Python captured from closet

Officers were investigating a break-in, searching the Orangeburg residence for clues. What they found prompted them to call in specialized help, someone with expertise in the field, someone who could handle a – sn-sn-snake!

Enter Stephanie Rudd, all five-foot-four of the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety’s newest animal control officer, who was called in Wednesday to tackle a snake twice her size.

“I’ve been dealing with animals my whole life,” Rudd said. “It felt like a calling; my whole purpose is animals.”

Even snakes?

“I’ve dealt with a lot of reptiles,” she said calmly – as if handling a reptile as long as your car is a typical day at the office.

But for Rudd, it is a typical day at the office when you consider that for the past several years she has owned and operated Palmetto Reptiles and Exotic Animals, a place where, whether four-legged or no-legged, unusual is the usual.

“I started to get interested in snakes when I was 14 or 15” years old, she said.

Now, she’s the city’s newest animal control investigator, ready to answer calls.

“I think Stephanie’s going to be a good credit to the department as an animal control officer,” ODPS Capt. Thad Turner said.

When her fellow officers learned during their investigation there was a snake – and a big one at that – being kept in a closet, they called their animal control officer.

Initially, the detectives were told the snake was 14 feet long. Some said it was 12 feet long.

Arriving at the residence, Rudd slowly opened the closet door to find a pretty decent pile of snake in a dark closet with no heat or food.

Examining the animal, Rudd realized it was malnourished and dehydrated. Besides apparent emaciation, several sores were visible on the snake’s underside – more signs of malnutrition, Rudd said. It needed medical attention, and it needed it yesterday.

“I just immediately asked (the owner) to sign him over” to the city, Rudd said of the moment she saw the snake.

And besides, there’s a city ordinance that says exotic snakes have to be six feet or less if it’s a constrictor. And this snake, which turned out to be a 10-foot long albino Burmese python, is definitely a constrictor.

Taking the snake into city custody, Rudd gave the animal a careful examination. Her prognosis is that several months of food, heat and hydration should see the 10-foot snake back at its original weight – right at 100 pounds.

Right now, the albino snake might tip the scale at roughly 30 pounds, Rudd said.

On Wednesday, while explaining the intricacies of maintaining a healthy pet, Rudd’s daughter, 14-year-old Kelsey, called her mom several times to find out how the animal was doing.

“She loves them; she loves all of them,” Rudd said of her daughter. “She’s like me.”

Meanwhile, a python isn’t the only snake Rudd’s ever handled. There was the king cobra once that had a “hood” behind its head about the size of a basketball. And, there were the alligators.

An ODPS animal control officer since November, Rudd says, “I love them all.”

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And besides, there’s a city ordinance that says exotic snakes have to be six feet or less if it’s a constrictor.

Seems to be a recurring theme. I wonder how many similar city ordinances there are around the country.

At least this gal cares and the animal is in better hands now.

Her prognosis is that several months of food, heat and hydration should see the 10-foot snake back at its original weight – right at 100 pounds.

Right now, the albino snake might tip the scale at roughly 30 pounds, Rudd said.

At 10ft long, I would say that the appropriate weight is closer to 30 lbs than 100 lbs - at least based on what I remember of the weights of mine.
But as Kevin said, at least she cares...and appears to have some experience. I know of a couple of instances where local laws were enacted because the ACOs were afraid of reptiles and didn't want to deal with them (and they went through quietly - likely due to lack of public knowledge or dissent).

Here's an update to this story. Seems the python is doing much better now.

It was five weeks ago when she was found, bearing open sores. Weighing less than half her normal weight, it appeared she might have not been fed in weeks.

“Shiloh is great, happy and full as a tick,” says Stephanie Rudd, Orangeburg Department of Public Safety’s animal control officer. “She’s gained about seven pounds. She’s actually close to 11 feet now: she’s grown three inches.”

Perhaps for some, “Shiloh,” as she was named, may not be the ideal pet most folks could imagine themselves curling up with.

Shiloh was found when police officers were searching an Orangeburg residence for clues to a break-in on Jan. 31.

The discovery prompted investigators to call Rudd, who arrived to find a lethargic, barely alive long albino Burmese python shut up in a closet. No heat. No light. Just darkness for the South American native used to warmer climes.

No matter that the pale yellow python was nearly twice her size, Rudd collected the animal for transport to the care facility she operates with her husband, Chris.

In five weeks, Shiloh has eaten several times, gaining weight on her way to the typical 100 pounds of a healthy snake her size. She weighed about 30 pounds when found.

Today, her color is closer to the canary yellow it should be. She has shed dead skin. Her sores are healing.

Had she not been found when she was, “she would have died,” Rudd said. “She would have gotten too cold, kind of like hypothermia for us but 10 times more severe.”

In light of the near-tragedy, the animal control officer advises that if you’re considering an exotic pet, do your homework.

“Call a vet, use the Internet, go to the library,” she said. “There’s a number of sources to find out what they eat, find out what kind of temperature they live in.”

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