Jill's Journal: ‘Treasure’ is in the eye of the beholder

What does a 10-foot Bermese python snake named “Treasure” eat?

If you ask me, anything it wants.

But according to a guy who knows a lot about snakes and lizards and frogs and turtles, that’s not exactly the case.

I learned that a whole lot more Saturday morning at a children’s program at the Brandon Community Library. The program featured Andrew Adam and just a small sampling of the many reptiles he has for his sideline business, Adam Reptile Adventure.

As Andrew talked, I got to thinking about the questions he was fielding from his attentive audience, a massive number of little ones who were fully invested in what he had to say and the creatures he was introducing them to.

“What does the snake eat?” one child asked?

My stomach turned as I recalled his response: “One jumbo rat two times a month.”

“Why don’t you feed it more?” followed up another curious youngster.

“If I did, it would grow faster,” he answered.

That seemed logical to me.

My eyes grew wide as he continued to talk about Treasure, who now weighs in the 30-pound range, but will grow to 16 to 18 feet in length and weigh more than 100 pounds.

“Oh, my,” I thought to myself. 

Then came the kicker.

“As she gets bigger, she will eat rabbits,” he said.

I hope that piece of information simply went in one ear of the kids and right out the other.

After all, the Easter Bunny isn’t far from hopping down the bunny trail.

Snakes, like Treasure, he shared, are native to Southeast Asia but can now be found in Florida. I learned the breed is the top predator of alligators.

I guess that could be good, unless you’re an alligator in Florida just minding your own business. 

After the program, Andrew invited every brave man, woman and child to get an up-close-and-personal introduction to a different snake, one that wasn’t 10 feet long and weighed in the 30-pound range. I witnessed some brave youngsters who were eager to drape it around their neck to smile for the camera. I also witnessed a few others who opted to keep their distance. 

I fell into the latter.

As they say, “‘Treasure’ is in the eye of the beholder. And my hands certainly were not “be-holding” any kind of “Treasure”.