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As enthusiastic as realistic about his animals, Shapiro acknowledges that it is impossible to get love from an iguana or a snake in the sense one can easily receive affection from a dog. "Certain reptiles are a little bit more responsive than others, but most of them are much dumber than a mouse," he points out. "I like them because they are the most misunderstood animals in the world." In fact, he takes the task of supporting such weird beings as a kind of militancy. Besides promoting the T-shirts label, he maintains a fund-raising campaign to finance reptiles sent to him.
He has been spending $10,000 a year and retrieving only about $3,000 selling some of the animals. Just to fill the freezer up with dead mice costs him about $500 a month. Another $200 a month is spent in electricity to keep the animals warm in the winter. Since many of the reptiles come from tropical regions, they must kept in temperature between 80 and 90 degrees. Most of the reptiles he gets are ill or underweight and need to be healed before they are sent to warm places like Florida for adoption. "I and my friends try to keep the animals that we really like. We sell some of the stuff we get, but only to qualified people," he says. Qualification in this matter takes time. Over 30 years ago, Shapiro was a boy living in Queens and was given his first little turtle, which died of salmonellosis a couple of months later. Then he bought the second turtle, and some books about reptiles. He bought the first snake when he was in high school. Since then, Shapiro, who has a degree in fine arts from Parsons School, did not stop to get reptiles. His background in this matter was acquired more through practical experience than theoretical knowledge. "Most herpetocologists don't have practical knowledge, only book knowledge. They don't even know how to handle a snake. They grab a snake behind the neck, hurting them. It kills me." |
How Illegal Reptiles Get Here For $5,000 it is easy to get a Comodo Dragon, a wild lizard native to the Phillipines and considered a federally protected endangered animal in the United States. However, these animals are now American born, bred at zoos all over the country. When the zoos get babies, some of them are given to non profit biological societies. A few of these animals are given to private owners and later sold in the black market. Some snakes, as the pythons are much cheaper, costing about $25. Baby reptiles enter New York City hidden in cars and trucks without being checked by the police.
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