Boa Constrictor Owner Explains Why He Called 911

[wcreptiles]

This happened across town, the guy is going to get a smaller snake; one he can handle. This kind of press is what leads to stupid exotic laws.

A Covedale man is explaining the circumstances surrounding his call for help when the late night feeding of his boa constrictor went wrong. Mike Simpson called Monday morning asking for help with his pet snake. He spoke with Local 12's Shawn Ley about the incident and why he won't be welcoming the snake back into his home.

911 call: "We can't get him out of our bathroom and back in the cage. He's way too aggressive. He's striking and everything."

That 3 a.m. call to 911 is about a 6 foot boa constrictor named "Lucious" who it's owner says turned aggressive during it's late night rat feeding. The snake was in a bathtub, the owner afraid of it - and turning to police for help.

911: "I'm not sure what we're going to be able to do here."

Michael Simpson/Snake's Owner: "Oh yeah, feeding time's always been a challenge like I says he's 6 and a half feet long and he's about 5 inches around."

Michael Simpson bought the snake from a friend a few months ago, saying it was so docile, the children in his apartment grew to love it. Family friends have no problems with their children near it.

But Simpson says this pet's behavior scared him last night, and now he admits the snake is too much to handle. Michael Simpson "He's too big. If he was to get around one of us we wouldn't be able to get him off in time."

Two years ago a Camp Dennison man was strangled by his pet python. Animal experts saying snakes can be unpredictable.

Andy Mahlman/SPCA Cincinnati: "If you don't know what you're doing you have no business with it. Especially if you have children and we see situations like that, children, snake on the floor out of the cage ... that's a bad deal. With any other pet you have to be a responsible pet owner."

Simpson: "He's too big for me to have out around the kids, I won't do it i'm not going to endanger the kids."

Snakes aren't loyal to owners, but owners are loyal to them - Simpson says he's getting another snake - this time a smaller one. How did police handle the snake? The officer that arrived is a snake lover and with the snake acting aggressive towards it's owner - the officer simply grabbed it and put it in a box.

The SPCA tells us the Cincinnati Herpetological Society now has the snake. It's a reptile rescue organization that will place the snake with one of it's members. The SPCA Cincinnati says there are no exotic pet ordinances that ban the keeping of snakes as pets.

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/...Why-He-Called-911/ku28McQTJEa_91vuXSAUcw.cspx

This boa constrictor was removed from an apartment in West Price Hill early Tuesday morning. (WKRC-TV)

 

[Kiote_9]

People in general need to become educated about any pet they keep rather than just assuming that they can handle anything that comes along. Watch the TV show "It's Me or The Dog" and see just how inept people are about caring for the common domestic animals.

I was stupid when I got my first snake (and it died) and didn't get another for 10 years, THEN I learned about how to care for them from the guy I got the snake from. It should have been different, someone should have educated me when I got the first one.

I don't know. It seems all we can do is try our best to share what WE have learned before it's too late, and to never stop learning.

 

[RB_BPz]

Whats get me is that he was afriad when he started "striking"...LOL well what do you expect feeding behavior to be like for a boa that BIG....What was he doing with a snake that BIG if he couldnt even control it...LOL

People nowadays...

 

[MikeCurtin]

I think I'll be linking this thread to every single thread I see where someone thinks it's a good idea to remove a constrictor from its enclosure for feeding. Someone please tell me again why it's smart to handle a snake before and after feeding!!!! Hmmmm, let's see....it's feeding time, the snake just ate, now he's trying to pick it up. This guy's a bonehead!!!

 

[Seamus Haley]

I think I'll be linking this thread to every single thread I see where someone thinks it's a good idea to remove a constrictor from its enclosure for feeding. Someone please tell me again why it's smart to handle a snake before and after feeding!!!! Hmmmm, let's see....it's feeding time, the snake just ate, now he's trying to pick it up. This guy's a bonehead!!!

Little more complicated than a simple yes/no debate though. There are definite advantages to out-of-enclosure feeding and some potential disadvantages. Weighing them against one another and deciding on a case by case basis seems the most reasonable course. 's what I do anyway. Some things are fed out of enclosure for specific reasons, some in for specific reasons... some really just whatever is easiest.

It's an oversimplification to say that striking will happen immediately after feeding too, the instinctual triggers surrounding both feeding and defensive strikes are diverse. Diverse but fairly predictable and easy enough to manipulate. Immediately after feeding, the animal is operating with a slightly altered set of responses but that doesn't automatically mean they're completely intractable biting machines- the conditions and approach matter a great deal.

What makes me think the guy shouldn't have had the animal- outside of his own admission and the way those quotes were phrased- is that he put it into a bathtub for feeding. Putting herps into contact with things people use for feeding or bathing isn't a great idea. Neither is throwing a boa into something that's regularly cleaned with Comet. I really doubt the tub was properly sanitized between the snake and the people using it... and I really doubt it was properly rinsed of bleach residue between cleaning and using it as a feeding bin.

 

[MikeCurtin]

While I respect your views, I have a hard time understanding how there is any situation in which feeding outside the enclosure is less complicated than feeding inside the enclosure, at least with the species I work with. In addition, increased contact with any snake during feeding will increase the likelihood of a bite. It may not turn the snake into a biting machine, but the feeding response is definitely heightened.

As for using the bathtub, yup.....bonehead move!

 

[MikeAnthony]

My 6' Columbian acts like a hissing n striking lunatic if you even walk by her cage during feeding and is like that for about 20 minutes after she's eaten. She liikes her privacy! That's why I feed her in the enclosure.

That guy in the article should have invested in a simple snake stick and have someone teach him how to use it BEFORE his snake got too big for him to handle.

 

[Seamus Haley]

While I respect your views, I have a hard time understanding how there is any situation in which feeding outside the enclosure is less complicated than feeding inside the enclosure, at least with the species I work with. In addition, increased contact with any snake during feeding will increase the likelihood of a bite. It may not turn the snake into a biting machine, but the feeding response is definitely heightened.

As for using the bathtub, yup.....bonehead move!

The species thing might be a big part of it. I keep my candoia on a pretty deep bed of mixed substrate, bark, orchid litter, bed-a-beast style cocoanut fiber with a good heap of sphagnum thrown in. The aspera tend to bury themselves fairly well most the time. Those that have a strong feeding response, that will eat if moved and dropped into a bare tub get fed out of the enclosure to prevent the accidental ingestion of any of the larger or coarser pieces of substrate.

I have a few chondros in display enclosures that get the same treatment as a precaution against the constriction and ingestion of silk plants.

It may be a small risk in both cases, but it's one I choose to avoid by moving the animals to a separate enclosure to feed.

Animals in more sterile and risk free enclosures get fed where they are, as do any animals who I suspect (or know) might be disinclined to eat if moved around. The merits of each location are weighed for the individual animal.

And yes, feed responses are generally heightened immediately after feeding but triggering a feed strike still requires tripping that instinctive trigger tied to that response. Conditions and approach always matter. Change the stimulus, change the response.

 

[ReptileJay]

Well... the Moral of the story here is to do your homework before buying ANY animal. Reptiles unfortunately get plenty of bad press from the media these days, and the last thing our hobby needs is more of these people getting in over their heads because they were unwilling to educate themselves before getting an animal. Although it's somewhat sad, It does not surprise me at all that we end up with such a poor public image at times. You don't see responsible keepers on the news, all you are going to see are the idiots that put themselves in these situations.
Everyone needs to make an effort to educate, to prevent situations like this from occurring. If you go out of your way to teach people, and actively assist the in their decision making process, then it won't be 911 that gets called if an incident occurs, it is more likely to be you. Overall it leads to less of these incidents occurring in the first place, and less bad publicity if they DO still manage to occur.
It is the responsibility of our entire community to educate. We all know that the majority of pet stores are not going to do it, since a lot of them are only interested in the bottom line, so that leaves us, the keepers and breeders of these animals.

 

[wcreptiles]

And another one calls the cops. - this time NYC

I wonder if he really lost control of a 7ft ball python or the news reporter had no idea what kind of snake was captured. The statement 'similar to the one pictured above' must mean scales and no legs because as you know all snakes are the same.

Seven-foot python in Queens apartment becomes a pain in the asp

The panicked owner of a 7-foot python called cops Thursday when he could no longer charm the snake he kept in his pal's Queens apartment, police said.

David Fennell, 28, was staying at the 149th St. pad of a friend when he called cops just after 5:30 p.m. Fennell, who was in the Jamaica apartment while his friend serves in the Army overseas, was apparently worried the snake might escape the fifth-floor apartment.

Police captured the python before it could and turned it over to Animal Care and Control just after 6 p.m.

Fennell was charged with unlawful possession of a wild animal, a misdemeanor. Under city law it is illegal to keep anything other than a domestic dog, cat or pocket pet such as a small bird or hamster, authorities said.

Neighbors had no idea the exotic reptile was in their midst.

"He wouldn't let maintenance workers into his apartment," said super Ramdat Roshandat, 40. "Our policy is strictly no pets."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...sevenfoot_python_in_queens_apartment_bec.html

A man staying in a friend's Queens apartment called cops after he lost control of a seven-foot python, similar to the one pictured above.

 

[Kiote_9]

I spend time at work talking about my snakes and had have many people initially get upset about the awful creatures I keep (especially the spiders so I don't speak of them as much). After getting some information and seeing pictures they have calmed down a lot and actually ask how my snakes are doing. Some of them have subsequently gone to reptile shows and seen for themselves what the atmosphere is like and what "kind of people" keep reptiles as pets. A few of them have considered getting snakes as pets and I make sure they know what to expect before they get an 8 year old kid a snake. They have no clue about housing, feeding, or anything else.

The main thing I am attempting to do is keep innocent animals from being persecuted and accidentally killed by people who claim to be "instinctively afraid" of snakes. Hopefully some people will accept and tolerate the animals I keep as pets, and perhaps someone will actually take kindly to them and save the life of a snake someday.

These newspaper articles do nothing to help anyone, they just sensationalize the mistakes others make. Anything for a dollar, aye?

 

[Seamus Haley]

people who claim to be "instinctively afraid" of snakes

That's pretty well documented as legitimate. Not necessarily an excuse for flagrantly violent behavior... but there's a little tickling sense deep down in the simian parts of people which tells us to be cautious of all sorts of things.

We've got a lot more instinctive triggers floating around in our behavioral patterns than we like to acknowledge. Snake-shaped-things can be dangerous to ape-shaped-things and we've got a tremendous amount of ape-shaped-responses built in on a genetic level.

 

[Kiote_9]

That's pretty well documented as legitimate. Not necessarily an excuse for flagrantly violent behavior... but there's a little tickling sense deep down in the simian parts of people which tells us to be cautious of all sorts of things.

We've got a lot more instinctive triggers floating around in our behavioral patterns than we like to acknowledge. Snake-shaped-things can be dangerous to ape-shaped-things and we've got a tremendous amount of ape-shaped-responses built in on a genetic level.

I do understand an instinctive caution, but to kill something on sight due to instinct? Or to run away screaming in fear (which I have seen several people do at pet shops)? Some of us have no sign of even discomfort when seeing a wild snake. I was catching them when I was 6 years old...no one had ever told me they could hurt you or even possibly kill you. I can't tell you how many times I was bitten before I found out there were venomous snakes in existence and instructed to be wary of them. No one in my family is afraid of snakes so we were not taught to fear them. We should have been told that some were dangerous...

I do appreciate your input as I tend to forget that not everyone has had the same experiences as me. Sometimes I need a nudge, and you provided it.

It is unsettling, however, to have a 22 year old person explain that humans are by nature afraid of slimy things and snakes are slimy. I asked him if he had ever touched one and he said "yes, and it was slimy". I asked how old he was when it happened and he said "oh, I was a little kid". We have had many discussions about snakes since then and he seems to have relaxed a bit about them and I don't think he is going to chase one down with his lawnmower...but I doubt he will avoid running one over, either.

When is someone going to put in the news something about how snakes cut down the rodent/slug/bug populations or something positive like that? Even the nature shows like to have snakes striking at a person and giving information on how bad the bites can be. Its no wonder some people are so terrified when the media (which seems to be the final word to some folks) never has anything good to say.

Sorry, it's just frustrating that people choose to remain ignorant.