A Burmese loose in Charlottesville!!!

http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/jul/18/large-snake-loose-seminole-square-ar-2067511/

Stabbing the snake...really...

I was in Pet Forum recently and they did have a very large Burmese and an albino Burmese. I'm not surprised no one bought the one though, they don't sell extremely well around here. I'm still pretty sad they closed even if they were a sh*tty place, I can say when Pete owned it and actually worked in the store it was great...

I heard it might've been a Boa. Honestly, I kind of hope it's a Boa, Burms don't need any more bad press right now.

"Could be moving upward from Florida.." give me a freakin' break. Bunch of morons.

I hope the person who ditches this thing gets bitten on the tongue by a rattler, like the idiot in Don's post. XD

But seriously, this makes me so sad to hear. I wish I had the room to house a Burm right now, because I really love them. They used to be one of the snakes I was most wary of owning, but as I've gotten more and more involved in the herp community, I've come to really want one.

I hope someone intelligent finds it and takes it in on the down-low and lets this story sizzle out, and gets it back up to health, so the poor thing's not eating opossums anymore!

It could have been a boa, there were a few large snakes in there the last couple of times I was in there, and the cage in the article, yeah...kinda sounds familiar. It's actually irritating me really bad for some reason, not only the fact that it was let loose, but someone stabbed it, if they would have just left it alone and called the game warden he probably would have gotten there to pick it up as it was finishing and it wouldn't have gotten harmed and it wouldn't be out in the city right now probably being injured even more with all the hoodlums that run around here, or its gonna end up as the "special meat" on our chinese buffet thats right down the road where it was let loose.

I agree. Why stab it? Especially if it's "9 feet long". What could that possibly do to it besides irritate it, unless he stabbed it with something significant (I seriously hope not :c).

They seriously should have just called Animal Control. What idiot approaches a 9 foot long snake that has prey and attempts to hurt it? At least he wasn't bitten, because then there would've been a full-blown monster hunt for this poor thing.

I am just hoping and praying it is not a Burm or a Rock or a Retic. At least Boas have enough of a fanbase behind them that it will be VERY difficult to get them outlawed. Most ball breeders/owners see the Boa as way too close to Balls to let them get banned. Whereas the big guys have less help and more legislation on them already.

Ugh, I hope the poor thing's not hurt too badly.... :c I wish I lived closer, I might accidentally "forget" one of my rat cages outside to lure it in...

Me too. I told a friend of mine if I (and the people I know who would help me look for it)wasn't already home an hour away I would probably get them to help me go look for it.

I'm glad it didn't bite someone for it's own sake, but people are stupid!!!!! I wish there was a better word, but if I put f*ing in front of it gives a little more emphasis. I don't know what it was stabbed with but I am gonna say it was some sort of chefs knife, it was in the back of a restaurant...

Good grief! Another nail in our coffin.

I'm tellin ya!!!

This is SICK, they breezed past the fact that some moron stabbed this poor snake, if this was a cat or dog, that guy would have been arrested and the whole community would be out there trying to save the animal's life.

yep...and that does happen here quite often and everyone is enraged over the mammal and does everything to save but a snake... it's definately sickening.

Good thing SAVES was interviewed for this story.

PSH!, better hope this isnt like rise of the planet of the apes or that snake is coming for you buddy!!!

I stopped by there to buy a hopper last month and they were closed early, so I went across the street to Pets Supplies Plus to pick one up. The employee that sold me the mouse said that Pete's Pet Forum closed early that day because it had a snake get loose and were forced to close to early.

I went yesterday trying to find a 40 watt bulb until I can stabilize the temps on my rack (I will probably post soon to pick the brains of fine folks here as to what I may be doing wrong) and saw that it was officially closed. A notice was posted stating that they'd auction off the rest of the inventory soon. I googled the same article. They had 2 fairly large Red Tailed Boas in there when I was in there last as well as the Abino Burm.

Apparently the snake was not a Burmese, but a 7ft red tail boa, it was found and given to some reptile rescue in Buckingham and will be getting vet care for it's stab wounds

The rescue could use donations to help with the vet bills. Here is their website:

http://carmendenali79.wix.com/centralvareptilerescue#!

Thanks Don!

Just received a message from the Central Virginia Reptile Rescue. If they can save this snake, it is going to cost around $1,200. If not, it will still cost around $500. They will know more tomorrow when surgery starts.

Anyone have the paypal account email for this rescue? When I click "donate," the button disappears and doesn't forward to the next screen.

I sent them an email and will post an account address when I get a reply.

Try centralvareptile@aol.com. I've emailed her for confirmation. I've also sent a donation to that addr.

Don wrote:

Try centralvareptile@aol.com. I've emailed her for confirmation.

I was going to try that one, but after the last time I sent a paypal payment to the wrong email, it never let me know. Luckily, the seller caught it

Called her. That is the addr.

Thanks Don!

Hey guys! I am the owner of the rescue that took in the red tail boa had been loose in Charlottesville. It is in fact a red tail boa, he is about 7 foot long. His injuries are pretty bad and he will be undergoing exploratory surgery tomorrow morning. I will know a lot more about what can be done to save him after that but the estimate we got today was around $1200 for hospital bills and around another $1100 for after hospital stay care. We are giving him every chance that we can, but the injury involves the intestines so it can be very difficult. I am still upset that man stabbed him. He is so docile and friendly, it is just tremendously sad.
-Jen

Donated what I could. Hope he makes a full recovery. Keep us posted!!!

Grymm wrote:

Donated what I could. Hope he makes a full recovery. Keep us posted!!!

Thank you so much! Every bit really helps so much! I will definitely keep everyone posted! I should find out more from the vet tomorrow after the exploratory surgery. Thank you again, I truly do appreciate it and so does he!
-Jen

Thank you for helping!!! People like you guys are picking up the pieces of the "fringe" members of the community. Fellow keepers really appreciate what you all do. I get paid tomorrow and I will donate what little I can. I am so glad you guys took him and that he is safe now and on his way to recovery!

You guys saved his life, no doubt about that. Welcome to VAHerps, thanks for all that you do

Stray wrote:

Thank you for helping!!! People like you guys are picking up the pieces of the "fringe" members of the community. Fellow keepers really appreciate what you all do. I get paid tomorrow and I will donate what little I can. I am so glad you guys took him and that he is safe now and on his way to recovery!

You guys saved his life, no doubt about that. Welcome to VAHerps, thanks for all that you do

Thank you so much for the kind words! We do everything we can for the animals that come into our care. We send a little piece of our hearts to the new homes with each one of them. This guy here has really stolen my heart with his sweet disposition even in his pain. We are truly hoping for great news with the surgery tomorrow. Thank you so much, every little bit helps and thoughts and prayers help just as much! Thank you for your support!

Hey guys! I have great news! I just got an update from the vet's office. After 2 1/2 hours of surgery Wunder has survived his first bout with recovery and is doing well! He surpassed even the vet's expectations this time! The injuries did include the stomach, intestines, lung, and gall bladder. The herniated intestines were able to be saved and placed back inside, but the wound has to be left open and treated to get rid of the rest of the infection and he will likely be hospitalized for a while longer, but as long as there are no further complications he is expected to recover! I am so excited to have good news to report to everyone! Thank you to those that have made donations to help pay for his vet bill and thank you in advance to any that will donate in the future. We still have a long ways to go before we have all of the money for his bills but every little bit is a great help and brings us that much closer to covering the costs! I am so excited that he is pulling through and living up to the name we gave him!

Thats great news!

Grymm wrote:

Thats great news!

I know, I am so excited and so happy right now! It was just such a relief to hear from the vet and find out that it was good news! I am so impressed with the vet, he really went above and beyond by staying after hours to do this surgery and giving the big guy the bets chance! Thank you so much again for your help!

Great news. I updated BP.net with a copy of the post.

Don wrote:

Great news. I updated BP.net with a copy of the post.

Thank you so much Don! I really appreciate it!

I'm glad to hear it is doing well. Thanks Jennifer for taking her in and making sure gets the care she needs

Awesome news!!

Yay, I'm so glad to hear he's doing better!! I know all of us here are wishing him a speedy recovery!

Thank you all so much for your well wishes! I am so impressed with his temperament and with how well he is recovering. He is exceeding even the vets best expectations! If I had room to keep him I would keep him myself! But I do have a wonderful foster and possible permanent home for him once he is out of the hospital! Now I just have to pay off the bill so I can get him out of the hospital and into a home environment!

I just talked to the vet again and Wunder is doing great! He will be leaving the vet's office for in home care on Monday provided we come up with the rest of the vet bill between now and then and we have a foster home or foster to permanent home for him that can keep up with the medical care that he needs (bandage changes and inject-able antibiotics) as well his special feeding needs (10 small rats at a time rather than larger prey). I had a foster home lined up for him, but she is not going to be able to keep up with the medical needs. If anyone is able to do this (you will need 3 people available to do the bandage changes, one to hold the head and upper body, one to hold the tail and lower body, and one to do the change) and would to do so please have them contact me asap. Also, if checks are being sent to me or to the vet make them out to Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic of Roanoke so they can deposit the checks or to Jennifer Witt with CVRR in the memo as the bank we use does not allow business accounts so the account is set up in my name (it IS separate from my personal account though.) I really appreciate everything everyone has been doing here! You are all amazing! <3

Hey everyone! Got another update from the vet, Wunder is making great progress! He still has a long way to go though. I am looking for a foster home for him to go to when he is discharged from the hospital on Monday. It will have to be someone with helping hands around (he will need 3 adults to change his bandages), injectable antibiotics, and extremely sanitary housing. If you know anyone have them contact me please! We are also taking donations still to cover the vet bill so if you could help get the word out that would be great!

If anyone homes this snake in Hampton Roads, I'd be willing to give a hand with the bandages and medication. I will also supply his rodents for the next couple months.

wish I could help out more but with being in california I can't take him in as much as I would like too. I'm sure someone will take him in though

Thank you so much Nick and Dale! I will keep you all updated and his progress and the updates on finding him a foster or foster/permanent home!

Got a call from the vet today. The infection is hanging on, but they are flushing the wound and changing bandages and should be able to clear it up over this week. He will get his first meal since his surgery tomorrow. On the plus, the new estimate has been given to us and we are looking at between $1650 and $1700 instead of $2,000. We are currently screening foster and/or foster to permanent homes for Wunder. If you are interested please message me and I will get you the information forms we need. We have raised $271.80 toward his vet bills and all of that but $50 has come from the wonderful people here on this site so to all of you .. from the bottom of our hearts and from Wunder...

THANK YOU

You have made such a HUGE difference in our struggle to save this big guy! I honestly will never be able to thank you all enough for your kindness, support, and help!

Wunder ate and did very well, now we just have to wait and see if it passes. He is more active than he was and he is still calm and not being aggressive! We have found an amazing foster to permanent home for Wunder and he will be moving to their home on Monday! Again.. I am SO thankful to all of you here for everything! <3 You are all amazing!

Thats great news wish I was home so it coulda been me to take this guy home glad hes going to a good home.

Aaww thank you Dale! I wish it could have been you too. But the family he is going to is so great and I know he will be taken care of. If it wasn't a matter of needing him to be homed quickly I could have held him for you. I wish I could have.

Its all good long as hes got a good home thats what really matters.

Very true

I went to the vet today expecting to just visit with Wunder and let the new foster to permanent parents meet him but we got a surprise.. he was doing well enough to be released from the hospital! He still has after care that has to be done.. changing the bandages and packing the wound, antibiotic and fluid injections, and assistance with shedding and then follow up vet appointments. We got to pay a good portion of the vet bill but we still owe $1370. We are working on trying to get that paid through grants and with donation boxes set up in a few places. My husband had the idea of selling t-shirts that say Wunder's Warriors and have a picture of him on them so that is one idea we are looking at. Either way, the vet bill will get paid AND we were able to save his life.. that is the main and most important thing! Just wanted to let you all know that he is doing MUCH better and is home in his comfy enclosure thanks to all of you that donated to help with his vet cost so that we could have him treated! THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING!

What city is his new home in?

New pictures of Wunder!



These are some of the cuts on his body after being treated for 2 weeks.




More cuts after 2 weeks of treatment.



This is the stab wound bandaged up 2 weeks after his surgery. The wound has decreased in size dramatically so it is healing up.


https://2img.net/r/ihimg/a/img831/803/1347980491698.jpg
Wunder relaxing in his new house.



I just thought you guys would enjoy seeing the big guy's progress!