Who wouldn’t be shocked? A 1.20 meter long ball python hanging from the door handle ‘greeted’ a young couple who came home in Leonding (Upper Austria). The reptile was hypothermic, was probably abandoned and is now looking for a new home.
A young woman and her boyfriend will probably remember this experience for a long time. When they arrived at their apartment in an apartment building in Leonding around midnight on Tuesday, a snake was dangling from the doorknob.
After the initial shock, the couple reacted with presence of mind: the reptile was photographed and with the image on the internet it was quickly determined that it was a non-native specimen. The young people immediately alerted the fire brigade and were referred to the Linzer Animal Ambulance. When they arrived on the scene, the constrictor was curled up on the sidewalk in front of the house.
It was too cold for the snake
“She was already very listless. “This snake always needs a temperature of 23 to 26 degrees and a humidity of 70 percent,” says animal rescuer Manuela Bichler. That’s why she didn’t show any defensive reaction when the animal rights activists lifted her into a special transport crate. She spent the night there and was taken to the Linz animal shelter the next morning.
“The couple was very calm and just happy that someone had picked it up,” Bichler said. The ball python is a nonvenomous constrictor snake found in the tropics of West and Central Africa; adults can grow up to two meters long. This species also likes to climb.
Not the only exotic animal in the animal shelter
The reptile is not the only slippery exotic animal at the Linz animal shelter: in addition to another ball python, a tiger python and a corn snake are also waiting for their owners. “Most of them were abandoned. “Often the animals get too big, or the owners underestimate the high electricity costs,” says an employee. The snake caught in Leonding was examined by a veterinarian and is now in quarantine. The owner has not yet contacted us.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
