A two-foot ball python is recovering in care, after apparently being dumped in a Surrey park by a careless pet owner.
The snake was spotted earlier this week in Tynehead Park, and was recovered by the Westcoast Reptile Education Society (WRES) on Thursday.
Ball pythons are not venomous, and feed on small animals such as birds and mice.
WRES says the snake is likely between three and five years old, and underweight.
Dr. Adrian Walton from the Dewdney Animal Hospital says it is the fourth abandoned snake that he knows of this year alone.
“Every spring we get a bit of a deluge, especially on the first of every month,” he said.
“One drowned in the container it was in, and two that were able to crawl a short distance, were recovered, and are now recovering,” he said.
WRES says some snake owners abandon the animals in the spring, believing they’ll fare better in the warmer weather.
Walton says anyone who finds themselves with a pet they can no longer care for should surrender it to a shelter, rather than dumping it in the wild where it may not survive.
Comments