A woman found a king snake in her bed at her Dublin home.
A Dublin woman found a large snake, that is restricted in the EU, in her bed this week.
The woman, who lives in Dublin 8, wrapped up the yellow Californian Kingsnake in her bed sheets and brought the creature to her local garda station.
A Dublin pet shop was given the snake to care for until the owner comes forward.
Shauna Kilduff, who is the owner of Shauna’s Pet Shop on Capel Street, informed the Irish Independent: “It’s definitely someone’s pet, we’ve called him Kevin. He’s incredibly tame, well looked after and he’s easy to handle.
“The snake is with one of the staff, just to have him out of the store. The snake was found last week in Dublin 8.
“A member of the public found it in her bed, she didn’t know what to do so she wrapped up the snake in her bed sheets and brought it into Kevin Street garda station.”
The Kingsnake is banned within the EU, except it has been purchased as a pet earlier than August 2023.
“As of August 2022, the breeding of Kingsnakes was restricted in the EU. As of August 2023, any commercial enterprise, just like myself in the pet shop, it’s prohibited to sell the animal,” Shauna stated.
“You’re allowed to own this species if you purchase this animal before August 2023, you’re allowed to own an existing pet if it was purchased before August of this year.
“We want to know who owns him. We’ll need proof of ownership. It’s not enough to give us proof with pictures, they’ll need to show us that they purchased the snake prior to August of this year.”
Gardaí have been contacted by the Irish Independent for remark.
