MURRAY — Animals like flying squirrels, African hedgehogs and octopuses are just a few of the unusual animals the Carter brothers, Glen, 30, and Chad, 25, sell at their pet shop.

The Pet Factory in Murray also has turtles the size of cell phones, stingrays and a monster that swims in saltwater (Glen said it's called a dragon eel). No cats or dogs here.

After purchasing the store two years ago with the help of their father, they started getting more unusual animals in order to stand out from other stores. Octopuses are some of those unusual animals, but some people think the correct plural word for them is "octopi." Both ways are correct, according to Glen Carter. "Same species is 'octopi,' " he said. "Multiple species is 'octopuses.' "

Their octopuses — they sell pygmy and common brown octopuses — are very intelligent. One of their customers put a baby jar full of fish into his octopus's aquarium, and it opened the jar to get to the fish, Glen Carter said.

But putting an octopus in an aquarium with live fish is generally not a good idea. "There is always a risk that they will eat whatever you put them in with," Glen Carter said.

Another exotic critter, a little flying-squirrel-like-animal called a sugarglider, craves attention, Glen Carter said.

One sugar glider is hard to keep healthy, he said, because they require several hours of attention every day. They are very social creatures that usually live in family groups of about 12. Since they do better in pairs, there is a 10 percent discount if a customer buys two.

Selling sugar gliders, hedgehogs and other exotic animals requires a license from the United States Department of Agriculture.

To get that license, a shop must be inspected, must have the animals' diets approved by a veterinarian and arrange for a veterinarian who knows exotic animals to be on call 24 hours a day, Glen Carter said.

Shop owners also need to order their animals.

Most of the shop's saltwater life comes from Florida and California, Glen Carter said.

Airlines like Delta and Southwest bring in the animals, he said.

The sugar gliders come from Texas, and the hedgehogs — which look like little porcupines and enjoy eating cat food — are bred by Glen and Chad.

It's not unusual for Glen and Chad to do things themselves. A friend helps out a lot at the store, and two "hit-and-miss employees" work once in a while, Chad Carter said.

And there is Jesse Sandstrom, 12, who helps out for fun whenever he can. "He does just about everything the rest of us do," Chad Carter said. "That's why they want to hire me," Jesse added.