A video of a young girl crying with relief and joy after finding her missing pet snake after a week is raking likes on Instagram. The girl clutches the snake in her arms as she has an emotional outburst. This undated video was posted on Instagram by a popular account named ‘Animals Doing Things’ on December 28. Since then it has gathered over 5 lakh likes. The video has also prompted a discussion amongst netizens about being a responsible pet owner. Many people also saw this video as an opportunity to share their own stories of owning a pet snake.
A post shared by Animals Doing Things (@animalsdoingthings)
Nonvenomous and harmless snakes like corn snakes and ball pythons are sold as pets but the majority of people still think of snakes as potentially dangerous. Commenting on the above-mentioned clip, an Instagram user wrote, “The thought of a snake sliding around my house for a week without knowing where it’s at is giving me all sorts of anxiety.” Another person wrote, “Meanwhile the snake is thinking ‘damn, I almost got away.’”
Someone wrote, “This is exactly why it needs to be illegal for invasive species to be kept as pets. I’m happy this little girl found her pet but not everyone does….then the escaped wreak havoc on ecosystems that are already heavily strained thanks to human activity and destruction. It’s incredibly unethical and harms us all in the end.”
“How can you guys have snakes as pets?” read another comment.
An Instagram user recalled their experience of owning a pet snake and wrote, “Many years ago I had a snake… my friend came over and I told her right away, hey my snake has gotten out of her enclosure, she’s kinda on the loose so keep an eye out. She was super nervous so we began looking everywhere… I had already checked under the sofa but I got down to check again and when I put my face on the ground the look under, she was right there and struck literally right at my face and barely missed me by like an inch. We laughed for about that for the next few hour.”
As per PETA, snakes or pythons should not be kept as pets as “wary animals who don’t like being held, touched, petted, or passed around.” Buying snakes also promotes unethical wildlife trade. World Animal Protection argues that it is impossible to “replicate the space and choices a snake has in their natural environment”. The nonprofit asserts that “due to the stress of captivity, some scientists estimate that 75 per cent of snakes kept in captivity die within one year.”
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