When Chism, a 35-year-old African gray parrot, got excited while perched in a cage at Sea Breeze Pet Center in Timonium, it would mimic a sound rarely heard from a bird.

It would meow.

But now Chism is missing. Someone stole the meowing parrot and tens of thousands of dollars' worth of other exotic pets from the store in the 1700 block of York Road on May 4. A week earlier, thieves took snakes, turtles and other reptiles from Afishionado in the 6100 block of Kenwood Ave. in Rosedale.

Baltimore County police have few leads and no suspects in either case, but animal-rights activists said the burglaries are part of a troubling trend fueled by a surging demand for animals such as lizards, snakes, turtles, tropical birds and other non-native species that people want to keep as pets.

"It's a huge business. It's on the Internet. It's in the newspaper. It's in the pet shops and in the backyard breeder," said Richard Farinato, director of Captive Wildlife Protection at the Humane Society of the United States. "It's all wrapped up in people's ego and desire to say 'I'm different.'"

Farinato criticized exotic pet shows, at which thousands of potential buyers and sellers meet. But the attorney for a pet industry advisory council said one of the largest and best of those shows is in Timonium.

The animal-selling industry generally defines exotic pets as animals that have not been bred to be domesticated, as dogs and cats have been.

Although little research has been done into the exotic pet market, some studies suggest it has grown by 400 percent during the past decade. The Humane Society estimates it to be at least a $12 billion-a-year industry in the United States.

With some animals costing $10,000 or more, pet stores, pet owners and independent breeders are discovering that thieves value exotic species. Buyers, however, find it extremely difficult to determine if an animal has been stolen.

Robert Ford, owner of the Sea Breeze, said he suspects the thieves who burglarized his shop would try to resell the animals on the Internet or at flea markets that specialize in exotic animals. Police agreed.

Marshall Meyer, an attorney for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, said at least 300 to 400 exotic pet flea markets or reptile shows are held throughout the country each year, drawing up to 10,000 potential buyers on a weekend. The shows often feature hundreds of species of reptiles from every part of the world. Most reptiles and birds sell for less than $1,000, but rarer species are sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

"Our best estimate is the majority of reptiles are not being sold at pet stores," Meyers said. "They are sold at these shows where everything from inexpensive to very, very expensive animals are sold."

The Humane Society's Farinato called the shows "the absolute worst."

"You will see turtles and lizards and snakes being sold in plastic containers that you pack a sandwich for lunch in and just row after row of these things," he said.

State laws governing such shows and which animals can be legally bought and sold vary greatly. The federal government also has laws governing which animals can be brought into the country and transported across state lines.

Meyers said some sales of stolen exotic animals at shows are inevitable, but he added that the Mid-Atlantic Reptile Show each September at the Timonium fairgrounds is one of the better operations of its kind. Billed as the second-largest reptile show in the world, the event attracts up to 8,000 potential customers.

"The market just keeps growing and growing," said the show's organizer, Tim Hoen, a Harford County resident.

About 6 million households have at least one bird and about 4 million have a reptile, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The most common exotic reptile pet is the turtle, followed by snakes, frogs and iguanas, according to the association.

With the increase in demand, research indicates exotic pet owners' demographics also are changing. Meyers said most reptile owners are "professional people" such as doctors, lawyers and accountants, many of whom live in small apartments where it would be difficult to have a dog or cat.

"People like the challenge of captive breeding and building a nice habitat," he added.

But the growing number of people owning exotic animals troubles animal rights activists, who said many do not know how to take care of their pets.

"People get into this without knowing the implications," said Farinato, noting that a parrot can live as long as 70 years.

In some cases, people release unwanted animals, which can disrupt a region's ecosystem. Most such animals "die a slow, painful death," Farinato said.

Whitney Hahn, communications director at the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo in Thurmont, said the zoo has been overwhelmed in recent years with requests from people seeking to get rid of unwanted exotic animals. But the zoo can take very few, Hahn said.

"We have to draw the line because we are not the ones who made a commitment to these animals," she said.

Industry officials said the public needs to be better educated before they purchase exotic animals as pets.

"We are trying to shift the thinking of the pet trade," said Hoen, the show organizer. "We want people to know, 'Hey. this snake gets really, really big. This snake has the possibility of killing your children.'"