Missing Albino Snake Found In Ceiling Right Above Baby’s Crib

A snake that climbed out of its cage last year apparently didn’t slither too far from its owner’s Spokane Valley apartment.

The 2-foot albino king snake poked its head out of a hole in the ceiling of an apartment three doors down from its owner’s unit Thursday afternoon, startling the tenant whose 22-month old son was asleep in a crib directly underneath the hole from which the snake emerged.

“We almost stampeded each other trying to get out that door,” said Jamye Shollenberger, who lives in the apartment. “We couldn’t get out fast enough.”

Firefighters called to Shollenberger’s apartment near the corner of Sprague Avenue and Bowdish Road, deferred to county animal control officers. Animal control officers called in a reptile specialists to remove the pet snake.

“They’ve been up here awhile,” said Traci Williams of Reptile Rescue. “There’s a nest up here.”

The snake reportedly pushed the lid off of its cage sometime before last November’s ice storm, and slithered away with another snake. Neither had been seen until Thursday. The second snake still has not been found.

“If there’s two missing they most likely will travel together,” Williams said.

The albino snake, which is docile and friendly to humans, appeared to have been eating well, and was in good health, Williams said.

“There’s probably not a mouse in this building,” joked firefighter Patrick Larive.

Reptile Rescue was holding the snake until the owner could be found, said Nancy Sattin, county animal control director. It will be returned to its owner when an inspection of its cage is completed, she said.

The owner, who was not home when his snake was rescued, does not face any charges, Sattin said.

Shollenberger suspects the snake may have crawled in through duct work or holes in the walls of the run-down apartment building.

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