The bearded dragon is so Jersey.

When challenged, the male puffs out its spiky chin and glares. It puts on a dominant stance. It likes to show off that it is The Man.

How appropriate that it’s one of New Jersey’s most popular exotic pets.

Indeed, there are nearly 500 of them licensed as pets in the state, second only to the African grey parrot, but ahead of the chinchilla, the ball python and the blue-tongued skink — or the fancy bear Syrian hamster.

In a roster that would make a zookeeper swoon, or a burglar think twice, the state Department of Environmental Protection has a database of some 6,800 reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals kept throughout New Jersey as officially licensed "exotic pets."

They are non-traditional animal companions — unlike dogs, cats or guinea pigs — that require special licenses from the DEP and, in some cases, special training to own because they could be dangerous to humans or a threat to agriculture. Some roam the air and floors of people's homes. Others live in zoos or with people who put on exotic animal shows or do scientific research.

An analysis of the data shows that these pets come from far and wide across the animal kingdom.

Nearly half are birds, including many that can say back to you what you say to them.

Story continues below graphic. Scroll to the bottom for a list of exotic pets.

Tops among them are about 560 African grey parrots, followed by two kinds of parakeets: the sun and the green-cheeked. Blue-and-gold macaws, Senegal parrots and umbrella cockatoos are also big in the Garden State — and all are famous for their mimicry,

A handful of New Jerseyans own rarer breeds, like the slender-billed corella or curl-crested aracari.

Then there are exotics with tails, teeth, slimy skins or forked tongues, including numerous varieties of lizards and frogs (Iike the bearded dragon, leopard gecko or African dwarf frog) as well as snakes.

Take the ball python, the most popular pet snake in New Jersey, typically running 3 to 5 feet long and sporting multiple colors and patterns. It's usually a docile creature, often curling into a ball when stressed. If it gets a regular diet of tasty rodents, it can live up to 30 years. But it also can wrap around and squeeze a person until it hurts, or worse, if the cold-blooded serpent goes long enough without food or just wants some human body heat.

Another couple of snakes on the list — the boa constrictor and the reticulated python — commonly run up to 13 feet long and require more supervision, as they have been known to kill humans.

Others on the roster are clawed companions that may not get a good night's sleep if they share space with a python.

They range from the little to the very little, and include the ferret, the hedgehog and the sugar glider, all weighing in at under 5 pounds. The sugar glider is a pointy-nosed nocturnal marsupial that can jump through the air like a flying squirrel and loves sweet things.

Another is the Roborovski dwarf hamster, a gray-and-white, mostly vegetarian pipsqueak of a beast that grows to about 2 inches long, weighs less than an ounce and loves to run and run and run after gobbling down a meal of seeds. The 87 of those in New Jersey take their name from a Russian explorer named Vsevolod Roborovski, who reportedly discovered them on a trek through China in 1894.

All told, there currently are roughly 3,100 birds, 2,400 reptiles, 1,100 mammals and 240 amphibians licensed as exotic pets in the state.