Using Google Trends to Determine Current, Past and Future Trends in the Reptile Pet Trade

Abstract. Reptiles are one of the most popular exotic pets in the world. However, the most common pet reptiles are typically non-threatened, captive-bred, and are domestically obtained, which means they are largely unregulated and unmonitored, resulting in a large portion of the reptile pet trade remaining unknown. In this study, the most popular reptiles in the pet trade were examined using Google Trends and compared to the results from an online survey. The results determined that the most popular pet reptiles were by far bearded dragons, followed by ball pythons and leopard geckos. Conversely, green iguanas, Burmese pythons, chameleons, and red-eared sliders have declined the most in popularity. Meanwhile, crested geckos have been increasing in popularity more than any other reptile. The general finding of the study is that the reptiles declining in popularity were mostly wild-caught or restricted due to regulations, while current and future popular species were captive-bred and available in many varieties. The most popular species were also docile, medium-sized, easy to handle, and with relatively simple requirements. This study
demonstrates that Google Trends can be a valuable tool in many research applications, particularly research topics which may otherwise be difficult to monitor and quantify.