July2014_OLD MILL VET SURGERY PET OF THE MONTH

Basil’s Big Adventure

Any visitor to the Old Mill Animal Hospital will have met our resident Spotted Children’s Python, Basil.  She (yes, Basil’s a ‘she’!) can usually be found sprawled out on her log in the afternoons, or curled up around her heat lamp on chilly mornings.  Love them or hate them, snakes are curious characters with intelligence far greater than you’d probably expect.  To prove this point, one Sunday morning Basil noticed that her glass doors had been wedged open slightly by her freshly-cut branches, leaving a teeny tiny gap to the outside world. 

 

Never one to let an opportunity to explore pass her by, Basil squeezed out of the tiny gap and went on an adventure.  Judging by the tick and flea products thrown onto the floor, she spent the first part of her day browsing the shelves.  It is unclear where she visited after that, but the Old Mill team spent much of Monday searching high and low for the elusive Basil.

We eventually concluded she must have made a run (slither?) for the outside world and gave up hope of finding her again. We did however leave her heat lamp on and her bed set up in case she decided to come home as the days got cooler. 

We had still not seen or heard her anywhere, until the Thursday when Ashli had trouble with the printer on the reception desk.  Nothing seemed to work to get the paper to load, until she pulled the paper tray out to reveal one very snoozy Basil cuddling up to the warmth of the printer! Completely unharmed but a little thirsty, Basil sauntered back to her enclosure and has strictly supervised visits outside now. We have also added a new locking system, so she can no longer try to join in with the office work!