The stolen python was found at the alleged thief’s house and returned unharmed to Exotic ARC.
An alleged thief came into the Exotic ARC Amphibian and Reptile Center in St. Louis, MO December 10, cut the locks off an enclosure that held a 2-year-old chocolate cinder ball python, took the snake and walked out the door. But here is the kicker, the alleged thief came back to the store four hours later, when the police were there to take a statement regarding the theft from the store owner, according to KMOV News. “The police showed up, and I said, ‘Hey buddy, I think your ride is here,’”Brumley told KMOV.
The alleged thief was arrested and later released pending application of warrants. The stolen python was found at the alleged thief’s house and returned unharmed to Exotic ARC.
Ball pythons come in a wide variety of morphs. Photo by Rebekah Pettit
It’s very frustrating because we’re a small business and when someone takes something like this that’s $750 we feel it right away,” store owner James Brumley told KMOV. “Stealing any animal regardless of the value is a felony.”
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.
