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MSU sophomore breeds and raises pet snakes

November 11, 2014

Undecided sophomore Alex Moon describes his snakes and demonstrates what, and how, he feeds them

Photo by Meagan Beck | The State News

In the apartment, shared with his brother, Moon houses 10 python snakes with different genes – butters, cinnamons, and normal pythons to name a few.

The snakes are kept in clean, open plastic tubs and glass terrariums in the living room and Moon’s bedroom.

His interest in snakes came about in March 2014 when his cousin had a project involving snakes. The pair are now “business partners,” selling snakes.

Of the snakes, Moon is looking to sell five, ranging in price from $50 to $400 — his cousin houses more snakes which could sell for $2,000.

For Moon, having pet snakes is easier than other animals because he said they are cheaper to feed and prefer to be left alone.

“They’re not needy. They don’t give a sh** if I pick them up or not,” Moon said. “They’re great wingmen and wing-ladies — I get attention and phone numbers.”

Moon feeds the snakes on rats and mice he gets from pet stores or other suppliers.

Over the summer, Moon could be spotted walking up and down Grand River Avenue with a snake draped around him.

On two occasions, Moon said he walked into American Apparel with one of his larger snakes named Victoria, a jungle carpet python, wrapped around his neck.

He went up to the cashier and said Victoria makes a “pretty cute necklace,” but he wanted to return “it” — referring to the snake.

“I was hoping to catch a clerk that’s not paying attention, writing some papers, and then she’d look up and see a snake and maybe sh** herself,” Moon said.

Unfortunately, Moon said both times have been unsuccessful, but the prank could happen a third time.

Since Moon sells some of his snakes, he also breeds the reptile and jokingly said the process involves “lighting some candles and letting them listen to Marvin Gaye.”

“First of all, you normally isolate the snakes.They’re non-communal: they don’t like to live together,” Moon said. “You put the male and female in the same enclosure briefly and wait for them to link up.”

The time it takes for a snake egg to hatch can take anywhere from 55 days to two months.

Since Moon houses and cares for a pet other people might find uncommon, he said people will call him names and he gets rude comments for having snakes as pets, but the comments don’t matter to him.

“I don’t really care what people think, it’s just fun to me,” Moon said.

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