Forget Hollywood. Real tragedy has beset a New Brunswick family whose two young brothers were killed by a python that escaped from the ground floor pet store, "slithered into a ventilation shaft" and upstairs into the room where the boys, aged five and seven, slept.
According to the article in the Huffington Post, the incident involving a large African rock python, which occurred in the apartment above Reptile Ocean in Campbellton, has left even reptile experts perplexed.
"It’s strange, I’m just trying to piece it together,” said facilities manager of the Ontario reptile zoo Reptilia, Lee Parker. “They don't go on killing sprees … it doesn't make sense to me."
The pythons aren't typically aggressive, though such attacks do occur. The same type of snake apparently swallowed a 10-year-old boy in Durban, South Africa back in 2002. Another three-year-old boy died after another rock python escaped from a reptile zoo in Illinois.
RCMP claim the snake in this case was between 3.5 and 4.5 metres long, weighing around 45 kg, so it was just over the legal length in the province of three metres.
But different communities have different regulations when it comes to pet reptiles. Some restrict according to length, while others ban certain types, such as pythons and boa constrictors.
"We don't recommend people keep large snakes as pets because of the potential threats," said Parker. "Burmese pythons, anacondas, boa constrictors … these are dangerous pets."
Although attacks are rare, these pet snakes get released into the wild, becoming an invasive species, as is the case right now in Florida, where there is an abundance pythons. One competition saw some 68 snakes caught and destroyed in the area.
The bottom line: if you are considering a snake as a pet, do your homework. Never handle or feed a snake unattended. Ensure you have a heavy-duty enclosure.
In New Brunswick, one family will never get their kids back. The RCMP are investigating, but so far no charges have been pressed.
Spill it: Do you think snakes should be kept as pets?
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