A ball python reunited with its supposed owner on Tuesday is now headed back to Toronto Animal Services.
The snake was rescued from a sewer grate and once news of the bizarre animal discovery spread online, Samantha Sannella headed straight to pick up who she thought was “Monty” — her 11-month old ball python that recently went missing.
“The case of the miss-snaken identity,” chuckled Sannella.
Sannella compared pictures and was certain the snake was “Monty” he’d been missing from her terrarium since mid-June, the day the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship. Her teenage sons had friends over for the game and somehow the snake ended up doing the disappearing act.
“After a few hours my son’s like, ‘He’s doing some unusual things that Monty didn’t normally do,” explained Sannella.
“He went inside his little hollow log, it’s actually quite big and he actually lifted it up and I thought, ‘Oh he’s a lot stronger than Monty,’ and he was also sort of slithering along the glass which is something that Monty never did.”
Now nicknamed “Sneaky Pete,” Sannella has an impostor in her home.
Although this bizarre story sounds like something out of a movie, snakes are master escape artists and more get away than you would think. Since January 2017, Toronto Animal Services has picked up 28 stray snakes and re-homed five.
“Sometimes it can happen,” explains Fiona Venedam with the west region animal shelter.
“They do like to escape for whatever reason they do escape they get outside, people see them then they call us for pick-up.”
The ball python, is a common household pet, loved by many for its calm nature and desire to explore.
Reptilia is an reptile rescue based in Vaughan, they take in all sorts of reptiles ranging from snakes to alligators. In only two years, they’ve adopted out 300 reptiles.
“Having a secure home for your animal is the first step, trying to get something that has a lock on it of it you have a lid weighing it down because they’re strong enough that they can maybe push through if they don’t have the right habitat,” explained Samantha Medina, a spokesperson with Reptilia.
The rules surrounding owning reptiles vary depending on where you live in Ontario, for example in Toronto non-venomous snakes are allowed as long as they don’t exceed 10 feet.
As for the disappearance of Monty, his whereabouts are still up in the air.
“We don’t know where it is, it could still be in the basement or it could be in the wall,” sighed Sannella.
Meaning its quite likely, Monty the escape artist, didn’t slither very far.
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