Story by Isha Pattanaik
Photos by Madeline Nguyen
0:00-0:04 TALENA CHAVIS: “He’s relatively small in the python world.”
THAT’S MARIUS- A BALL PYTHON. TALENA CHAVIS WORKS IN HUMANE SNAKE REMOVAL AND SAYS THESE PYTHONS CAN GROW UP TO 6 FEET. SHE SAYS THEY’RE NOT NATIVE TO NORTH CAROLINA OR EVEN THE US, BUT BREEDERS AND BUYERS LOVE THE DIFFERENT PATTERNS ON THESE BALL PYTHONS.
0:20-0:25 TALENA CHAVIS: “As humans,it’s the same thing with cats and dogs/ We see something pretty, and then we make more of it.”
CO-FOUNDER OF J.A.B. REPTILES, BEAU GRIFFIN WHO DIDN’T WANT TO BE ON CAMERA SAYS THAT GENETIC BREEDING TO CREATE RARE PATTERNS ON THE PYTHONS IS HOWbreeders MAKE MONEY
0:34-0:52 BEAU GRIFFIN: “You also have a breeder market where they understand the genetics. They might look at a snake that looks like a normal snake which might normally be a 50 or 80 dollar snake, but if it’s full of all of these recessive genetic traits, so now that snake has value.”
HE SAYS THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE SNAKE IS EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS.
ALTHOUGH CHAVIS SAYS BALL PYTHONS AREN’T YET AN INVASIVE SPECIES, SOMETIMES BUYERS RELEASE THEIR SNAKES OUTSIDE.
1:01-1:09 TALENA CHAVIS: “Obviously ball pythons are found more and more dumped. Of course it’s always the people’s fault, not the animal’s.”
1:09-1:13 TALENA CHAVIS: “People got bored, or they can’t afford it; they lose their home.
CHAVIS SAYS THERE ARE DIFFERENT LAWS IN DIFFERENT COUNTIES, BUT GENERALLY EXOTIC ANIMALS INCLUDING SNAKES ARE FINE TO KEEP AS PETS AS LONG AS THEY AREn’t DANGEROUS AND LESS THAN 6 FEET LONG.
1:23- 1:28 TALENA CHAVIS: “You could be passed out with one around your neck on the floor; you’re going to be okay.”
SHE SAYS THEY COME IN EVERY COLOR AND CAN EVEN COME WITH A SMILEY FACE EMOJI. I’M ISHA PATTANAIK REPORTING.
