The article doesn't say what Diablo was supposed to be medicated with but I believe that no matter what it was it probably should have been mixed with quaaludes. Evidently snakes aren't big fans of medications. You see Diablo is a 13-foot-long tiger reticulated python. It is believed that the snake overpowered the woman as she attempted to medicate him by squirting a syringe of medication down his throat. Her husband had told authorities "The snake did not like being given the medication, nor did he like the medication." That, and the fact that the snake is 13 feet long, should be a clue to anyone that this job probably needs be handled by two people since this powerful snake didn't like it much. Scooby and Shaggy could have picked up that clue. They also would have run away from the snake. A very good idea in my opinion.

I'm curious as to how a snake is given medications. With a cat you gently pinch their cheeks until their mouth opens and then pop the pill into their mouths and gently close the mouth. When the tongue pops out they've swallowed it. So with a snake do you pinch its cheeks to get the mouth open? If so isn't that an obvious indication that this might piss off your snake? Don't the sharp rows of teeth tell you this is a really bad idea to do at all, especially on your own. Pissed off cats will not like you for awhile but they'll get over it. A snake will probably get over it too but probably after you're dead.

Bowen LaJesse is the reptile department manager at Animal Jungle, a Virginia Beach shop that sells exotic pets, including tiger reticulated pythons.

Even though the snake is generally more docile than other types of reticulated pythons they are extremely strong.

"That's all they are, one big tube of muscle," LaJesse said. Two or more experienced people are needed to handle pythons longer than eight feet, he said, particularly if medication is involved.

Well there were two involved in medicating this snake, unfortunately one was a huge "tube of muscle". The snake should have been medicated with quaaludes and he might have become even more docile and therefore less deadly, one would think.

Why people insist on owning exotic pets that can KILL them is beyond me. A dog can kill you but they have been domesticated for thousands of years. If you are going to own something like a snake you need to understand the rules for their safe care and YOUR safe care.

The tiger reticulated python is native to Southeast Asia and typically grows to 12 to 15 feet, said Stephanie Kokosinski, herpetology curator at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. People with little experience handling snakes shouldn't look to adopt those pythons, she said.

Nawwwww!! Really!

What's even dumber is that the "Animal Control" officer tried to wrangle this snake on his own and had to get the medical examiner to help him. This so-called professional animal control officer tried to wrangle this thing on his own??!! It was only because he didn't have the muscle to pull the thing out from behind a cage holding a Boa Constrictor that he asked for help from the medical examiner. If he had been able to get the thing out on his own would the medical examiner have had two bodies to work with?

I guess the lesson here is that if you're going to own a snake learn about the safe handling rules for them but don't ask an animal control officer for tips.

Submitted on 10/24/2008

Submitted by: Jonathan Brown
Reference: http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/pet-python-blamed-virginia-beach-womans-strangulation

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
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The first rule of owning exotic pets: Be 100% sure you know how to take care of it properly and safely. Apparently this woman didn't since an expert said that it would take 2 *or more* people to safely medicate a python of this size. Thanks, Jonathan!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
What's the rule? One person for 6 feet of snake, and

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