Snake That Bit Boy a ‘Loaded Gun,’ Experts Say

Snakes like the 12-foot python that attacked its 10-year-old owner Monday are mean and dangerous, especially around children, reptile dealers and animal control officials said Tuesday.

The snake, a gift from Tanner Murabito’s grandfather, had been in the house for more than year without incident. But snake experts said the 65-pound African rock python, which was as thick as a man’s thigh, was an accident waiting to happen.

“It’s like having a loaded gun in the house,” said Chris Estep, owner of Reptile Haven, a supplier in Escondido. “A kid that age should never be around a snake that size. We have lots of 12- to 15-foot snakes, and we never go near them without three other adults in the room.”

Craig Tauchman of Prehistoric Pets in Fountain Valley said African rock pythons are known as mean and unpredictable.

“I don’t usually handle them,” he said. “Most of them are pretty nasty.”

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Keeping the snake violated Anaheim city codes, which prohibit wild and dangerous animals, including poisonous or extremely large reptiles, said code enforcement supervisor Bruce Freeman. He said, however, that the code is usually enforced only in response to a complaint.

Tanner was setting a bowl of water in the python’s 6-foot-long cage when the snake struck, sinking its teeth into his left hand and wrapping its body twice around his arm.

As his 14-year-old brother, Travis, frantically tried to stab the snake and their mother called 911, Tanner’s arm was twisted awkwardly and squeezed.

The four-minute 911 call made by Tina Murabito, released by local fire department officials Tuesday, showed the agony of a mother struggling to maintain composure as her son screamed for help in the background.

“You’re not gonna die, sweetie. Momma’s not gonna let you die,” Murabito assured her son. “OK, sweetheart. I know, baby. Be tough. You’re being tough.”

The distraught mother urged her son to keep talking as she begged rescuers to hurry.

“Tanner, talk to Momma. OK, baby, Momma’s gonna get it. . . . I’m helping you sweetie. Oh, please, hurry up,” Murabito said.

Anaheim Fire Captain Tom Wills, who supervised the rescue at the apartment on South Haster Street, said his immediate concern was that the snake would twist Tanner’s arm or break it. While two firefighters struggled to hold the immense reptile in place, Wills cut into the tough skin with a dull kitchen knife, finally switching to a serrated rescue knife when he hit bone and severing the head.

The boy’s hand bore dozens of semicircular lacerations, Wills said. He was treated at a local hospital and released.

Snakes are “eating machines,” said Mark McDormand, chief of field operations for Orange County Animal Control. “And they’re not incredibly smart. The action that it took is pretty normal. It was just fed a rat the day before. Chances are it assumed when the boy put his hand in the cage it was just more food.”

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Wills said he had been on two similar calls in the early 1980s, one of which also resulted in a snake being decapitated.

He said he would not recommend that families with children keep a snake that large in the house.

“Children can learn a lot from watching smaller pythons and boa constrictors,” he said. “But once they get to a certain size, especially 12 feet, they’re fairly dangerous inside the house.”

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Emergency Call

Portions of the 911 call placed by a frantic mother when a 65-pound pet python attacked her 10-year-old son:

Mother: I need to have an ambulance, my 12-foot python’s got my son’s hand.

911 operator: Your what got your son’s hand?

Mother: My 12-foot python snake has got my son’s hand. He’s fighting him.

911 operator: OK, we have help for him on the way, OK?

Mother: You’re not gonna die, sweetie, Momma’s not gonna let you die; OK, sweetheart. I know, baby. Be tough. You’re being tough. He’s trying to stab the snake. This is a big snake, watch your brother’s hand.

Mother: [Hearing sirens in background] Tanner, Tanner, Tanner, they’re pulling up. Tanner, you feel like passing out? Talk to Mommy, Tanner. Talk to Momma. Talk to Mommy. There’s blood all over the cage and all over the bedroom, on the carpet and stuff.

911 operator: Coming from snake or from him?

Mother: I’m not sure.

Mother: Tanner, talk to your brother. He’s talking, not a whole lot anymore.

911 operator: One unit just pulled up.

Mother: [Yelling] Hurry up, please. . . . Come on in. [Background noise of emergency personnel] Please. Please. Please. It’s got his left hand. We’ve been trying to stab it but we can’t get it to break loose.

Source: Anaheim Police Department