Bored with cats and dogs as pets? How about a pet python for those daring enough.
There are plenty of them slithering around at the Hong Kong International Reptile Expo this weekend, with American snake breeder Bob Clark at the front line.
The Oklahoma man brought 600 baby ball pythons along to the expo and was among 40 exhibitors at the first event of its kind in the city to showcase exotic pets including snakes, frogs and lizards.
Referring to the pythons, Clark said: 'It's not like a dog. When you come home from work it's not happy to see you. It's more like a bird or a fish that is pretty to look at.'
Clark raised the largest snake in captivity - a python called Fluffy weighing in at 140kg and over seven metres long. It was sold to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.
The non-venomous ball pythons - named because of their tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened - he brought to the expo are just a few weeks old. Now less than 20cm long, they will grow to about 1.5 metres long. The cheapest one is HK$250 but a rarer white one can cost HK$25,000.