An iguana fanatic who keeps dozens of reptiles in his bedroom and washes them in his bath says his love of scaly creatures has stopped him getting a girlfriend for a decade . Shaun Dixon shares his Cheshire home with up to 32 lizards at any one time , as well as pythons and spiders - and he has suffered gory bite wounds from his unusual pets . But the 24-year-old , who is a professional animal rescuer , says he can not give up his reptile habit , and insists that any relationships he has will have to fit around the lizards . Warning : graphic content . Fanatic : Shaun Dixon keeps up to 32 iguanas and other reptiles in his Cheshire home . Unusual : Mr Dixon attaches his reptiles to leads and walks them around his local neighbourhood . Mr Dixon 's passion for rescuing abandoned animals was sparked in his childhood by his aunt , who also kept iguanas in her house . He last has a girlfriend in 2006 , but they broke up because she could not bear to be around so many reptiles . 'My reptiles are my children , ' said Mr Dixon , from Crewe . ' I made the decision a long time ago that it would take a lot to commit to a long-term relationship or have children of my own because my pets mean the world to me . ' I had a girlfriend while I was at college and there 's no doubt that that the reptiles were a key factor in the reason we split : she hated them ! I 've been single ever since . 'Occasionally there have been opportunities and nice people who have tried to flirt with me but I know they 'd never understand my reptiles , or put up with sharing the bed with a lizard . ' Wash : Mr Dixon puts his reptiles in the bath to ensure they are keeping clean . Feeding : Two of the animals munching on their greens in Mr Dixon 's living room . Passion : The 24-year-old is pictured posing with some of his snakes , turtles and iguanas . As well as keeping animals in his bedroom , Mr Dixon can often be seen in his neighbourhood taking the reptiles for a walk . 'My iguanas live in my bedroom as that is the place I go to relax , ' he said . ' I love having them in there with me because I can just lie on my bed and enjoy nature 's wonderful creations . ' I also wash my reptiles in the bath because I love seeing them swim like crocodiles in the bathtub . 'In the summer months I take them outside for walks on leads and I 'll let them climb the trees we have around us . 'At present I have four iguanas , a chameleon , one leopard tortoise , four tarantulas and two Costa Rican zebras . ' Mr Dixon works with vets around Cheshire to rescue abused reptiles , then nurses them back to health at his home before either adopting them as pets or giving them away to caring new owners . Menagerie : The professional animal rescuer has multiple tanks in his house to keep the animals in . Outside : A reptile plays around in a special 'run ' located in Mr Dixon 's garden . Chilling out : Mr Dixon watches television accompanied by a pet turtle . He added : 'Over the years , I 've lived with a huge number of reptiles , some I bought , some I have rehomed and some I have rescued myself . 'At one time I had 32 lizards including bearded dragons , water dragons , chameleons , leopard geckos , fat-tailed geckos and a golden gecko . ' I also had around 17 snakes comprising of corn snakes , rat snakes , king snakes , three boa pythons , a rainbow python and a Colombian python . 'Are they dangerous ? Yes . Can they bite ? Well , anything with a mouth can bite , even people , so it really does n't bother me . ' Iguanas and monitor lizards are renowned for being highly territorial and for taking up a large amount of space , but this does not faze Mr Dixon . Hands-on : Mr Dixon has been passionate about reptiles since he was just a child . Danger : These photographs show the gory bites Mr Dixon has sustained from his beloved animals . He said : 'Their frustrations can be taken out on the owner so of course they can be dangerous . 'They can inflict serious bites but , in my experience , bites are never given without some kind of warning . The problem is recognising the warning signs . 'What I like about reptiles is that they 're difference from your usual household pets . ' I love seeing a full repertoire of natural behaviour . An Iguana head-bobbing , for example , is majestic and almost dragon-like in appearance . ' I learn new things every day . I 've seen at least 15 different communicational head-bobs from my big male iguana , Albus . ' He added : 'My auntie was rescuing and rehabilitating Iguanas for as long as I can remember and much of what I learned came from her . 'Sometimes my big male iguana will even come up and sit on my knee and defeat the laws of his very nature . There is nothing more rewarding than that . 'And at least they never nag me to do the washing up . '
Shaun Dixon helps to rescue abandoned lizards , snakes and spiders . Hide Caption