Ball Python Found In North Carolina Chili’s Parking Lot Returned To OwnerWhat a lot of people don’t know or realize is that losing a reptile is the same as losing a dog or a cat for another person." Photo by Shallotte Police Dept./Facebook

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Ball Python Found In North Carolina Chili’s Parking Lot Returned To Owner

The snake, Una, went missing when her owner, Christen Schiel was eating at at a local Chili’s restaurant in Shallotte.

The Shallotte Police Department got a call about a large snake near the Chili’s parking lot in Shallotte on November 5, and a Sgt. Baker recovered the snake.

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A ball python that went missing more than two months ago in North Carolina was reunited with its owner. The snake, Una, went missing when her owner, Christen Schiel was eating at at a local Chili’s restaurant in Shallotte. Schiel says the snake got loose in her car and escaped.

The Shallotte Police Department got a call about a large snake near the Chili’s parking lot in Shallotte on November 5, and a Sgt. Baker recovered the snake. The snake’s photos were posted to the department’s Facebook page when her owner, Christen Schiel saw the post and contacted the department.

“I didn’t sleep because I was missing her and I went into depression and was crying hysterically,” Schiel told WECT News.

“What a lot of people don’t know or realize is that losing a reptile is the same as losing a dog or a cat for another person. She has rubs or burns on her which I’m going to treat tonight with some iodine and Polysporin and she was very dehydrated,” Schiel told WECT News. “I had to give her a little bath with electrolytes in it and she was just chugging water but other than that she’s a happy girl.

Ball python UVB

The ball python is a partial sun occasional basker. It is a Zone 2 reptile. Photohobbiest/Shutterstock

Ball Python Information

Ball pythons are one of the most popular snakes in the hobby and come from western Africa. They are widely captive-bred throughout the United States. They grow to about five feet in length and can live for 30 years or more. If you keep a ball python, or any snake, please ensure that its enclosure is escape-proof. The ball python requires specific care requirements and with the exception of ball python breeders, should be kept in a minimum 50-75 gallon equivalent enclosure, depending on the size of the snake. A 4′ x 2′ x 2′ enclosure is ideal. The bigger the enclosure, the better. And contrary to popular belief, this species does climb. Other morphs in addition to the piebald morph include axanthic, clown, labyrinth, jungle, pastel-jungle, tiger, spider, banded, black, black-backed, ghost, narrow-striped, wide-striped, ringer, black-and-white, high-gold, tyrosinase-positive, caramel albino, tyrosinase-negative, albino, leucistic, just to name a few. The possibilities in creating new morphs of this species is seemingly endless.