In early September, the student naturalist room gained a new snake friend.
“Hades is a Colombian red-tailed boa constrictor,” student naturalist teacher Joan Radacovich said.
“Hades is a Greek mythology figure, who is, I believe the God of the Underworld. So I think that’s why they gave Hades the name Hades.”
Hades originally lived in a former high school student’s home.
“She is now moving out of her parent’s house and has a lot of pets, and cannot take them all to her apartment”, Radockivich said. “So she went ahead and knew somebody else who got her in touch with us.”
Radokovich decided to go to the donor’s home and personally handle each snake deciding that Hades was the calmest snake.
“I actually interviewed Hades. I went over to the house and handled Hades and made sure Hades was not a biter,” Radokovich said. “And that’s how our class exists, is by people donating exotic pets.”
Every animal is male or female, but for Hades, gender is a bit of a mystery.
“They said male, but do I know for sure? No, because looking at a snake, they’re not sexually dimorphic,” Radkovich said. “Usually, you take ’em to a veterinarian and you have them sexed.”
The new reptilian friend can’t be measured in inches.
“Hades is, I’m going to guess about three, four feet,” Radokovich said. “He’s a relatively young snake and, he’s gonna continue to get, his girth is gonna increase and his life is gonna increase.”
With Hades being on the young side it is necessary for him to eat and grow.
“Hades eats rats, so mice are too small,” Radokivich said “She usually takes, or he usually takes a medium-sized rat.”