Tiny Australian sugar gliders have become the latest must-have pet in England.
Breeders and pet shops are being bombarded with requests from pet lovers eager to buy the flying possums for up to STG150 ($NZ410) each.
"Sugar gliders are becoming rather popular as pets," Southampton pet shop owner John Hepburn told the Southern Daily Echo.
"They are extremely pretty and very tame providing the owner bonds with them, if not they can give a nasty nip." Sian Bailey, a trainee veterinary nurse and breeder with Southern Sugar Gliders in Southampton, said not all pet owners realised the amount of care the mini marsupials needed.
"Sugar gliders are becoming more common as pets and people are travelling all over the country to get them," she said.
"My only concern with them becoming more popular is that some people will buy them because they are unusual and then get bored.
"I have already seen one that has ended up in a rescue centre which is very worrying." Britain's RSPCA does not recommend sugar gliders as good pets for people living in the UK.
"(We) would not recommend them as pets," a spokesman told the BBC.
"The society believes that anyone who keeps animals must have the facilities, time, financial means and level of interest necessary to ensure a satisfactory standard of care for, and a long-term commitment to, their animals.
"These animals are used to hot, damp living conditions, can become ill or die if given an improper diet, don't like noise created by TVs or radios and can have their eyesight damaged by bright light."
