Snake abuse

Ugh so like, what do you do for someone that has a snake, but has no interest in providing its basic care of life needs?
They have a heat lamp, but they never turn it on (there power is usually cut off anyways)
No humidity, thermometer, tstat, uth, water, shedding assisters, hideaways, and they dont feel like feeding it that often.
Basically some kid came over and said, hey look at my new snake, well, i gota go, and left town, seriously.
Idk, he says hes coming back, and gets mad pissed when he hears that im helping the snake out, or doing anything with the snake because its "his" hes just on tour..
Iduno the snake is in a smokers house thats never ventilated, and its in the middle of a bright room, which is basically a trap house (lots of traffic, and everyone wants to hold the snake)
What can i do, should i just find someone to rehome it to, and when the kid gets back just say tough cookies?
Its a beautiful 5.5 nearly 6ft female, and shes a sweety, gave me a kiss on the lips the first time we met...
I already bought them a humidity guage and som ghetto hideaways, but its not enough, and honestly, i have a baby bp, and my money is dedicated, ya know.
The guys that had the snake droped off, there real cool, but all terrified of it, its the kid that dosnt even live there...
If we rehomes the snake, could he press charges
(Were not worried about him getting friskey, because im 230, and the guys that got thw snake dumped on them are all over 250, all muscle, so thats no issue, its more a question of legality, and the welfare of a beautiful animal.
Oh and did i mention this snake has come from an abusive home. The previous owner (before the dumb kid) got bit, and to get the snake off, put a freaking cig out on her head, and even after a few sheds, she still has a brutal scar, poor thang, its breaking all our hearts, and im sure we can find a home for her
Gosh, im almost in tears, if i had the space and money id take her...

Take her and ship her to me. Tell the kid that the snake died bc of him neglecting her. Get all the guys to go along with it.

I'd contact your local animal control or SPCA. You can do it anonymously and they have the legal right to make the owners step up or sign over the snake.

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Originally Posted by hyousa

I'd contact your local animal control or SPCA. You can do it anonymously and they have the legal right to make the owners step up or sign over the snake.

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bad idea, those people do not like reptiles... will probably end up with them putting the snake down

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

bad idea, those people do not like reptiles... will probably end up with them putting the snake down

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Says who? The organisations I've worked with don't have that problem. A snake is another type of pet and is treated as such. It's better than the so-called advice of stealing the snake and lying to the owner...

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Originally Posted by hyousa

Says who? The organisations I've worked with don't have that problem. A snake is another type of pet and is treated as such. It's better than the so-called advice of stealing the snake and lying to the owner...

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I'm sure it varies from area to area, but there are a few threads on this site and I know the guys local to me are not reptile friendly. They pretty much have a kill within 24 hour policy. I guess the OP would just need to check into how his local authorities deals with reptiles.

You just advised illegal acts by saying to steal it and say it died. That's theft. Sorry.

I would have the caretakers tell the kid that they will find the snake a new home UNLESS the kid ponies up $XXXX.xx for "boarding and care" they have been providing. Figure up a medium level amount that he would pay per day, figure out about how many days, it should add up to a ton of money. Tell him that otherwise they will sell it to pay the "boarding fee".

He will probably say "Sell it I don't care!!" and at that point the caretakers can hand over the snake for rehoming. If the caretakers don't want the snake, they should be telling the kid what's going on or not. At this point, THEY are the ones who have custody and THEY would be the ones getting charged with animal neglect(which goes on their records!!) so they should be agreeable to whatever.

Not ALL animal controls or humane society groups hate snakes and kill them. Many do however, so it would depend on what area you're in. If the local animal control "euthanizes" after 24 hours, at least the snake wouldn't be suffering any longer, but the best would be to convince the kid to give up the animal.

offer him a few bucks, tell him you want the snake, this way he does not have to worry about it anymore.


ETA: seriously if someone else dropped the snake off to you, i would have prolly assumed it was "Their's", let him come back, and complain, explain to him someone else gave you the snake and that he should take it up with them, not you. i seriously doubt by the sounds of it he is gonna make any stink over it. or charge him a fee for the care you put into it if he really wants it back. include the hourly rate on that bill. Especially if you deem it is needed for the animal to see a vet, include the vet bill as well, make sure to explain to the vet what the situation is just in case. I am sure the vet would be more than willing to talk to the cops or a judge over the condition the animal was in and how it is doing now in your care.

He wants 200 for the normal ball python female, and 120 for a cracked 70 gal tank and heat lamp..
He said if we sold it hed press charges cause its his.
Honestly, if i took the responsibility to rehome her, it be to someone on here, or somone i know will take care of her, i dont know any spca people, so i cant speak on their behalf, but like i said as soon as i take any responsibility of this animal, its 100% on me to make sure she goes to a good home, and anything other would simply be too hard on me emotionally
(Im kinda a sensitive guy, and anything pertaining to animals and neglect always gets a tear from me, those commercials, my girlfriend makes me leave the room if we can tuen it off, cause we both start crying how lame right)
Im going to feed her tonight, its been 2 weeks and there feeding small rats, no good.
I cant reqlly give them moneym ive got studwnt loans, apartment bills, utilitys food, MY snake,
How would i go about shipping, im too scared to even ship cherry shrimp lol.
Maybe if i can get a rehomijg fee, i can keep their mouths shut as to where the snake went

Iduno all i know is i aint payn 200 for a female, even if she is nearly 6th..

And see hes already told us hes not paying for the food theyve bought, or anything else i want to put in to it

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

You just advised illegal acts by saying to steal it and say it died. That's theft. Sorry.

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lol your acting like he told him to knock off a bank. It's a better alternative then having the snake die because the guy doesn't care about his own pet.

If he doesn't live in the house and doesn't provide for the snake then isn't that considered abandoned?

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

You just advised illegal acts by saying to steal it and say it died. That's theft. Sorry.

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im more than willing to take the risk. once the snake got to me theres no way he'd be able to prove that it was the same snake. Yes its illegal and i dont condone criminal activity but are you really that much of a straight arrow that you wouldnt been the rules a bit to save the life of a snake? And by the sounds of it i highly doubt the kid would care if his snake died. He'd prolly just be pissed bc he didnt get any money for it...
When i suggested it i wasnt joking, i was 100% serious.

Im goin there tomorow and see whats up,

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Originally Posted by Rob

lol your acting like he told him to knock off a bank. It's a better alternative then having the snake die because the guy doesn't care about his own pet.

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It's not about how bad an act it would be. It's against the T&S on the site to advise illegal acts. If you want to tell someone to go steal things, do it via PM or email.

To the OP, like I said, the caretakers are the ones that have any authority. You don't live there, you have no rights to the animal. THEY have to tell the dude, pay for the care, or we consider it abandoned. You can wail all you like about how sad the situation is, but you are not the owner or the caretaker(he left the animal in THEIR care, by leaving it in their house), so it's only the owners(renters, whatever)of the house that can insist he do anything.

If they consider the animal neglected, abandoned, etc, then they should be able to either "dispose" of the pet(i.e. find it a home, give it to you, take it to the animal control) and deal with him however they want/need to. They can call the cops and say "The dude left his snake and we want to give it to this other guy who will take care of it.." and see what the police tell them.

If you decide to simply take the animal, then you are committing theft. Those roommates will throw your butt under the bus, and the police will be knocking on your door. People on the site can say "Oh yeah, totally just take it" but they are not going to be the ones opening up the door to a couple annoyed cops. It's up to you to decide to either insist the roommates DO something, continue just feeding it yourself until it gets a RI and dies from the lousy conditions then feel really bad, or steal it and risk getting charged with theft.

And I'll pretty much guarantee that a judge is not going to consider "He didn't take proper care of it" to be a valid reason for theft. At BEST you'll end up paying the "worth" of the snake(at least that silly $200) plus court costs. Maybe those on the thread advocating the act will offer to pay it for you though.

Ok i see what you mean about the rules. I understand

Like i said im going tomorow, the guys dont want it there either, they cant pay there own bills. Hopefully i can convince them to rehome for a feww, get the electric turned back on, and dip the snake all in one move... there poor so its worth a shot

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

It's not about how bad an act it would be. It's against the T&S on the site to advise illegal acts. If you want to tell someone to go steal things, do it via PM or email.

To the OP, like I said, the caretakers are the ones that have any authority. You don't live there, you have no rights to the animal. THEY have to tell the dude, pay for the care, or we consider it abandoned. You can wail all you like about how sad the situation is, but you are not the owner or the caretaker(he left the animal in THEIR care, by leaving it in their house), so it's only the owners(renters, whatever)of the house that can insist he do anything.

If they consider the animal neglected, abandoned, etc, then they should be able to either "dispose" of the pet(i.e. find it a home, give it to you, take it to the animal control) and deal with him however they want/need to. They can call the cops and say "The dude left his snake and we want to give it to this other guy who will take care of it.." and see what the police tell them.

If you decide to simply take the animal, then you are committing theft. Those roommates will throw your butt under the bus, and the police will be knocking on your door. People on the site can say "Oh yeah, totally just take it" but they are not going to be the ones opening up the door to a couple annoyed cops. It's up to you to decide to either insist the roommates DO something, continue just feeding it yourself until it gets a RI and dies from the lousy conditions then feel really bad, or steal it and risk getting charged with theft.

And I'll pretty much guarantee that a judge is not going to consider "He didn't take proper care of it" to be a valid reason for theft. At BEST you'll end up paying the "worth" of the snake(at least that silly $200) plus court costs. Maybe those on the thread advocating the act will offer to pay it for you though.

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Yeah this is why i was asking, id rather not have court fees and cops and bears oh my!
Hopefully the thought of money will chub them up abit, and they will agree to rehome it (i will oversee this process)
Unfortunatly, i have no expierence shipping snakes, so if it came down to it, id prefer pickup, or me deliverin, cause again, if i choose to have the animal shipped, if somthin happened and it got hurt, it be on me. (I had a shipment of cherry shrimp come in. Said live animals, this side up, it was tossed in the truck and the mailman literally tossed it to me, i almost pooped a brick on him)

serpent fan,

Here is the plain and simple truth. The snake is not your property. As badly as it's being cared for right now, and as badly as you want to save it, it's not your property.

Let that sink in for a minute....

Now then, the owner gave you a $200 way to make yourself feel better about this situation. What you decide to do about that offer is up to you, but where I come from, taking someones property happens right before the gun fire starts. I get that you and his room mates are big ole' boys, but take it from an Air Force grunt, nobody is "frisky" with two to the chest and one to the cranium. Stealing peoples stuff is a great way to find out what GSW stands for.

I know you just got you're first snake and are all jacked up to run out and save this one, but here's some more brutal honesty...there are bad people in this world, you can't save them all, and this snake isn't yours for the taking.

I'm all about rescuing and rehoming, but keep it real.

Im not stealing anything, i think that point was made.
Im going to see if we can get a rehoming fee that is suitable for the snakes owner, a cut for the guys housing it,and the snake a new home. If we can come to terms, no big deal. The owner is friends with the housers, so that will help, were not really sure why hes acting like this though, and its pissing alot of people off.
And yeah im jacked about my snake!
But im this way with any animals. If someone isnt properly caring for fish, id seek to educate or eradicate their bad behavior. Same goes for turtles, and even feeder rats. Animal cruelty is wrong, plain and simple. Iduno, ive been tld this is a poor frame of mind, but any animal, big or small, is equally important, and has every right to live as i do. When we take things out of their homes, we become liable, and it sucks some people dont get that.
I know theres bad people out there slim, murderers, rapist, all sorts of crazies, it just sucks... this is mostly a vent and figure a plan thread, im not stealing anthing though, as the owner already said snakes going nowhere without cash..

Have to agree with Slim...at this point it looks like there's not much you can do. And say if you were to actually come up with the $200 funds for her...who's to say that she won't come down with an illness (if she doesn't have one already: sometimes RIs can take a while to develop into noticeable symptoms - as an example) then that's going to be some costly vet bills which sound like you cannot afford right now. I would do the best for her that you can do at the moment, like giving her heat and security and hope for the best. Perhaps you and the owner can come to an agreement when he gets back. Good luck.

Yeah hopefully we can talk somthing out..still, its a shame, the snake is super friendly

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

If someone isnt properly caring for fish, id seek to educate or eradicate their bad behavior. Same goes for turtles, and even feeder rats. Animal cruelty is wrong, plain and simple. Iduno, ive been tld this is a poor frame of mind, but any animal, big or small, is equally important, and has every right to live as i do.

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I do not condone animal cruelty either, but it's important to recognize when you've made the transition to Don Quixote...

ABANDON or ABANDONMENT. ABANDONMENT consists of leaving an animal for a period in excess of 24 hours, without the animal's owner or the owners designated caretaker providing all provisions of necessity as defined in this chapter and checking on the animal's condition.

Courtesy of http://www.louisvilleky.gov/

Call your local animal shelter and tell them about the situation. They should be able to tell you what your rights in this situation are and what is the most effective way to handle the situation. In my opinion you have a lot of options, and it is silly not to at least try to help out a creature that cant help its self... and I think that just because your local shelter might not be "reptile friendly" that they are not a great resource in this situation and would probably be very willing to help remove the animal and turn custody over to you.

If i tell them,and we can legally take the snake, what stops them from coming in and doing that. Thy know of an unlawful act, and would contact authoraties, and possibly take it to a kill shelter. This is what i want to avoid, id rather the guyy just admit hes a dbag and give us permission to rehome..

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Originally Posted by Slim

I do not condone animal cruelty either, but it's important to recognize when you've made the transition to Don Quixote...

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I gotchya, im not stealing anything, thanks.....

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

If i tell them,and we can legally take the snake, what stops them from coming in and doing that. Thy know of an unlawful act, and would contact authoraties, and possibly take it to a kill shelter. This is what i want to avoid, id rather the guyy just admit hes a dbag and give us permission to rehome..

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Honestly they got their hands full, they are not going to go out of their way to find you and take it. You don't have to give them details if you are that worried. It doesn't to hurt to call and ask a few questions.

"Hi, a snake was left at my friends house. He no longer wants to care for it and it has been there for oh so much time. What can he do? The owner says he is coming back but..." you get the idea.

In my area, if someone leaves an animal with you for over a certain amount of time, you are considered responsible for it and can turn it over to a rescue or someone else if you so please. Just check it out, or don't.
You seem like a decent person who is rightly upset over an awful situation. It might help you to know what your rights are in this situation.

If he left the animal in their care without providing for it's basic needs, after 3 days it becomes their property, to do with as they please.

Three summers ago, my daughter went for a walk around our neighborhood, and came home with the most pitiful looking kitten I'd ever seen. It was so emaciated, dehydrated and sick, I don't know how it wasn't dead. We syringe fed it fluids and soft food, it could not stand up to eat or drink. After about a week, it was starting to act like a normal kitten, it could walk and potty on it's own.

All of a sudden, one night as we are watching TV, this little kids knocks on our door and says we stole that kitten, and his mom wants it back. I told the boy I had no idea what he was talking about, that my daughter found a kitten, and we had saved it from death. He leaves and 10 minutes later he's back. We stole the kitten, and his mom wants her kitten back or else. I told him yet again, my daughter found a kitten abandon in a yard, no one around, it was obviously near death, and we had saved it. If his mom thought this was her kitten, why didn't she come talk to me herself ? He leaves again.

10 minutes later he comes back with his slightly older sister, he's about 7 she's maybe 10. Both kids tell me again, we stole the kitten and their mom wants it back right now. I told them both, the kitten was not their mom's it was abandoned, if she thinks the kitten is hers, she should have the nerve to come talk to me instead of sending her two little kids. I told them point blank I was not going to give them this kitten, period. They both leave.

15 minutes later, this lady shows up at my door demanding I return the kitten my daughter stole. I asked her how my daughter stole the kitten. Did she break into your house and steal it ? The woman says no, that she had taken the kittens outside and put them in a box with a for sale sign, but the kittens all dissapeared and she didn't get any money. Once she found out we had one of her kittens, she wanted me to pay her for this kitten. I told her the kitten my daughter found was nowhere near her house, that it was emaciated and dehydrated and nearly dead, it had obviously been neglected. The woman got all huffy and nasty, she took great care of her kittens and how dare I suggest she neglected them. I told her simply, then that proves this wasn't your kitten. She asks to see the kitten, so I agree. I figure if she see's the kitten, she'll know it isn't hers and will stop bothering me.

So I go and get the kitten and bring it out. She looks at it and says, "Oh, that is my kitten!" and she tries to snatch it from me. I pulled the kitten away from her, and told her she couldn't have it. She asked what I meant. I told her the truth, this kitten was starving and dehydrated and sick, if she was responsible for that condition, she sure as h-e-double hockey sticks wasn't getting that kitten back. She then threatened to call the police on me if I didn't hand it over. I told her to go ahead and call, she knew where I lived. She stormed off, and I called the sheriff's department myself. I explained the situation, and the referred me to my local Animal Control Office.

I called Animal Control and explained the situation again. The lady was very sympathetic to me and asked how long I had had the kitten. I told her over a week. She chuckled and said, if the kitten was obviously neglected and appeared to be abandoned { ie. it wasn't being cared for} then once I had the kitten in my possession for three days, it became my property. She told me if the woman did follow through with her threat, the police could not remove the kitten from my care because it was now mine.

So, if this person is not caring for the animal, or paying for it's care, after three days it is considered abandoned and the people who are caring for it now own that snake. Plain and simple. So, explain to them the animal is considered abandoned and they are free to do whatever they see fit to do, and this person who abandoned it cannot do a thing about it. If you do not think you can care for it, tell them so and that you want to try and find someone who can.

Gale

Id rather get this guys ok, but worst case i will look into the laws. To be honest, it may be gone before i get there, there cabl got cut, as did electric and water, so the thought of money probly is blowing their minds..

Animal control lied to you.

You cannot simply have a animal in your possession for three days and it automatically becomes yours. If that was truly law, then a lot of very pricy animals would be stolen on a daily basis and hidden for that 3 days.

I'm not saying that you "stole" the kitten. Obviously, you picked up a abandoned kitten. But TECHNICALLY by law(at least in my state), you must attempt to find the owners for ten days, THEN the animal is considered abandoned. But you must make a attempt. The most common "attempt" is to put a vaguely worded ad in the Lost/Found section of a newspaper(usually free) and after that, you're usually golden.

But IF it were a owned animal and the owner finds out you have it and you cannot prove you made a "reasonable" attempt to the judge, then it's the original owner that will recieve the animal back. In your case, the woman would easily have been charged with neglect IF she could possibly prove it was her kitten, which she could not. She would probably also be charged with "endangerment" for placing kittens outside in a box like that. Since the box was placed outside without supervision, that could possibly be stretched to be considered abandoning the kittens(same as if she put the box out beside the highway and drove off, sort of).

Have you considered threatening to call animal control? I don't know if that will make a difference with this guy as he sounds like a jerk, but maybe he doesn't want animal neglect on his record?

No, we were thinking of telling him we were going to call animal control. Just got back, one of their friends wants the bp, and he is going to come talk to me in a bit. Ill let him know whats what, how to set things up and all that, and point him towords this forum

Where are you guys looking up these laws???
Im not calling you out wolfy, i believe you, but i wanna lookup up the laws for my own state.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Where are you guys looking up these laws???
Im not calling you out wolfy, i believe you, but i wanna lookup up the laws for my own state.

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The laws regarding animal care/abuse are often different depending on the state and county/city you live in. You can easily find out what they are by going to your local county government website.

You should be able to look up ordinances for your state, your city, your county, township etc, at the various websites devoted to the laws for the places. But be prepared to sort through a lot of junk to find it. Also, the laws may contradict each other, in which case MOST of the time, they will fall back on the highest level, i.e. the state law over the town ordinance.

I looked up the abandoned animal laws for my state and county for my grooming shop, in case a moron left their dog with me and never picked up, then showed up weeks(months?) later on, claiming they wanted "their" dog back.

The town I was in didn't have seperate laws, since it's a teeny town, barely more than a traffic light and a school.

Snake rehomed to a proper owner. Had the extra setup up and running.
Everyone was happy, snake is happy, no cops

Yay congrats!

Yes im relieved. Theyve been without power for about a week now, havent had the cash to feed her since they got her, and now shes in a nw home. Informed the rehomer of the conditions, and said she was going to the vet anyways.

I agree with you, of course. In my case I believe since the kitten was in such obvious bad shape, and I had pictures to prove it, the officer said it would be considered abandoned and therefore after caring for it for three days it would be considered mine.

I do know I found out the hard way if I take in a stray animal of any kind and keep it for longer than 5 days, animal control won't take it. I had a couple of older kittens show up on my lawn, so I ran an ad in the paper with pictures. After 10 days with no response, I took them to animal control because my local shelter could not take them. I had to fight tooth and nail with the officer's there. They told me, stray or not, since I had them for longer than 5 days they were now mine, and they would not take "owned" pets. I told them they were not mine, that I simply ran an ad in the paper in an attempt to locate the owners. They told me, next time not to waste my time. I was to bring them straight there. It was the owners job to look for them, not the other way around. Which didn't sound right to me, but I gave up arguing after about half an hour. They finally agreed to take them with a donation from me. I won't make that mistake again.

Anywho, I'm glad things worked out for everyone involved.

Gale

Find out how much it will cost to ship her to zip code 74070, email me at JDMonk83@gmail.com or message me on facebook. I'll be more then willing to add her to my collection. :gj:

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

Snake rehomed to a proper owner. Had the extra setup up and running.
Everyone was happy, snake is happy, no cops

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ASPCA along with the Humane Society and other similar groups could care less about animals or their care they are about political association and money, they are the last person/groups I'd ever contact. They do way more harm than good for any animal.

For those of you wondering where I was this afternoon while you guys were watching the finale of the serpent fan melt down, I was at my daughter's dance recital. It was almost as entertaining as having serpent fan throw his accusations at me. Thank you all for the concern, and yes, I wish I could have said my piece over in the other thread before it got locked.

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Originally Posted by Slim

For those of you wondering where I was this afternoon while you guys were watching the finale of the serpent fan melt down, I was at my daughter's dance recital. It was almost as entertaining as having serpent fan throw his accusations at me. Thank you all for the concern, and yes, I wish I could have said my piece over in the other thread before it got locked.

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A much better place to be, good job Dad! Did she have fun?

Although, serpent fan melt down was rather enteraining, if nothing else.

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

A much better place to be, good job Dad! Did she have fun?

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She had a blast and did a very good job. Gotta' love small town Wisconsin, the whole town showed up for the recital.

Good news on the snake going to a proper home. And even better that no cops and fuss needed to be involved.

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Originally Posted by Slim

For those of you wondering where I was this afternoon while you guys were watching the finale of the serpent fan melt down, I was at my daughter's dance recital. It was almost as entertaining as having serpent fan throw his accusations at me. Thank you all for the concern, and yes, I wish I could have said my piece over in the other thread before it got locked.

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He's over at the BLBC now. Heaven help him if he mouths off over there. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Shadera

He's over at the BLBC now. Heaven help him if he mouths off over there. :rofl:

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Agreed ;)

Have I missed something? Awhh man :(