Exotic animals are flooding pet shops in Ho Chi Minh City where people see pets as good luck charms.

A bewildering variety of reptiles, bugs, and fishes, including red-eared sliders and red swamp crawfish, are being imported along with some unusual plants by pet shops which are attracting customers in flocks.

“As long as they are imported from foreign countries, they are all valuable,” N.M., the owner of a pet shop in Nguyen Thong Street, District 3, said.

“Now, having exotic pets means you are rich,” she added.

Bugs, rats, ants, turtles, and porcupines are displayed in glass cages in shops in Lac Long Quan, Tran Hung Dao, and Vo Van Tan Streets.

The owner of a shop in Lac Long Quan street said: “Young people are flocking to buy imported pets that my shop is always out of stock.”

He said he imports them from Thailand every month.

Several endangered creatures can be found in these pet shops, mostly thanks to the belief they bring good luck.

One of them is the Asian arowana or super red arowana (commonly known as dragon fish), a thumb-sized specimen of which costs $700 at CQ shop on Tran Hung Dao Street.

“The dragon fish imported from China is mostly bought as a birthday gift for the boss,” a salesman confided.

Asian arowanas are considered "lucky" by many, particularly in Asia. The fish gets its reputation because of its resemblance to the dragon, which is considered auspicious.

Its large metallic-looking scales, twin feelers, and large pectoral fins are said to make the fish resemble "a dragon in full flight."

A palm-sized dragon fish costs $2,000 but it is still in demand.

HP, a shop on Vo Van Tan Street, is selling a bug from Thailand that teenagers are scrambling to buy at VND600,000 ($30.7) each.

It also sells marmosets and tamarin monkeys from South America for more than $10,000 each.

The red-eared slider is seen in many pet shops despite warnings from scientists that the semi-aquatic turtle can carry the salmonella bacteria, a major cause of typhoid in humans.

Strange plants like the Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant that consumes insects and arachnids and is also imported from Thailand, are also in much demand in the city.

Source: Tuoitrenews