Before you assume we’ve misspelled something in the headline, let us explain! Mitey is a gorgeous Rosy Boa and a new addition to Splash’s Critterville room, which houses our animal ambassadors that assist us with our education programs. This beautiful snake is named Mitey because, when we acquired it, it had reptile mites, a rather common parasite of snakes and other reptiles, especially those obtained through the pet trade.
Most of the animals that live in Critterville are species that are native to northern California’s vernal pool grassland habitat. The majority of them have come to Splash via animal rescue organizations because the animal was sick, injured, or previously kept in captivity. Most of these animals are unreleasable and wouldn’t be able to survive on their own in the wild. So, we take great care of them at Splash and use them for educational purposes. Mitey, the Rosy Boa, is a rare exception to those rules.
Although Rosy Boas are native to California, in the wild, they are only found in the very southern part of the state, and not in association with vernal pools. They’re typical of desert areas in San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties. Also, Mitey is a captively bred Rosy Boa that was purchased and donated to Splash, whereas our other animals in Critterville came to Splash because we would provide the unreleasable, rescue animals with wonderful care.
So, why did we get Mitey?
We needed another snake to have in Critterville that we could handle and present to students visiting on their field trips. Additionally, we often take a snake to tabling events in the region so people can meet and touch a snake, which is a new experience for many folks! If people are afraid of snakes, the best way to help them overcome their fear is to introduce them to a small, gentle, friendly, and handleable snake – like Mitey! We also have a Pacific Gopher Snake (Duke) and a California Kingsnake (Beansprout) that we use as animal ambassadors, but we like to rotate their use so none of them get over-handled.
Splash’s Critter Keeper, Lu-Anne Spencer Hartle, was on the lookout for another unreleasable snake that was native to the northern California region, but the wildlife rescue organizations had nothing available to adopt. So, through a friend, Lu-Anne was able to personally purchase this beautiful, captive-bred Rosy Boa at a really good price and donate it to Splash. Thank you, Lu-Anne!
Lu-Anne kept Mitey at her home for about 6 weeks, away from the other reptile residents in Critterville, while she treated the snake to eliminate the reptile mites. Reptile mites can transfer very easily from animal to animal, so it was imperative to eliminate them entirely before introducing Mitey to Critterville. It takes an eagle-eye to spot these tiny parasites but, upon final inspection, it was determined that Mitey was mite free!
Mitey is still very young and just a little over 12 inches. We don’t know for sure whether Mitey is a male or female Rosy Boa because the only way to tell for sure is with a rather invasive probe of the snake. Rosy Boas can grow up to 3 feet in length and can live over 30 years in captivity! We look forward to working with Mitey in Critterville for many years!
When asked what it’s like to be an animal ambassador in Splash’s Critterville room, Mitey responded, “I’m really excssssssited to be part of the Ssssssplash team! Everybody here is ssssssooo nice and the baby mice they’re feeding me are abssssssolutely delicious! I love visiting with the sssssstudents too!”
Welcome to Critterville, Mitey!