Exotic pet snakes found in Mill Creek; Reptile Zoo to close in October

Last month, a maintenance team discovered four baby ball pythons thousands of miles away from their natural habitat in a local nature preserve in Mill Creek.

Ball pythons are native to Africa and are not part of the local ecosystem in Washington. The four snakes were likely abandoned pets.

“I do have a phobia I can share with you: toilet snakes,” KIRO host Jake Skorheim shared. “Does anybody else have that phobia? Here’s a little peek behind the curtain of my relationship with Dori Monson. Every time he would see a story anywhere in the world about a snake in a toilet or even just an image that popped up where a snake was in a toilet, he would send it to me. He continued this for years, and every time it scared the heck out of me, but it was also hilarious, so I had to give him credit for that.”

Ball pythons are non-venomous and typically range from 2-4.5 feet in length, and can live anywhere from 15-30 years. According to KOMO News, only two of the four ball pythons survived by the time they were located and taken into a preserve.

“I hate snakes and I still feel bad,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said.

“Me too. I had that same feeling,” Jake added. “I was conflicted because I hate them. I hate snakes, and still I felt bad for them because they didn’t ask for this.”

Ball pythons are not native to any location in the U.S., yet have thrived in the Everglades, which is a real problem in Florida, because they are eating all of the native species.

“Somebody had these as pets and either moved out of the area and didn’t want to take them with them, or just decided they were a hassle, so they dumped these four baby ball pythons,” Jake said. “Actually, probably what happened was a mama snake had some babies, they didn’t want to take care of them, so they dumped these ball pythons.”

According to Scott Petersen, a local exotic animal care expert, ball pythons have become the most popular pet snake in the U.S.

Currently, the snakes are being held at the Reptile Zoo in Monroe, but they will eventually be rehomed.

Reptile Zoo in Monroe to close

Unfortunately, Oct. 18 will be the last day the Reptile Zoo will be open to the public, the organization announced on its website. The zoo was run and operated by Peterson and his son.

“They encourage visitors to get the word out and visit while they’re still in operation, but it’s going to go away,” Jake said. “They just never recovered after COVID. People didn’t want to go in as much.”

“I know he used to have a business where [Peterson] would bring these reptiles to schools,” Spike said. “My kids had the Reptile Man come through.”

“As much as I hate snakes, it’s a cool spot to go,” Jake stated. “He’s got, I think, an albino alligator up there. You can see all these cool reptiles.”

“Maybe he makes a really weepy video in the front seat of his car and appeals to Jeff Bezos or Kourtney Kardashian,” Spike added.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.