Pet owner chooses snake and chips

Pet owners that intend to sell their animals must get them microchipped

A Nottinghamshire vet has begun microchipping reptiles as more owners of exotic animals turn to having their pets chipped for security.

One man who keeps dozens of snakes has taken two of the valuable pets to the surgery for the chips to be implanted.

Dave Ward, Ilkeston, owns 30 snakes including two adult Dumeril boas, which have undergone the procedure.

The 6ft (1.82m) long reptiles have been injected in the neck with a microchip at Buckley House Vet Centre in Hucknall.

Reptile expert, Ashley Swift, said it was a busy time of year for reptile breeders who are legally obliged to register animals they intend to sell.

Mr Swift, from The Reptile Centre, Nottingham, said: "They'll have to get the parents chipped so they can register the babies - it's like a birth certificate."

More than 450,000 animals have been microchipped in the past five years in the UK.

Graham Oliver from Buckley House Vet Centre said snakes were among the many creatures which came into the centre.

"We chip all sorts of animals - eagle owls, you can do fish, birds, cats and dogs, horses, wives and children, all sorts," he said.

Fishy behaviour

Mr Oliver said microchipping was often used for commercial purposes, especially when there was a risk of theft.

He said: "Some of the Koi carp that people exchange for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds can be 1m long so they can cope with a little chip."

Koi carp are often stolen from ponds

Theft may be a problem for owners of exotic pets - but some animals leave home of their own accord.

Mr Oliver said pets, especially cats, went missing for a number of reasons.

"They will jump in the back of vans. They can travel great distances."

Happy endings

Last month a cat which ran away from Nottingham in 2005 was returned to its owner.

Kofi had been taken in by the RSPCA in Suffolk after he was found injured.

His owner, Sarah Hawley, said: "We had given up hope of seeing him again. He seems happy and we will gradually reintroduce him to his brother Ted once he's settled back in.

"I am so pleased he was microchipped as otherwise he really would have been missing forever."

Another cat, Dixie from Erdington, Birmingham, was found after nine years thanks to microchip tracking.

Supporters of animal micro-chipping are working hard to raise awareness about its importance. Students from Thorpe House School in Norwich, Norfolk, have joined forces with the RSPCA and celebrities to promote a petition calling for microchipping to be made a legal requirement.

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