Mall snake found ‘alive and well’ after missing for days

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Cara the Burmese python is headed back to her habitat in the Mall of Louisiana after being cleared by the medical team at the LSU Veterinary School.

The 12-ft snake garnered national and internet attention when she went missing from her habitat at the

say Cara, the 12-foot Burmese python who went missing earlier this week, has been discharged from their care and is headed back to her home at the Blue Zoo Baton Rouge in the Mall of Louisiana.

UPDATE: Blue Zoo Baton Rouge has confirmed that Cara, a 12-foot Burmese python, that went missing earlier this week inside the Mall of Louisiana, has been found ‘alive and well’, according to managers.

The snake was found inside of a wall in the mall around 3:30 a.m. July 8.

In a Facebook post Thursday morning, Blue Zoo confirmed that Cara had been located. The aquarium also posted video footage of the moments the python was pulled from a crawl space.

We couldn’t be more excited to share with you that the search is over! Cara has been found, safe and healthy! More details to come!

Managers of Blue Zoo Baton Rouge say the python is currently being checked out by a doctors and staff at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Cara, the 150-pound elusive mall snake, was missing for nearly 30 hours before the incident was reported to authorities, records released Wednesday afternoon show.

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The 12-foot Burmese python was housed inside a glass enclosure inside a business called “Blue Zoo.” That business is located inside a former Hollister clothing store at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.

Managers there called East Baton Rouge Animal Control just after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning to ask for helping in finding the snake.

After news broke of the search for Cara, multiple people on social media said the snake was not in its enclosure when they visited the store Monday.

The store remained closed for a second day Wednesday as the search for the snake continued.

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Workers there said Wednesday they have evidence showing the snake was in their ceiling at some point. They called in plumbers and an air-conditioning company to assist in their search.

Managers at the Mall of Louisiana said they are helping in the search.

“We were informed by Blue Zoo that they are unable to locate a non-poisonous snake which is normally housed with their reptile exhibit,” said Lindsay Kahn, a spokesperson for the Mall of Louisiana. “The popular reptile often participates in guest demonstrations and is frequently handled by children and adults. We are assisting Blue Zoo and working with local officials and reptile experts for her safe return. She poses no threat to the community at this time and we hope to have her back in her exhibit quickly.”

Managers posted the following message to their Facebook page Wednesday morning:

Friends, while our day and night search for Cara continues, we want to give you a quick update. We’ve brought in multiple snake experts to assist in the search, in addition to an animal tracker that is working with us throughout the evening and overnight. Local firefighters and police searched with us for several hours during the day yesterday. We’ve purchased night vision cameras to see more difficult areas, in addition to multiple motion sensor cameras. We’ve hired a company using infrared, additionally, local plumbing and HVAC companies continue to snake cameras throughout all possible openings and small areas. We have heat and food sources to draw her in as well and have a veterinarian on standby. Additionally, our Animal Care and Guest Relations Teams have been amazing, working day and night. We all love Cara and their dedication and passion for her return is evident. We have seen evidence of Cara moving within our ceiling space, which has many places for her to hide. We continue our search for Cara and remain voluntarily closed today for her safety. We’ll keep you updated here.

“I didn’t see no snake. ain’t nobody making a big fuss about it. Like if it was really a big thing, they would tell all these people to leave,” said Dyllan Graham, shopper at the mall.

“I believe it’s somewhere probably in Foot Locker. I’m not going to lie to you, somewhere in Foot Locker probably,” said Jonathan Triplett, shopper at the mall.

“Because they can move very long distances. They can move several miles in a day, if they wanted too. My guess is that she’s probably hunkered down and waiting things out,” said Dr. Austin, director of LSU’s Museum of Natural Science.

Dr. Chris Austin is a curator or specialist when it comes to amphibians and reptiles over at LSU.

“First of all it’s non-venomous. So these are non venomous snakes. All reptiles in fact are ectothermic, so that means they derive their temperature form the environment around them. The old sort of term for that is cold blooded. And so, I suspect right now, in an air conditioned mall, she is looking for a place to warm up. I would probably put out some infra-red lamps and maybe some heating pads, that she may be able to sense and find and warm up,” said Dr. Austin.

Austin says snakes like Cara are especially good at hide and seek..

But he still thinks she may be near the Blue Zoo, for now at least.

“My guess is she’s somewhere pretty near her enclosure. She’s probably pretty upset she’s not in her enclosure, because her enclosure gave her an area to warm up, cool down, to drink water etc. But the longer she remains on the loose, means that she’ll move further and further away, probably looking for an environment that’s warmer than the air conditioned mall,” said Dr. Austin.

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