Seventy pythons rescued after couples break-up

Seventy "neglected" snakes have been rescued from a house where they were being kept in poor conditions after their owners relationship ended.

Volunteers from Knaresborough Exotic Rescue were called to the property by a woman whose partner had left the royal pythons behind when they broke up.

Daniel Holmes, from the reptile sanctuary, said three serpents were found dead in an enclosure and the bodies of other deceased pythons were discovered in the freezer.

He said: "Ive been doing this for many years and this was the worst condition I have ever seen snakes kept in."

The owner, who had tried breeding the reptiles, originally told his girlfriend there were only six of the creatures, but Mr Holmes soon realised there were around 50 kept in drawers and 20 that were loose inside the property.

He thought the man had "just given up" and abandoned the breeding operation.

Some of the drawers the pythons were kept in were too small for their needs and a number of males had escaped to try and find females to mate with.

"Now were probably going to have pregnant snakes as well. Theyve all got mites, which is a bit like fleas to dogs, so they all need treating. There is one that needs vet care as well," he said.

Mr Holmes said the baby snakes were in the worst condition because their enclosure was overheating.

"Theyve dried out so now we have to rehydrate them and get them eating because theyre severely underweight."

He said it was "sickening" and "tragic" to see.

"I took two volunteers with me and its the first time one of them came with us. Hes a young lad and, if Id have known the state the snakes would be in, I wouldnt have taken him with me because he got very upset and started crying."

He added it would be "difficult" to rehome the pythons because of the expense of the specialist enclosures needed for them, but said Cheshire Reptile Rescue had offered to take five of them and also donated a racking system for Mr Holmes to house the remaining snakes in.

An animal rescue in Sunderland has donated a freezer of food for the reptiles.

Mr Holmes has also gathered information about the incident to hand over to the RSPCA for further investigation.

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