Python Problems

Here's a Kacie pet story that we'll never forget.

Kacie was about ten years old and we were living in our house in Woodbine, Md. Kacie called it the castle because it was so much larger than our first house- 4 bedrooms. In the spare bedroom upstairs, we had a large aquarium that housed a four feet long python. Most pythons make great pets and seldom bite, but this one was really nasty. When you walked near the aquarium it would lunge at you and strike the glass. I would hold it by the head while Kacie played with it because it tried to bite us at every opportunity. Kacie and I liked to put white mice in the aquarium and watch the snake sneak up on them and strike. The speed of the strike often startled me but Kacie took it all in stride. Nancy was terrified and avoided the room.

One evening, I went into the room to check on the snake and was shocked to see that the top of the aquarium had been left open and the snake had escaped. I don't want to mention any names but I think I know who was responsible. I panicked as usual and searched the whole house. It was very difficult for me to tell Nancy that this creature was loose in the house and could attack at any time or place. She didn't take it very well and Kacie seemed amused.

We literally watched every step that we took in the house and sleeping was rather difficult. This went on for about a month and then I began to feel rather comfortable that the snake must have died. My complacency soon ended when we found a shed snake skin in our living room one afternoon and had planned to have friends over for a party that evening. Nancy and I thought of cancelling the party but went ahead with it. This was exciting for Kacie but we had visions of a guest being attacked and the inevitable lawsuit. As our friends arrived, I told them the complete story and they all stayed. It put a damper on the evening but we got through it without an attack.

Several days later, we found the snake in a closet in the same room where it had escaped. I soon gave it to a pet store.