Rodents are more popular than expensive cats
The pandemic forced to reconsider the attitude of Russians towards smaller brothers. The demand for expensive pets has dropped sharply (for example, pet store sellers do not know where to attach Maine Coons), but low-maintenance and cheap individuals have become popular. Parrots and various representatives of rats were at the top of the purchased “live goods”.
Analysts at one of the popular sales sites ranked the most popular pets among Russians, except for traditional cats and dogs. As it turned out, more and more exotic things appear in the top, but the first places are held by parrots and rats, and the third place is suddenly taken by the eared rodents of the chinchilla.
“Our first Rat lived only a year, the whole family cried when he suddenly died,” says Elena from Moscow, who recently bought her second chinchilla for her children. – The animal is very funny, does not bark, does not bite, does not rush. It can be released around the apartment. It is not so difficult to clean up after him, if you adapt yourself, you do not need to walk, the daughters from the Rat (the second was also named) are delighted.
Turtle and hamster are in the five most bought smaller brothers. But the fish, which were once fashionable to keep, today is only in sixth place. The seventh and eighth positions are occupied by the eared “decorative rabbit” and the fluffy “guinea pig”, and the ninth-place is occupied by the “ferret”.
The most interesting thing in the ranking begins with the tenth point, to which an animal called … a snake got out. Experts note that today compatriots began to keep snakes at home much more often than 10-15 years ago.
In 12th place is the very unusual sounding name “eublefar”. If you are not already in the know, then this is a spotted lizard, which is sometimes called a scaly cat. The common lizard, by the way, is already in 13th place, and the chameleon took the 14th place. The raccoon is firmly entrenched in 15th position – a cute, but very troublesome animal.
– We have been keeping Flora for a year now, we had to allocate him a huge closet – we turned it over, it turned out something like an arena. He is an extremely cute animal, but there are also drawbacks – he constantly gnaws at everything, and, of course, brought a lot of trouble into our lives, – admits the owner of the raccoon, Anna from Bibirevo. – Besides, this is not a kosha and not a dog, it is impossible to teach him to shit in the tray.
If we talk about the pets that hit the top 50, then among them are the motley guppy fish, the bearded agama (a lizard with a characteristic neck bag), and the giant Achatina snails. Surprising but true: the mini-pig, popular in the past years, was not included in the top 50 most popular searches among animals.
Animals in the “amphibian” category became the absolute leader in the dynamics of demand in the summer of 2020 – the demand for snails and turtles at this time increased by 127% compared to last year. Interest in reptiles increased by 48%. The demand for rodents has grown by 77%. “We have been keeping snails for two years. They are beautiful and funny, but they breed completely uncontrollably, and this is a problem, ”admits the owner of the Akhatins, Alisa.
Alas – at the same time, the demand for expensive purebred pets during the pandemic fell simply critically. The owners of pet shops complain that they have nowhere to attach the grown Maine Coons – the cost of a kitten of 30-50 thousand rubles is now beyond the reach of the majority of the population. Whether it’s a rat for a thousand.
