Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-01-21

Lenasia residents are hissing with rage after a large poisonous 3.5 metre reticulated python escaped from its home in Lenasia extension 5, south of Johannesburg yesterday (20 January).

The SPCA and other authorities were alerted to the serpents escape and all residents in the area between Rose Park, Baitun-Noor and Bilal Masjid were encouraged to keep their children and pets indoors at all times.

“No snake is an ideal pet, Ahmed Nagdee from Reptile Rescue told Radio Islam. I often tell people, that any snake keeper from time to time always has an incident like this when they get out.”

He said reticulated pythons are constrictors and are among the world’s largest snakes and as such a bite isn’t necessarily dangerous. “One has also to bear in mind, as dangerous as they are, no snake is going to come out and bite you and that’s something else that’s important to take note of”

“If one compares it to a large dog bite, a dog bite is far worse. That said though, reticulated pythons are among the world’s largest snakes, and when fully grown, they are relatively dangerous,” said Nagdee.

Nagdee said the snake that escaped which was 3.5 meters long is relatively small as reticulated pythons can grow up to 11 meters.

“Essentially speaking, by keeping that snake as a pet there is nothing wrong with it. But when it does get out due to negligence…Where the owner of the snake is generally faced with a fine and the reptile gets confiscated and either housed at a facility such as the one we have, or alternatively it does get put down,” said Nagdee.

Nagdee said the owner of the snake created unnecessary panic by sending out a message via social network that read: “The snake is hungry and ready to strike (sic).”

“The panic that was created because of that message is going to potentially strike at young kids and dogs and other animals, etc. You know it’s naïve, purely because also based on the current weather that we are having and the fact that it’s a tropical snake, it would generally just go out and hide somewhere,” said Nagdee.

Nagdee however did reiterated that the snake would bite which is painful and infectious, if it is handled (by a person trying to catch it) to protect itself as any animal would.

Nagdee said that different provinces have different rules with regard to keeping snakes as a pet. “In Gauteng you are allowed to keep exotic snakes, but there is a few rules surrounding that as well.”

He said many pet store owners in their quest to make a few bucks sell animals and reptiles without educating the people about the potential dangers of keeping such a pet.

“I must say In Lenz particularity over the last three or four years there’s a few people who have been heavily involved in the illegal trade of indigenous animals,” said Nagdee.

Nagdee said the illegal trade of indigenous animals had been reported a number of times to relevant organizations, but more recently an organization called the Green Scorpions are getting involved because no action was taken on previous reports.

Nagdee advised people who want to own exotic pets to ensure the enclosure must be locked at all times and the pet must not be just be housed in a shoe box or little wooden box as it would get out.

“If you do come across a snake (even at your home when you are cornered), I always say, don’t try and catch it or kill it, because your risks of getting bitten as a result of that is high…if you see a snake, you are welcome to call the fire department or the SPCA or pet care rescue and they will have a qualified snake handler come and remove it,” said Nagdee.