It was a tragic day certainly for Perry’s Bridge Reptile Park when the workers not too long ago discovered its central African forest cobra with a damaged spinal column not too long ago.
The reptile park’s proprietor, Jason Stewart, mentioned he and his workers are uncertain how the snake had damaged its spinal column whereas it was in its massive enclosure.
He mentioned the snake was 2.4m in size and had been on show on the park for about 5 years. He mentioned that they had leased the reptile from Chris Hobkirk, a widely known snake handler and director of Lowveld Venom Suppliers.
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“The break occurred a 3rd of the way in which down from his head. We don’t know what occurred. He has been in his enclosure for years now. A break within the spinal column doesn’t occur usually in any respect in snakes.
“It is a really unlucky tragedy. I noticed there may be one thing fallacious final Tuesday night, August 22, however I believed if I gave him a number of days, he could be OK.
“On Thursday, I saw he wasn’t moving from his spot. I saw there was an area that was swollen on his body, and he wasn’t able to slither around the enclosure, but he was still able to move and had feeling in his tail when we touched it.”
Stewart mentioned he took the cobra to the vet in Hazyview on Thursday, August 24 the place an X-ray was accomplished and the damaged spinal column was discovered. He mentioned there was nothing that might be accomplished for him, and he needed to be euthanised.
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“He was a beautiful snake, and the people who visited the park would comment on him often. He was a very good feeder, and whenever
the staff went in to clean his enclosure, he would pick his head up and just watch them, but he never went for them.”
The park additionally posted a tribute to the cobra on its Facebook web page. Hobkirk mentioned he had had the snake for 10 years, and that he was unhappy to be taught of the spinal break and its subsequent euthanasia.
“He was beautiful and had very different colours to the ones you find here on the eastern shores in KwaZulu-Natal. He was pitch black from his nose right down to his tail, and had these wonderful markings under his head. He was very intelligent and extremely powerful,” he mentioned.
