£1,000 reward afterburglary in Exotic Pets

In a separate break-in a corn snake was stolen from pet expert Ms Debbie Russell’s home.

Police, whose inquiries are continuing, stress both animals are non-poisonous.

The stolen lizard was the only animal that had been there since the day the venture opened earlier this year – and Ms Russell is at a loss to know why the animal was specially selected by the thief or thieves.

She has stressed it is not the cash value of the thefts she is most concerned with, and that besides recovering the animals she is more interested in finding out why both the shop and her home were targeted for relatively minor thefts.

She declined to comment on the bizarre break-ins in more detail on Tuesday, pending further police enquiries, but has alerted local people to the thefts via social media.

The stolen corn snake is of a type sometimes used to teach children about animals through handling.

It’s understood local people have been shocked by the double break-ins, and that many have come forward to offer support while promising to keep an eye out for the missing lizard.

Ms Russell has said she will reward anyone who can shed light on who took the animal, or where it has been taken.

She says that while all such lizards look similar to one another she will be able to identify this stolen pet as she handled it every day.

No damage was caused by the shop break-in, which happened after 5pm on Saturday.