Exotic snake found in Hook car park (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Exotic snake found in Hook car park
5:04pm Thursday 30th August 2012 in Local By Chris Gregory
The Irian Jaya Carpet Python, after it had been recovered by the RSPCA
TWO children got a fright after finding a python in a Hook car park.
The youngsters spotted the snake in a smashed-up vivarium - a glass-fronted box reptile house - that had been dumped in a car park in Bowling Green Drive, on Tuesday, August 28. They told their mum who called the RSPCA.
Inside the vivarium was an adult Irian Jaya Carpet Python, which was a healthy weight but had a large swelling on its body, thought to have been caused by an old untreated injury. The snake was taken to a vet before being boarded with an exotics expert.
RSPCA inspector Rachel Gowers said: “A snake of this type would need to be kept in a warm environment and if it was not found quickly, could easily have died from the cold, so to dump it in this way was totally irresponsible.
“Exotic pets are often the innocent victims of people who lose interest in them. It is likely that this animal was abandoned by someone who chose to take the coward’s way out and dump it rather than getting it the veterinary attention it needed.”
Insp Gowers is now investigating the incident, and is keen to track down whoever dumped the snake.
Irian Jaya Carpet Pythons are considered unusual pets that are naturally found in New Guinea and north Australia. They constrict, eat small mammals and birds and can grow up to 7ft.
Anyone with information on the snake can call the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018.
