# (Spotted) Snake on a plane



## cagey (Feb 25, 2019)

Snake on a plane travels over 15,000km from Mackay to Glasgow before being found in a shoe


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02...suitcase-from-queensland-to-scotland/10846236


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## Ella C (Feb 26, 2019)

Oh wow! 
That's unfortunate for the little guy, being put into a zoo. Then again, not much else they could do, is there?


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## Herpetology (Feb 26, 2019)

Ella C said:


> Oh wow!
> That's unfortunate for the little guy, being put into a zoo. Then again, not much else they could do, is there?


Why’s that unfortunate?

Better off kept in a zoo as an education animal then with someone who can’t keep a snake locked up


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## Pauls_Pythons (Feb 26, 2019)

I thought we were spending millions making sure that it was almost impossible for reptiles and such like to be 'smuggled'?
If thats the case how can a stow away make it all the way to the UK without detection?



Ella C said:


> Oh wow!
> That's unfortunate for the little guy, being put into a zoo. Then again, not much else they could do, is there?



The alternative is?? Euthanise it as they would if it was sent back to Australia?


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## Ella C (Feb 26, 2019)

Herptology said:


> Why’s that unfortunate?
> 
> Better off kept in a zoo as an education animal then with someone who can’t keep a snake locked up





Pauls_Pythons said:


> The alternative is?? Euthanise it as they would if it was sent back to Australia?


I simply meant that the python, though *not intentionally*, was removed from it's natural environment and now lives in a glass box. Which, though similar, is not the same as a captive-bred snake, where a glass box is the only home it's ever known. 
Although nothing else could be done, it's still unfortunate on the snake's behalf.


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## Bluetongue1 (Feb 27, 2019)

Pauls_Pythons said:


> I thought we were spending millions making sure that it was almost impossible for reptiles and such like to be 'smuggled'?
> 
> If thats the case how can a stow away make it all the way to the UK without detection?...


 Whilst the authorities make every effort to scan items coming in or leaving for overseas, they simply cannot cope with the sheer volume of luggage and items. I would imagine that unaccompanied and postal items would get more attention than little old ladies with who knows what else in her bag. Of course they won’t tell you that. 



Ella C said:


> I simply meant that the python, though *not intentionally*, was removed from it's natural environment and now lives in a glass box. Which, though similar, is not the same as a captive-bred snake, where a glass box is the only home it's ever known.
> 
> Although nothing else could be done, it's still unfortunate on the snake's behalf.


What we often fail to recognise is just how much of a struggle to survival it is in the natural world. For example, spotteds can live for 20 years in the wild and have an average clutch size of 10 or so eggs. If a female produced 60 eggs in her lifetime and say 50 hatched, that would not be abnormal. Yet only two of those offspring need to survive to maintain a stable population size. That means 96% of offspring will perish - by predators, starvation, dehydration, disease, injuries and so on. I reckon a comfortable, low risk zoo environment would not be an undesirable alternative by comparison.


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## Ella C (Feb 27, 2019)

Bluetongue1 said:


> Whilst the authorities make every effort to scan items coming in or leaving for overseas, they simply cannot cope with the sheer volume of luggage and items. I would imagine that unaccompanied and postal items would get more attention than little old ladies with who knows what else in her bag. Of course they won’t tell you that.
> 
> What we often fail to recognise is just how much of a struggle to survival it is in the natural world. For example, spotteds can live for 20 years in the wild and have an average clutch size of 10 or so eggs. If a female produced 60 eggs in her lifetime and say 50 hatched, that would not be abnormal. Yet only two of those offspring need to survive to maintain a stable population size. That means 96% of offspring will perish - by predators, starvation, dehydration, disease, injuries and so on. I reckon a comfortable, low risk zoo environment would not be an undesirable alternative by comparison.


Good point, I never thought of it that way!


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