5ft long pet snake lost in shop for six months (From Daily Echo)
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5ft long California Kingsnake lost in Southampton Reptile Centre for six months
10:30am Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News
By Rory McKeown, Senior reporter
Sammy the Californian kingsnake in his tank.
An escaped snake could leave some people hiss-terical.
But it is a reality for Allison and Darren Cotton after their beloved pet snake Sammy went missing in a Southampton pet shop six months ago.
Mrs Cotton, 48, from Cheriton Avenue, Harefield, said the couple left the California Kingsnake in the care of the Southampton Reptile Centre before jetting off to Tenerife for a holiday last September.
However, they were left stunned when staff informed them that their 5ft long pet had escaped from its tank while they were away.
Mrs Cotton says both staff and family members have since carried out searches of the store, in Deacon Road, Merry Oak, but 12-year-old Sammy has not been found.
Despite reassurances from staff that the brown and cream striped snake would not have left the premises, Mrs Cotton now fears Sammy could have escaped the shop or may have been taken.
Mrs Cotton claims she was told a member of staff left the tank open.
She told the Daily Echo: “They said they would offer me another snake but we’ve had it a long time. “
They kept saying it’s in the shop and hasn’t got out. “They are saying he got out at night. If he’s out there and someone has got him I am hoping they will come forward.
“I’ve had him since he was a baby and he’s part of the family.”
Mrs Cotton said Sammy is usually left at home when she goes on holiday – but the couple took him to the store as they were having their bathroom refitted.
An employee at the Southampton Reptile Centre refused to give his name but confirmed the snake had escaped from the tank.
He added the situation was regrettable and staff are confident the snake is hibernating through the prolonged cold period and is still in the store.
Snake expert James Grant, assistant manager at Grange Reptiles in Woodhouse Lane, Botley, said it was unlikely the snake would survive in the wild.
He said: “I have known, through customers, that snakes have got out of the house and been found in the garden.
“I doubt it would survive in the wild.
“If it’s loose in a house running with temperatures of 20C, they can go through a brumation period of time – not a full-scale hibernation.
“In the cold they are a little bit docile.
“If it’s an adult and they are well fed, they would be fine to go for a year without food.
“It can stay in hibernation longer than usual during prolonged cold spells.”
Comments(17)
Aisha1
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12:20pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Maine Lobster
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1:52pm Tue 19 Mar 13
bigfella777
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2:01pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Linesman
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2:18pm Tue 19 Mar 13
bigfella777 wrote:Strange! That's what your mother-in-law said.
Anyone who thinks a snake is part of there family really does have some issues.
Subject48
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2:19pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Lockssmart
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2:24pm Tue 19 Mar 13
bobbyboy
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2:40pm Tue 19 Mar 13
CharlieOxbridge
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2:55pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Inform Al
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4:25pm Tue 19 Mar 13
CharlieOxbridge wrote:Apart from the fact that these people may have purchased their home, ordinary decent folk see no harm in people bettering themselves. Get a life.
Owning exotic animals & jetting off on holidays to Tenerife whilst living on a council estate, not a bad life that.
bigal007
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7:05pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Linesman wrote:lol very good
bigfella777 wrote:Strange! That's what your mother-in-law said.
Anyone who thinks a snake is part of there family really does have some issues.
bigal007
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7:06pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Lockssmart wrote:dooooooogggggg
Looks like Mickey's mum out of the film Snatch
OSPREYSAINT
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7:08pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Harefield boy
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8:22pm Tue 19 Mar 13
bigal007 wrote:bigal007 you are a real tough cookie!!
Lockssmart wrote:dooooooogggggg
Looks like Mickey's mum out of the film Snatch
Are you sat in your room typing crap on the net?
Sssssshhhh your mum might hear you!!
Bet she looks like Mickey;s mums snatch!!
Great this aint it insulting people anonymously.
IronLady2010
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9:42pm Tue 19 Mar 13
hello there
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12:22am Sun 24 Mar 13
hello there
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12:25am Sun 24 Mar 13
hello there wrote:im srry fo you loss if it was the one you lost
apparently a neighbour next to the shop found a dead snake in there garden a few months back.
OSPREYSAINT says...
12:05pm Tue 19 Mar 13