NASHUA TELEGRAPH (New Hampshire) 29 November 08 Boa's life no crawl in a park (Julie Masis)

An 8-foot-long Brazilian boa constrictor needs a new home after being left out in the cold.

A Manchester pet store is selling the snake after it was picked up from a police station in Massachusetts, and its owner is facing charges of animal cruelty.

Police captured the reptile in a box in October after someone reported seeing it in the park, according to Police Chief Paul Thibodeau of Shirley, Mass.

They contacted Petland in Manchester after the Humane Society wouldn't drive up to get the snake, according to store manager William Sturgeon.

Sturgeon, who owns three snakes, including pythons, said this is the biggest boa constrictor he's ever seen.

"You want to be careful with something this size," he said. "You wouldn't want to leave it unattended with small children."

Sturgeon said that if no one buys it, he is considering adopting the reptile, which eats large rats. The store is selling the snake for $200, which covers the expenses from driving 52 miles to pick it up.

Sturgeon said he does not know if the snake, which he has not named yet, is male or female because there is no way of finding out without hurting it.

Meanwhile, police are still looking for the snake's former owner, David Cunningham, whose last known address is 26 Fredonian St. in Shirley.

According to Thibodeau, police identified Cunningham through a flier in a pizza shop with the reptile's photograph. The flier said the boa needed a new home and offered to sell it for cheap.

"We don't know where he is, but we have charges pending," Thibodeau said.

A hearing date for the cruelty charges has not yet been set.

While the police continue their search, the pet store will also continue its search for a good home for the snake.

There are no regulations about whom the snake can be sold to, and the store can't do background checks on the buyer, Sturgeon said. If the boa constrictor were abandoned again, however, it probably wouldn't harm anyone, he said.

"He wouldn't last very long. It's too cold," he said. "He'd freak some people out; that's all."
Boa's life no crawl in a park

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