A 29-year-old security guard, Yang Chun-hsiang (楊鈞祥), has been causing a stir by taking his pet python on his walks around Hsinchu County.
Yang said he often watched live-streams of snake owners and their pets, but he had never actually seen a live snake until the beginning of last year, when he attended a gathering of snake owners who had met online.
That gathering triggered an interest in snakes and he began researching keeping a python as a pet.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
Yang said he does not want his snake to be locked up in a box in his room all the time, so whenever he has a rest day, he goes for nighttime walks with his snake in empty areas near his home.
The most frequent question he gets asked is whether his snake is poisonous, he said.
Many people believe that snakes with triangular heads are poisonous, but he makes the distinction by looking at the snake’s teeth, he said, adding that snakes with tube-like fangs are typically poisonous.
A growing number of people in Taiwan are keeping snakes as pets, Yang said.
The physical appearance of snakes scares people, but most of them are harmless, he said.
Snakes are just like other creatures; they only exhibit aggressive or defensive behavior when they are under attack or when their life is threatened, he said.
Even though snakes do not interact with humans the way dogs do, they are still unique creatures, Yang added.
The Hsinchu County Agriculture Department reminded pet owners that they must obey the relevant laws and guidelines.
When pet owners take their pets outside, they are responsible for their pets, the Hsinchu County Animal Disease Control Center said.
Pets that cause injury to the life, body, freedom or property of others could be confiscated, the center added.
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