Snake King Farm, an educational resort in Tainan’s Guijen District (歸仁) devoted to snakes, on Wednesday took advantage of the natural drowsiness snakes experience in cold weather to give its resident reticulated python a bath.
The python has been at the establishment for more than 26 years, resort manager Huang Ku-nan (黃國男) said, adding that while it has been a major attraction, trying to keep it clean has been a significant challenge.
Most parasites that live on the python tend to burrow between its scales, which requires handlers to submerge it in a pool for a medicated bath, Huang said, adding that the snake is not always amenable to such a procedure and that the resort lacks the space to build a pool specifically for such use.
As such, the resort was left with only one option: dragging the python out of its enclosure and rubbing it down, Huang said.
The snake keeper secured the python’s head to prevent it from biting staff while it was dragged out of its pen, Huang said, adding that after they were sure the snake was properly secured, they rubbed it down with insect repellent.
It took about 15 minutes and the python’s cooperation to rub repellent all over it, Huang said, adding that moving the snake in and out of its enclosure proved to be quite arduous.
The application of the repellent was aimed at ridding the python of fleas, which, if left unattended, would grow to significant numbers, leaving the snake weak and with no appetite due to blood loss, Huang said, adding that pythons have been killed in severe cases of flea infestations.
The resort’s python is 6m long and weighs about 16kg, Huang said.
Wild reticulated pythons are historically very dangerous and have been known to eat humans alive, especially in Southeast Asia, Huang said, adding that the longest recorded python was 17m.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS