400 # PET Python!!! found in Florida

[Sandy321]

http://www.wftv.com/news/20861176/detail.html

18 foot python - pet! Well fed - and no rodents around the house!! The Today Show was interviewing one of the agents that went to the home - I forget how many rabbits the owners brother said he fed it!

I hate snakes! It weighs 400 pounds, 18 feet long! The main issue was the owner didnt have a good enough cage, no lock on the cage - and it wasnt registered!

 

[Mermaid02]

http://www.wftv.com/news/20861176/detail.html

18 foot python - pet! Well fed - and no rodents around the house!! The Today Show was interviewing one of the agents that went to the home - I forget how many rabbits the owners brother said he fed it!

I hate snakes! It weighs 400 pounds, 18 feet long! The main issue was the owner didnt have a good enough cage, no lock on the cage - and it wasnt registered!

I hate snakes- really hate them. But how is it fair to keep an animal of that size? The poor thing (I can't believe I'm saying that) must be miserable. And the cat sleeping behind it- blissfully unaware she could have been an appetizer....

 

[momof1princess]

HOLY FLIPPIN' COW! i'd drop dead of a heart attack on the spot if i ever saw anything like that in person!

 

[tink_n_pooh]

 

[redlight]

When I saw the title, I read that as 400 foot long python. LOL. Still, 400 lbs is huge.

 

[smiley]

I actually have a fondness for herptofauna, but give me a freakin' break! No one should be allowed to own a snake like that. Snakes should either be in their natural habitat or the zoo. This snake isn't even a native species to Florida. I do hope it ends up in an appropriate place so the public can view it and learn why they shouldn't own these beautiful creatures.

 

[Feralpeg]

I actually have a fondness for herptofauna, but give me a freakin' break! No one should be allowed to own a snake like that. Snakes should either be in their natural habitat or the zoo. This snake isn't even a native species to Florida. I do hope it ends up in an appropriate place so the public can view it and learn why they shouldn't own these beautiful creatures.

The snake actually belongs to a man who is moving out of the state of Florida. His brother has been coming over to feed it every couple of weeks until the owner finds a suitable home. If I remember correctly, he fed it nine rabbits at one time. That lasts it for a couple of weeks.

It is currently being housed at a pet sanctuary until the owner can prove that he has suitable safe accomodations.

That was a really, really big snake!

 

[WDWBarb]

She sure is a beautiful snake... but no, she should NEVER be someone's "pet." Humans sometimes baffle me!

 

[Ohiodislover]

I watched that on Today. Holy Cow- big snake

I liked the officer's face at the end of the interview, when he told said he had a hamster at home, and the guy doing the interview said that it would make a make a meal for the snake.

Not sure how the owner could come up with the appropriate accommodations?

 

[Terry36]

I watched the Today show yesterday as well. We were like OMG! Imagine walking up on somthing that big. How do you safely house a snake that big in a neighborhood?

 

[tomthebarncat]

I saw it on BBC and Euro news, where these types of incidents tend to generate some type of unnecessary nationality comment from the tele broadcaster!!

 

[Feralpeg]

This is why we are having a problem in Florida. People buy these exotic snakes. When they become too big to deal with, they tend to turn them loose. Florida is the perfect habitat for snakes. They have become a major problem in the swampy areas of the Everglades. If left unattended, they could ruin the ecosystem in that area. They actually kill the alligators.

The government is now allowing licensed hunters to capture and kill the big snakes. So far, they aren't a huge problem in the urban areas, but they could become a problem if left to their own devices. A snake like the one in this news story could kill an adult, let alone a child or pet.

According to the news story I saw, the snake had escaped about a week ago, but was recaptured by the owner's brother. It was not in a good enclosure. The news said that the owner could get the snake back if he could prove an adequate enclosure. I'm hoping that he can't.

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

I must say, I am not fond of snakes however if the owners agree to have them licensed and microchipped and they provide proof of suitable habitats, why not let them have them? They obviously love the animal(s) they've had them for 17 years! I sort of feel bad for the owners who are losing their pets.

You can't just release a snake into the wild that has lived in captivity for that long, it doesn't have the same defensive instincts that other snakes do.

 

[Serena]

Without a proper enclosure that snake was not being well taken care of. It was a danger to all around it and it was in danger of others.
I bet that brother fed it well, if not he could be the next meal.

As some of you know I am not against owning snakes, having had two of my own. However, the owner was not being responsible and so it belongs in a zoo or something like that.


I just saw the video and pictures. That was a well taken care of snake, except for the enclosure. He needs to keep it at the reptile farm it is at and start working there too.

 

[GeorgeG]

I think if I encountered an 18 foot snake it would soon become 18 snakes, each about a foot long... and very dead! Now, where did I put my axe...?