Python Found in UPS Truck Back With Owner

[rmci]

Python Found in UPS Truck Back With Owner
August 09, 2005 11:43 PM EDT
O'FALLON, Mo. - A 9-foot albino Burmese python has arrived at its new home after startling a United Parcel Service driver who found it curled up among packages in his truck last week.

The python was taken to the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center after Brian Adams encountered it while making deliveries in suburban St. Louis. News reports about the find caught the attention of David Ostermeyer, who hadn't received a python he ordered from a dealer in Pennsylvania.

Ostermeyer, 19, of suburban O'Fallon, told Theresa Williams, director of the division of humane services for St. Charles County, that he has a male albino python and ordered the female so he could breed them.

Ostermeyer told Williams he got the delivery last week but discvered the box was empty. He said he tried to flag down the driver and then put in a claim with UPS.

Adams, 41, remembers delivering an overnight-air box to Ostermeyer's address earlier on the morning that he found the python, but didn't notice anything unusual. Later, after stopping for another delivery, he saw what he first thought was a stuffed animal or rubber snake.

After he saw scales and realized it was alive, he called animal control. The 31-pound snake was prodded into a cloth mailbag and taken to the pet adoption center.

On Friday, Ostermeyer picked up the python after going to the shelter with proof of his ownership - a receipt, the UPS tracking information and the empty box.

The python was shipped in a plastic container that was taped shut and placed inside the box. Williams said the tape was intact but the container cracked, and the cardboard box had a couple of tears in it.

UPS, meanwhile, is investigating. Although the company accepts some live animals for shipment, snakes aren't on its list.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

[Ritz459]

Wow. I think I would have completely feaked if I was that UPS driver. lol

[richnrissa]

no kidding! i would have needed a 2nd set of those sexy brown shorts!!!

[SalemWitchChild]

So was their no air holes? Didn't tell them it was an animal? If it wasn't for that crack the snake wouldn't have had air. Of course he wouldn't have got out either. I would think the no air holes would fall under cruelty.

[WingedFoal]

Salem, that's what I was thinking. It seems just plain wrong to ship an animal in a box, UPS-style, even if it is "just a snake", as some people would think (first example that comes to mind is the idiot who shipped the poor thing).

[SalemWitchChild]

Originally Posted by WingedFoal

Salem, that's what I was thinking. It seems just plain wrong to ship an animal in a box, UPS-style, even if it is "just a snake", as some people would think (first example that comes to mind is the idiot who shipped the poor thing).

It seems the snake would be dehydrated and in shock from those conditions. I admit I know next to nothing about snakes, but this seems inhumane and I hope the authorities prosecute both the shipper and the reciever.

[richnrissa]

I'm curious as to what kind of box was it that neither the UPS guy or the intended party realized it was empty (until he opened it). There had to a hole or torn tape or something indicating the snake got out, wouldnt there?

[SalemWitchChild]

The python was shipped in a plastic container that was taped shut and placed inside the box. Williams said the tape was intact but the container cracked, and the cardboard box had a couple of tears in it.

Thats what they say about the box.

[richnrissa]

lol, yeah, there it was the whole time...

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by WingedFoal

Salem, that's what I was thinking. It seems just plain wrong to ship an animal in a box, UPS-style, even if it is "just a snake", as some people would think (first example that comes to mind is the idiot who shipped the poor thing).

The first thing that came to my mind was actually: "Why is this dude breeding an albino snake, and why did he get a mate for it via UPS?"
But hey...that was just me. I don't know if you can irrisponsibly breed a snake but who knows.

[Novel]

Having been a python owner for years, it's not the best way to ship a snake, especially in the heat, but it is acceptable. When we had cool-temp snakes, like garters and corn snakes, we actually put them in a plastic container in the closet for the winter months, while they hibernated.
Snakes have very slow metabolisms if kept cool, and a 9ft one, fed a large meal before shipment, would probably be just fine, if it was 3 days or less during transit. That said, lots of snake people are just plain ucky.
My husband gets all the snake calls at work. We've had a very nice Boa from someones living room once. They didn't own a snake, but one was in their house!

[Novel]

I'll be back later to post more, I've got quite a few replies I want to make.

[SalemWitchChild]

Originally Posted by Novel

Having been a python owner for years, it's not the best way to ship a snake, especially in the heat, but it is acceptable. When we had cool-temp snakes, like garters and corn snakes, we actually put them in a plastic container in the closet for the winter months, while they hibernated.
Snakes have very slow metabolisms if kept cool, and a 9ft one, fed a large meal before shipment, would probably be just fine, if it was 3 days or less during transit. That said, lots of snake people are just plain ucky.
My husband gets all the snake calls at work. We've had a very nice Boa from someones living room once. They didn't own a snake, but one was in their house!

Well thanks for the info. It still seems at the very least to be unethical. But hey, people don't have to conform to my beliefs.

[WingedFoal]

Originally Posted by Novel

Having been a python owner for years, it's not the best way to ship a snake, especially in the heat, but it is acceptable. When we had cool-temp snakes, like garters and corn snakes, we actually put them in a plastic container in the closet for the winter months, while they hibernated.
Snakes have very slow metabolisms if kept cool, and a 9ft one, fed a large meal before shipment, would probably be just fine, if it was 3 days or less during transit. That said, lots of snake people are just plain ucky.
My husband gets all the snake calls at work. We've had a very nice Boa from someones living room once. They didn't own a snake, but one was in their house!

LOL at the story!

Okay, so I feel a little better now. *A little*. But still, it just seems tooooo wrong since it's the summer.....

[Novel]

Remeber, Pythons are rainforest creatures, Burmese prefer mid-80's and that is what they need to keep their bodies going at normal, anything lower will slow them down. They are cold blooded creatures remember.
However, I would never ship one like this. You know that the person wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, because he was shipping it illegally. A 9ft Python, although not too dangerous to a full grown adult male, could be very dangerous to smaller people, pets, etc. You don't throw one in a shipping container, not mark it "live animal" and throw it in the mail box. That is unethical, possible, but still not so desirable.
As far as the albino thing. They are bred very often. When you see the white/yellow big snakes. See picture:

That is albino. People with snakes are kind of a strange brew, and ordering one from a friend who will ship it to you, is not unheard of. They don't mate all that well in captivity, and so people trade around alot looking for that just right snake. They live for 30-40 years if treated well, and so they have lots of opportunities to travel. That said, I never bred mine, and only bought one from a pet store. The others were all from friends, but we drove to meet each other.