Lizard boy buys 'rarest' reptiles

Jordan has named the Fiji iguanas Rhubarb and Custard

A 14-year-old boy who keeps dozens of reptiles in the garage of his parents' house has added two of the world's rarest lizards to his collection.

Jordan Davidson's pets include bearded dragons, bosc monitors, uromastyx, chameleons and a royal python he was given as a Christmas present.

He also has 25 baby dragons, 20 hatchlings and 27 eggs in an incubator.

The schoolboy has now bought two endangered Fiji iguanas, which he hopes to be able to breed.

The iguanas are the only ones of their type in Scotland, with just three zoos in Europe keeping them in their reptile houses.

Jordan, from Longridge, West Lothian, managed to buy the iguanas after being sponsored by the window company that provided glass for his aquarium.

He hopes to donate the lizards, which he has named Rhubarb and Custard, to Edinburgh Zoo after breeding them.

I saw them for sale on the internet but they cost £3,000 so I knew I would get a very firm 'no' from my dad if I asked if I could have them Jordan Davidson

Jordan said his fascination with lizards began when he was a young child watching the late Australian naturalist Steve Irwin on television.

He added: "I got my first bearded dragon two years ago and since then my collection has grown and grown. I now have seven lizards and the python I was given for Christmas along with the baby bearded dragons, whose mum is pregnant again.

"My dad put a wall around part of our garage to form an enclosure for the reptiles and their tanks. They do take a lot of looking after, especially the young ones, and I feed them every day with baby mice.

"My mum's still a bit scared of them, although my older sister Charlene has become interested in them too and has just got her first pet lizard, a bosc monitor."

The Fiji iguanas are endangered due to habitat loss and the introduction of predators, particularly domestic cats.

'Edinburgh Zoo'

The stunning emerald green creatures, which can grow to a length of 80cm long, have been described as "the most beautiful lizards on earth."

Jordan added: "I saw them for sale on the internet but they cost £3,000 so I knew I would get a very firm 'no' from my dad if I asked if I could have them.

"So I approached Dalmatian Windows in East Kilbride, who supplied the glass for my tanks, asked if they would sponsor me and they agreed.

"I have been in touch with Edinburgh Zoo who are very interested in obtaining the iguanas from me after I have bred them."

Jordan said he hopes to add some more reptiles to his collection in the future - although mum Yvonne and dad Charlie have joked about putting him up for adoption if he even mentions the possibility of getting a Komodo dragon.