A Greater Inwood-area exotic animal shop owner is being inundated with pets being dumped off and is sharing a warning for anyone who’s thinking about buying an exotic pet of their own.
“These animals, they’re not the problem, it’s the people,” Houston Underground Animals owner Nic Luehe said. “People will get a snake this big, then next thing you know, it’s eight-feet. They have no idea if it’s going to keep growing, where it stops. So they just throw it outside.”
His business started as a rescue but now is a store, breeding operation, and even does birthday parties to help fund all of the rescues coming in.
His shop is stacked with snakes and bearded dragons. A peacock also wanders around. But those are just some of the rescued pets.
“We get everything from crocodiles, monkeys, I’ve seen cats like tigers,” Luehe said.
The overwhelming number of dumped pets, he said, is because chain stores aren’t informing buyers about what they’re getting into, like the fact that some reptiles live for 40 to 60 years, or that the animals are expensive to maintain.
“No one educated the owner on the animal they were buying,” he said. He also pointed to a lack of online available resources.
The 27-year-old business owner is doing what he can to save the critters that fill his store. He said all the revenue goes back into the animals and he hasn’t paid himself a salary in three years.
His advice is to never buy an exotic animal online based solely on an internet photo. A local breeder is always best, he said.
If you’re looking to get rid of an exotic animal, he suggests finding a professional to help instead of dumping it.