Big Bird

Volunteers Brittany, Dave and Nick, drying off a squirming Big Bird.

Here is another story looking back at my many years doing reptile rescue.

I was at my part time job and I got a call on the rescue cell phone. A woman said her son had an albino Burmese python he needed to place. I asked what size it was. She told me it was 4 ft. long and 100 lbs! I laughed and I said that sounds like the size of a person and not a snake. She told me that she wasn’t sure about the size.

She called back a few days later and informed me that the snake was actually 14 ft. long and 100 lbs. No offense to men, but they always over estimate the length of snakes! Have I mentioned that before? It’s a running joke around here.

I set up an appointment, knowing and kind of hoping that the snake is not that long! The son and dad were going to bring the snake that weekend.

I warned the volunteers that we’re going to have to get the big cage ready because we don’t really know what to expect. And, our intake protocol, soaking – might be a problem.

A lady and her 12 year-old son arrived that Sunday to adopt their first snake, a little corn snake. We were talking about how to care for the corn snake when the big snake arrived.

A pick-up truck pulled up with an oddly shaped object in the bed, covered with a tarp. I thought, “Oh my! These people had the snake out in the cold.”

Fortunately it was above freezing, actually it was in the 50s. It was completely inappropriate and too cold though, to have a snake out driving on the highway. The father pulled off the tarp and there was a big albino Burmese python stuffed into the bottom of a 28” x 28” x 30” wire bird cage. I should have taken photos of it while it was in the bird cage, just to show how horrible it was. I was too angry to think of it at the time.

The boisterous man was groaning as he carried the bird cage into the house. The dad stayed at the curb and didn’t venture inside. The man was speaking loudly and wildly gesturing with his hands. He told us all about how his wife, who had recently died, took in this snake 12 years ago. Someone had found it and was keeping it in a metal trashcan with a sharp edge. The snake had some cuts on it that needed medical attention. The wife took the snake and nursed it back to health.

We could see lots of old scars on the body. The man surrendering the snake told us that you could see the words “moon me” and “joy” in the pattern of the snake. It was opaque (ready to shed) making it hard to see the pattern at all. We could also see new injuries and there was some kind of wound medication taped to the side of the bird cage.

The man told me the snake’s name was Baby Girl. I found that interesting since the snake appeared to be a male.

The man told us that the snake was “free range” in their house. It was fed live chickens, pigeons or rats in the house. To my horror and the fascination of the young boy adopting his corn snake, the man continued with his incredulous story-telling. He told us how the snake “hogged the bathtub.” I have no idea what that means and really didn’t want to know.

Can you imagine the carnage as a snake fights it out with a live, full-grown chicken?!?! And, they are loose in the house? All I could picture in my mind was cock fighting.

At least he wasn’t using grocery store chicken pieces because that is not healthy for the snake. Don’t get me wrong, using birds instead of rodents is acceptable and some people swear by them. But, not loose in the house! And, feeding large live prey to a snake results in injuries to the snake, not to mention the hideous death for the prey item.

Why shouldn’t you let a large Burmese python loose in your house? It’s not warm enough. They can get wedged behind a refrigerator or other appliance with a motor and get stuck, injured or killed. They can find a way out of the house. They can KILL SOMEONE! Forget having a dog or cat if you have a big Burmese running loose.

The snake turned out to be pretty big, about 10 ft., however, not the 14 ft., 100 lb. monster we were told about. The head was large, which means it was full grown. But the snake itself is way undersized probably because it was never kept warm enough, and was only fed once every three weeks.

I can understand having a huge cage, or even devoting a whole room to a Burmese python. But you should never let a snake have free access to your home.

All reptiles can carry salmonella. A snake that is crawling across your kitchen table, dining room table or kitchen counters is just a bad idea.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that the bigger the animal, the bigger the poop and urates. Can you imagine waking up one morning and stepping in a big pile of that??? If you give a Burmese python access to water, which I’m hoping they did, they can create urates and liquid that is like someone dumping a bucket on the floor. Why would you want the snake to do that wherever it wanted in your house? You shouldn’t!

Burmese pythons are prone to upper respiratory infections. If you have a free ranging Burmese python, it’s going to look for warmth. If you are asleep in your bed, that warmth might be you. I can’t emphasize enough what a bad idea it is to have a free roaming snake.

It’s funny that they brought the snake in a bird cage when they were feeding it birds, hence the new name – Big Bird! Today is the first time I’m trying to feed Big Bird frozen-thawed rats. I hope it will eat them. Somehow, I think it will.

After being put in a large cage (6 ft. x 3 ft. x 2 ft., the biggest cage we have) the snake roamed around looking for a way out. That’s not so unusual. Most snakes check out the surroundings when you put them in a new enclosure. It’s been a few days and it seems to be relaxing now, just sitting coiled up in the corner. It took us a long time to find a hide box big enough for this animal – another thing it had to find on its own while being a free range snake. We ended up using the top half of a dog crate. So far, it has not figured out that the dog crate is the hide box. It has been hiding behind it. I have a feeling that after eating, it will retreat to the hide. We always try to make the animals feel secure here. A hide box is a good way to do that.

The man finally left. The house was oddly quiet as he galloped back to his pickup truck, hopped in with his dad and drove off. The young boy asked me about the big snake. This man had just set the worst example.

“Is it okay to let a snake loose like that?” he asked, his mother rolling her eyes. I gave them a good talk about how people surrendering animals are not the best people for advice. The boy asked me about feeding live prey and feeding chicken. It turned out to be a good chance for this young boy to learn some good information. I think I ended up giving him a book. Sometimes I give books or magazine to the younger kids, especially if I have multiple copies. A lot of times when people surrender an animal, they bring everything – as I request – and that often includes books.

Snapping turtle tied to a tree

Was I brave or was I crazy? Here's another post looking back over the 14 years of running a reptile rescue.

I was working occasionally for a friend of mine who did wildlife relocation. He called me one day and said that he had gotten an emergency call and he was way out in Howard Co. I was much closer.

The manager of an apartment complex in Baltimore County had gotten a report of a decent sized snapping turtle tied to a tree in front of an apartment. The office manager wanted the turtle removed from the premises.

I grabbed a big dog crate and threw it in the back of my station wagon – and off I went. I was there in about 15 minutes although I got very turned around when I was looking for the apartment building because it didn’t face the front of the road. It was positioned awkwardly and faced a small stream that ran behind the apartment complex.

I figured that the snapping turtle, was probably a female due to the time of year, and had climbed up out of the little creek to lay eggs. When the occupants of the apartment saw the turtle looking for a good egg-laying spot. They had somehow tried to tie up the turtle. Not a good idea! No matter where you might think of tying a “leash” to a turtle, it could seriously injure the animal.

It looked to me like the turtle had escaped its noose and was simply lying on top of the leash. The leash was attached to a small tree. The storm door to the apartment was open, but the screen door was shut. I knew this was going to be tricky and I really was not in the mood to be confronted by the occupants of the apartment.

I stood there with my crate, trying to figure out how I was going to grab the turtle, put it in the crate and get out of there without being seen when the apartment dwellers’ door sat wide open. I may be known for a lot of things, light on my feet is not one of them!

Also, I might add, grabbing a snapping turtle is not something to be done without thought and consideration. This particular animal was about the size of a dinner plate and had decent jaw power. A snapping turtle this size could easily bite off a finger, which is probably why the office manager didn’t want it tied to a tree!

In order to pick up a snapping turtle safely, you need to lift it by the back end. They have really long necks to go with the powerful jaws. So if you put your hands on the sides of the turtle, like you would pick up most turtles, the long neck can easily reach around and the mouth will bite you.

I tried to be as stealthy and quick as I could be, while also being as careful as possible. I gently lifted up the big girl, pushed it into the crate, snapped it shut and practically took off running. It was not a pretty sight. It looked more like waddling than running. A medium sized dog crate with a 15 pound turtle held off to my side, and me practically goose stepping my was to the car.

Just when I thought I was home free – about 10 ft. from my vehicle – I heard someone yelling to me. I turned and it was the person from the apartment. Damn! I was caught red-handed.

“Hey! That’s my son’s turtle!” a man yelled to me.

I told him I was hired by the apartment complex to remove it. I didn’t know anything about who owned what. And I scolded the guy for trying to put a leash on a turtle.

The guy was still running toward me as I quickly opened the back of my station wagon and inserted one turtle.

“Who told you to take the turtle?” The man asked again.

“The manager of the apartments.” I answered

“Is that where you are going?” He asked.

I thought about it for a second. Why would I take a snapping turtle to the office? I wouldn’t.

“Yes.” I’m taking it to the office.” I lied.

“I’ll meet you there.” Said the man.

“Okay.” Not if I see you first! I hopped in the car and took off. I had no idea where the office was in the apartment complex. My heart was racing as I pulled out of the complex and into traffic. I kept looking in my rear view mirror expecting that guy to be following me. I didn’t feel safe until I was back on the highway. And then I spent a lot of time checking the rear view mirror, not that I had any idea what kind of car that person drove.

I took the turtle to a park near where I live and released her. She seemed a little confused as she took in the sights of her new home. I knew there were snapping turtles at this park so it was a nice place to let her go.

I was still a nervous wreck as I left the park and went home. Snapping turtles will always remind me of that day!

The guy I worked for got a huge kick out of my story. He couldn’t believe that I stole the turtle right out from under them. Poor thing, she just wanted to lay her eggs in peace. Hopefully, she is still enjoying her new digs along the banks of the Jones Falls.

Hiding in the bathroom

Looking back over 14 years of running a rescue, there are some moments that just stand out in my mind. Here is one of them...
Sometimes, there just isn’t enough room for all of the animals in the rooms that I have in the two bedrooms I set up for them. In those cases, I had something I called overflow areas. Part of my office and some places in the dining room were used when I was in a pinch. Of course, there are always stray cages, aquariums, stands, lights, heat mats, etc. available. They are tucked away in just about every nook and cranny in the house.

On this day, I had a wire dog cage set up in my office. It was a bit larger than the size of a ferret cage. I believe they are usually 4 ft. x 3 ft. x 2 ft.  The wire on this dog cage was much thicker and the bars were further apart. I had the cage all shored up by using cable ties. Cable ties are a fantastic was to secure a wobbly metal cage and make it feel much more sturdy. Since they are cheap, it is easty to just cut them off when it’s time to fold up the cage and put it away, and then use a new set next time it needs to be used for another rescue. Those cages are handy because they fold up fairly flat and don’t take a lot of space unless they are in use.
A fairly decent sized Nile monitor was living in the cage at the time. My cousin Gail came over and we went to the state fair, which is held at the same place where the reptile show used to be. Gail tolerates the reptiles, but is not a huge fan. She doesn’t know how to deal with them and doesn’t really want to know. That’s fine. To each his own.

After enjoying ourselves at the fair, we came back to my house. Walking in the door, the office is to the left. We walked into the den, which is to the right. Gail said, “Look what the dog did to the blinds.”

A chill ran down my spine. I looked at the blinds. “The dog didn’t do that. The Nile must be loose!”

And with that, Gail dashed into the powder room and slammed the door shut. Hoping the Nile wasn’t hiding behind the toilet, I started looking around.

“I’ll be in here until you find him!” she shouted.

He wasn’t behind the couch where the blinds had been broken. I did a quick 360 of the room. Nothing seemed out of place other than the blinds. A 4 ft. lizard generally leaves a path of destruction. I put the dog outside. He seemed fine. I guessed the Nile didn’t mess with him at all. He probably slept upstairs and missed all of the fun. He would have run from the lizard anyway.

Back to my scan of the room. Since nothing was out of place, I started looking behind things. After the couch, I checked the chair. And there he was, squished up against the corner of the room. His dusty head, with eyes glaring at me, turned in my direction.

Nile monitor on the loose.

“Gimme a break.” I said as I scooped him up, wiped off the dust and stuck him back in the, now useless cage. Monitor lizards are a lot smarter than people give them credit. They are problem solvers. If he got out of that cage once, he’d do it again and a lot faster this time. I figured out another cage for him and Gail decided to emerge from the bathroom. We had a good laugh. It was especially funny watching how fast Gail could get in the bathroom and slam the door!

Remember Back – Reptile Rescue Pet Peeves

Over the past 14 years I have heard some horrible things, some funny stories, some ridiculous anecdotes and because of this I have developed a list of things that just drive me crazy about people!

One of the most irritating things is when people bring an animal to us and tell us about how they did everything right and took great care of their animal and we take a look at the animal, and it’s a wreck.

People don’t like to buy things at a pet store because it is too expensive, so they go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and buy cheaper fixtures. Sometimes they buy fixtures with a plastic cover of the light bulb. UV light is filtered out when it passes through plastic or glass. So putting an animal in front of a window does not give it UV. And using those light fixtures from Home Depot with plastic over them also does not give your animal UV light. It’s so simple to alter them. There are two small screws that hold on the plastic and it takes about a minute to take that off and then, when using an actual UV light, it works just fine.

Another great thing is when people think they are doing us a favor by “donating” their exotic ball python to us. Meanwhile, we have about 20 of them at any given time. Then the people get mad when I ask for a donation. “You want me to PAY you to take my animal?”

No pal -- it’s called a donation. These animals don’t have jobs to help pay the bills. They cost us money to feed, light, etc. I used to tell people that I would appreciate a donation and the amount is up to them, but one asshole has to ruin it for everyone. A guy told me, “I’d like to donate nothing.” Now we require a donation. And I tell people that most people give $40-50, which is true because that’s how much I ask for! Of course, we get the occasional person who “forgets” their checkbook, cash and credit cards, but most people do give about $40-50.

A lot of people think we’re subsidized by the government or that money falls from the sky into my awaiting hands. If only!

We get a lot of calls for wildlife, which we don’t take. We have enough problems with the exotics.

People threaten to let the animal go if I don’t take it. I try to explain to them that it is illegal to release their pets. Obviously, they don’t care because a lot of animals are found outside. If they are tropical animals, like iguanas, one freezing night and they are dead. And they also don’t seem to care that releasing a tropical animal in Maryland is not only horribly cruel, but can reek havoc on native species.

And why do people think they should keep any animal they manage to catch in the wild? Don’t do that! They usually die of starvation or from stress shortly after being captured anyway. Especially when they are being kept by novices who know nothing about the husbandry of the animal.

Box turtles (or any tortoises) don’t eat iceberg lettuce. It’s not good for them (or us for that matter). Iceberg lettuce has no real nutritional value. Please do not send the Iceberg lettuce people after me. It’s just not that great nutritionally. I have not purchased a head of iceberg lettuce since I started keeping retpiles.

My absolute favorite is people who either conveniently forget or outright lie about the health of their animal. As I’m taking the snake out of the bag, “Oh, I forgot to tell you it’s missing an eye.”

“I think I forgot to tell you the lizard is missing half its toes.”

Over 50% of the lizards we get have something missing or regenerated.

The best one was the guy who told me on the phone that his three bearded dragons were missing a couple toes. When they got here, two had half a tail and one was actually missing an entire leg. The ones with half a tail were missing lots of toes. The one with the missing leg also had toes missing on the other feet.

This makes rescues dislike and distrust humans.

New websites...

Now that the reptile site is gone, I had to do something to keep up with all of the rescue groups and rescue news. I created www.PetSaver.info and I am now referring people there since our rescue is closed. There are lots of lists of all sorts of rescues for all types of animals.
In addition, I created a site just for fun called www.ExtremeCuteness.com with loads of cute animals pictures, links to fun sites and other adorableness.
Follow me on Twitter for more info: www.twitter.com/snakecharmed.