pet shop, keeps four snakes, several iguanas and one ferret at home, but his family never disapproves of his job and his pets. He does not consider family members should interfere with his choice of pets. “Keeping pets is a personal choice,” Mr Cheng said.

He said he could not see why local people would object to the keeping of those pets. Reptiles are, in fact, perfect pets for urban people, he said. “They require little space and are simple to take care of.”

That does not mean those wild creatures pose no potential danger. Mr Santos said getting hurt was possible. He was bitten by his snake once when he caressed it. Despite the acute pain, he said the snakes' resistance only strengthened his determination to tame those creatures. “I'm sure none of my snakes are poisonous. They bit me just because they were frightened when I tried to touch them,” he said.

But Mr Santos said he once thought of abandoning one of his lizards. “When I was playing with it, it tried to run away and I caught it from the tail, which came off immediately,” Mr Santos recalled. “It didn't affect its health, but the appearance of that lizard was ruined. I had thought of giving it up, but then I realised that whatever your pet was, there's a commitment between you and it. You brought it home, and you're the only one it can rely on.”