Chinanews, Guangzhou, March 15 – With the beginning of the new semester, many university students in Guangzhou have returned to campus with their pets, including hamsters, lizards and even snakes.

 

Nowadays, more and more college students in Guangzhou have taken to keeping pets on campus, although the school authorities do not encourage them to do so..

 

Ming, a student of Guangzhou College of Arts, is called “the snake boy”, as he keeps 10 pet snakes at a time. Ming used to keep lizards and scorpions, too. However, he felt that he couldn't afford the time to take care of all of them, so he dispensed with his lizards and scorpions, leaving only 10 small snakes.

 

“Nine of them are from abroad, and it cost me some 6,000 yuan to buy all of them,” said Ming. “But I thought it was worth it. I love them, especially when they move over my fingers. It’s really refreshingly cool.”

 

Pet shops in the university town in Guangzhou are doing pretty good business. “The most popular pets are turtles and hamsters, as they are small in size and are easy to be taken care of in dorms,”said the owner of a pet shop.

 

"The students must keep a balance between taking care of pets and their studies, and they should be aware of possible health risks of keeping pets, too," said Zhang, a teacher of South China Normal University.