A snake-wrangling couple got a big surprise the other day in Southwest Florida.
According to their social media accounts, Rhett and Taylor Stanberry had received a message from a concerned homeowner near Naples about a “huge python” in the backyard.
The two wildlife professionals went to the area and realized that no, it wasn’t a python, but a boa constrictor, and the big gal was albino.
On their YouTube account, the Stanberrys approach the reptile, located in some thick grass.
“I almost didn’t think it was real,” says Rhett of the boa, which is a non-venomous snake found in tropical South America and Central America. “That is the fattest boa constrictor I’ve ever seen.”
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“He’s so fat he can’t get away,” Taylor adds.
When the homeowner inquires how it may have entered the property, the wranglers say they think it may have been someone’s exotic pet that was released into the wild.
It didn’t go quietly.
“This boa was just as defensive as a wild Burmese python,” Rhett writes in his post. “Who knows how long it’s been out there eating bunnies (and probably cats).”
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After getting it back to their facility, the mega critter was measured, clocking in nine feet and five inches long, and weighing 52.6 pounds.
“We see why you were let go,” Taylor says laughing, as the snake hisses.
“She is very defensive,” says Rhett. “This is as big as they get … stunning.”
The boa, which is at risk in the wild because it cannot camouflage due to its lack of pigmentation, will be staying at their facility under the FWC’s Class III License, which allows possession of a non-domesticated animal.
Taylor summed up their adventures on her Instagram, which included a wide shot of their new roommate.
“Florida is just crazy!”
