Pet problems: biological and economic factors that influence the release of alien reptiles and amphibians by pet owners

1. The number of alien reptiles and amphibians introduced and established worldwide has been increasing over the last decades. The legal pet trade is the now the dominant pathway by which individuals of these species arrive in their non-native locale. Despite its importance, pet trade pathway specific factors that influence the release (introduction) of exotic reptiles and amphibians have not yet been examined.
2. To address this gap, we set out to identify broad-scale and easily measured biological and economic factors that influence the release of these exotic pets by their owners. We hypothesize that biological factors reflect the cost of care and economic factors reflect the value owners place on their pet, both of which can influence the probability a pet is released. We collected life history and economic data on the 1722 species of reptiles and amphibians sold within the US as pets over the last 18 years. We also compiled a list of pet-trade attributed releases in the US (i.e. ...