noida the droopyeyed infant pygmy marmosets had been shuffled in and out of their cage and forced to perch on countless unfamiliar shoulders for photoops during the last three days lodged in a 2x2 square feet cage far away from their home in the brazilian rain forests the pair of eightmonthold marmosetsa major attraction at the india international pet trade fairlooked exhausted and edgy but the crowdmostly excited children and their complying parentscontinued to surge azam khan proprietor of stall no 23 at iitpf where the animals were put on sale said young marmosets are generally affectionate and fun they are usually very friendly and active but i think the flash of the camera and noise scared them because of their small sizethe young marmosets are just about 15 cm tall and weigh 114 g each they are extremely popular with the crowd everybody wants to pet them and click a photograph khan said their popularity notwithstanding the marmosets each priced at rs 150000 did not find a new home by the end of iitpf on sunday evening my sevenyearold heard about the marmosets from her classmates and insisted we visit but buying them was out of question because of their steep price and maintenance issues i bought her a hamster instead ritika ahuja a resident of saket said khan too said that price was a bar in the way of their sale because of the steep price only serious buyers show an interest in purchasing exotic animals like marmosets macaws and african grey birds we managed to sell only one marmoset in the three years we have been participating in iitpf a sixmonthold was sold to an elderly couple living in the capital last year he said the sixth edition of iitpf held at the expo centre in noida was a pet and pet care extravaganza with breeders offering an adorable collection of puppies cats rabbits and exotic birds for sale and designer pet shops displaying a host of glamorous pet gear including an exclusive gourmet bakery for canines while budgerigars at rs 300 a pair and rabbits at rs 600 a pair were hottest sales the dearest buy was a 35inch greenwinged macaw that had been another major crowdpuller for two years in a row bred at a lajpat nagar pet shop it sold at rs 15 lakh the iitpf also tried to find a home for the shelterless with a stall dedicated to stray puppies up for adoption the pups most of which were rescued by the citybased help and heal animal trust did not find any takers one of the puppies was taken for adoption by a family but they soon had a change of mind they said their flat was too small simmy malhotra of the trust said while the steep cost of marmosets and african greys prevented them from finding a home malhotra says that the stray pups did not find any takers chiefly because they were all of indian breeds people come here