Illegal pet snake grows to 13 feet, and its owner wasn’t prepared, NY officials say
A New York man wasn’t prepared for how fast the now 13-foot-long snake that he illegally kept as a pet would grow, he told an environmental conservation officer, according to officials.
It’s an 80-pound, bright yellow Burmese python, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation said in a Sept. 3. News release.
The man had the large reptile inside a tank that was smaller than the length of its body, about 4 to 5-feet, when Environment Conservation Police Officer Jeff Hull visited his home on Aug. 28, the department said.
Despite the confined quarters, the snake was healthy and is still growing, according to officials. Burmese pythons have been known to grow to over 20 feet in length.
Now it’s living at Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo in Rome, a city about a 45-mile drive northeast from Syracuse, where it was donated, the department said.
In New York, residents aren’t allowed to own Burmese pythons unless they have the proper permit, according to officials.
The man who owned the python was ticketed for possession of wildlife as a pet and possessing dangerous wildlife without a permit, officials said.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia and were first introduced to the U.S. to be sold as pets, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Now the species is considered invasive, with established breeding populations in Everglades National Park in South Florida, after pet pythons escaped or were released into the wild by their owners, the department says online.
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