NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (AP) — A 13-foot (4-meter) Burmese python was confiscated from an upstate New York man who was keeping the still-growing snake in a small tank, authorities said.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation said it got a complaint about an illegally owned snake in New Hartford on Aug. 28.
Environment Conservation Police Officer Jeff Hull responded and found the snake in a 4-to-5-foot (1.2-to-1.5-meter) tank.
The snake weighed 80 pounds (36 kilos) and measured 13 feet 2 inches (4 meters) in length. It appeared to be in good health and was still growing, the Department of Environmental Conservation said in a news release.
The snake was relocated to the Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo in Rome, which has the state-required permits for such an animal, the agency said.
The snake's owner said he had not been prepared for how fast the snake would grow, the department said. He was ticketed for possessing wildlife as a pet and for possessing dangerous wildlife without a permit.
Burmese pythons are native to southeast Asia and have become popular pets in the United States. They are an invasive species in Florida, where they prey on native wildlife.
Burmese pythons can grow to be 16 feet (5 meters) long. The animal seized in New York, an albino Burmese python, was yellow with an arrowhead-like design on its head.
