Knaresborough Exotic Rescue was called up north on Saturday after receiving a call from a woman to pick up around 20 snakes, who had been abandoned by the woman’s former boyfriend.
The volunteers took enough pillow cases for 25 snakes but when they arrived, they found there were 70 of the reptiles, known as Royal Pythons.
The centre’s Jason Colcomb told the Press: “The lady that we rescued the snakes from was petrified of snakes and she was left with them.
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“It was upsetting for a volunteer as he’s never seen such conditions for the snakes. They were dehydrated and underweight, with three dead snakes with the living snakes.”
Many snakes also had mites.
Jason continued: “It was one of the worst scenarios we have ever seen, the conditions they were kept in.”
With the snakes now in the care of the volunteers at the centre in Knaresborough’s high street, the centre has been the centre of nationwide wide media attention, including the national papers and tv news.
The not for profit’s electricity bill has shot up from around £40 a day to £53 a day, to keep the snakes warm. They will also need feeding and ‘rehabilitation’ before they can be rehoused or adopted, which may take several months.
Jason says the snakes come in a ‘stunning’ range of colours, not like what you would see in the wild.
He continued: “They have been bred for these colours and would be expensive if you purchased them.”
Jason says the incident highlights a need for better regulations to help avoid cases of people buying snakes when they have little clue over what is needed to care for them.
The rescue centre’s owner Dan Holmes confirms this is the ‘worse case ever’ in the 19 years he has ran the centre in Knaresborough.
Dan has said it may be difficult to rehouse the Royal Pythons as they need specialist equipment.
He is currently putting together a case with photos and a statement for referral to the RSPCA.
Royal Pythons Royal pythons usually live in grassland, shrubland and forests in West and Central Africa.
Their diet includes birds and small rodents and they are popular pets because they don’t often bite people.
In the meantime, however, the rescue centre is being helped by Cheshire Reptile Rescue, who has offered to look after some of the snakes. It has also donated a racking system for the Knaresborough snakes to live in.
The Knaresborough centre is seeking donations to help care for the snakes, with people able to name the snakes for a donation.
Donations can be made through Paypal, the centre also has an Amazon Wishlist. It can also be contacted at Krescue@hotmail.co.uk
