Abandoned Snakes Pose a Mystery

Describing the reptilian horde as a “scene out of an Indiana Jones movie,” San Diego Zoo officials Wednesday were trying to identify the 225 nonpoisonous snakes impounded at a vacant Vista residence.

Meanwhile, county officials wondered why the owner apparently abandoned the valuable creatures.

Officers from the San Diego County Department of Animal Control seized the snakes Tuesday on Lado de Loma Drive after neighbors complained of a stench to the county Sheriff’s Department. Deputies entered the house, found several dead snakes among the poorly tended live ones, and called in animal control officers.

While neither the county nor the Sheriff’s Department could identify the snakes’ owner as of late Wednesday, a former owner of the house said he sold the residence in early December to James R. King of El Cajon, who reportedly described himself to a real estate agent as a “reptile wholesaler.”

Efforts to reach King at an El Cajon telephone listing were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The haul included 225 live snakes, about a dozen dead ones, 20 exotic species of frogs and a handful of lizards, said Sally Hazzard, county animal control director. The animals, which apparently had not been given food or water for some time, were turned over to the temporary custody of the zoo Wednesday morning for veterinary care and identification.

Some of the snakes were found Tuesday night in plastic foam cups and plastic containers, zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett said. The reptiles “were all extremely thirsty and went immediately to the water when it was put in their pens” at the zoo, he said. Jouett described some of the baby snakes as dehydrated.

Notations were made on some of the snakes’ pens that indicated to zoo officials that the animals may have last been fed and watered Nov. 9, Jouett said.

The owner may face criminal charges if the county determines that the snakes were mistreated, Vista Assistant City Manager Jeanette Farris said. The owner may be in misdemeanor violation of a Vista law that prohibits homeowners from keeping more than 25 snakes or from owning pythons or boa constrictors longer than 3 1/2 feet or weighing more than 15 pounds, she said.

Jouett said the haul of snakes included a crate full of “20 or more” pythons and boa constrictors that range from 5 to 12 feet in length.

Although the snakes “appeared to be abandoned,” Deputy Sheriff Larry van Dusen said law enforcement officials would not try to identify or locate the snakes’ owner unless the animal control department determines that there may have been criminal neglect of the animals.

Hazzard said her department is awaiting the zoo’s medical evaluation and identification of the animals before fully assessing the case.

Zoning laws that govern what kinds of animals may be kept in given areas and the required “methods of containment” must also be evaluated by the county, she said.

“No one knows how long the animals have been abandoned,” Hazzard said. “But there is criminal liability, in general, if an owner does not provide adequate food, water and shelter for their animals.”

In the meantime, animal control officers posted a notice at the Vista house saying that the reptiles’ owner must come forward within five days to claim the animals or forfeit ownership. After that, the county would be free to sell the snakes at auction, or dispose of them to zoos or the state Department of Fish and Game, Hazzard said.

Although the zoo has not yet finished identifying the reptiles, Jouett described them as all nonpoisonous. The snakes identified include rare, 12-foot-long albino Burmese pythons and albino king snakes, as well as a variety of king snakes, rat snakes, garter snakes and rosy boa constrictors.

Gary Sipperley, owner of San Diego Reptile Breeders, said adult albino Burmese pythons could be worth up to $4,000 each. The albino pythons “are a fairly new genetic strain that’s become available in the last five years. That’s why they’re so valuable. There aren’t that many available at this point.”