Chuo Chia-yi, a recent graduate from Tainan’s Chang Jung Christian University, became a campus celebrity by keeping pythons as pets. He has been interested in snakes since fifth grade and only keeps imported species which he considers works of art.
Chuo’s family live in Pingtung, on Taiwan’s southern tip. When he went to university he couldn’t find a roommate because of his habit of keeping unusual pets. At the moment, he has 18 pythons in his room. The snakes have become his friends and keep him company when he feels lonely at school.
Chou keeps many species of pythons in his dormitory, including ball pythons, carpet pythons, Timor pythons, Kenyan sand boas, Pueblan milk snakes and Mexican black king snakes. He doesn’t receive an allowance from his parents. Instead, he works part-time after class to earn money to buy food for his pythons.
Chuo obtained his first snake, a Garter snake, as a fifth grader by exchanging it for 20 little scorpions. Ever since then he’s been in love with these reptiles. His strange passion for pythons hasn’t diminished and he works hard to provide them with hearty meals.
In order to satisfy the voracious appetite of his unusual pets, Chuo breeds his own food for them. This is why there are more than 200 guinea pigs and as many as 4,000 imported cockroaches in his room. It is clear from the amount of food he keeps in reserve that he is attentive to his pets.
His family used to be against his special pet preference, but the more they object, the more snakes he gets, and they have now given up trying to change his ways.
He keeps pythons not because they’re fashionable or that he wants to show off, but because he likes the different patterns on their skin, and he appreciates them as works of art.
There are many bites on Chuo’s hands, but his pythons are not venomous, so there’s no danger in being bitten. “At most, there would just be some blood. I don’t care about the pain,” said Chuo. Despite the pain, Chuo is still in love with the wild beauty of these living works of art.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
長榮大學畢業的卓佳逸以飼養寵物蟒蛇在學校出名。他自從小學五年級起，便以蛇為寵物，並且只鍾情於紋路變化多的洋蛇，將他們當成藝術品看待。
卓佳逸家在屏東，到長榮唸書必須住校，卻一直找不到室友，因為他的特殊癖好就是飼養寵物蛇，房間內多達十八條，如朋友般陪伴，出外求學的歲月不寂寞。
宿舍內珍藏的寶貝，包含各類球蟒、地毯蟒、帝汶蟒、肯亞砂蚺、直線雪花、柏布拉奶蛇與墨西哥黑王蛇等，不向家人伸手的卓佳逸，利用課餘打工賺錢，只為了供養這些寵物蛇。
卓佳逸小學五年級時用自己飼養的二十隻小蠍子，換得一條襪帶蛇，從此愛上這種寵物類的長蟲，怪異的興趣持續迄今，熱情不減，甚至還要辛苦地為寶貝們準備豐富的餐點。
為了讓蛇類隨時可以飽餐一頓，卓佳逸自行繁殖牠們的食物，房間內有多達兩百隻的白老鼠及四千隻進口蟑螂等，庫存量之大，顯見他對這些寶貝的用心。
家人對卓佳逸的特殊癖好起初也不贊成，但反對愈烈，養得就更多，最後只好隨他興趣發展。
不趕流行，也並非為了炫耀，卓佳逸喜歡收養的原因，是寵物蛇的紋路變化多樣，當成藝術品欣賞、呵護。
儘管手上有多處被咬噬的傷口，但卓佳逸養的蛇都沒有毒性，安全無虞，「頂多流點血，皮肉之痛，還好啦」，就是因為充滿野性美，讓他對這種活體藝術品，狂戀不已。（自由時報記者吳俊鋒）
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