Pythons, caiman among reptiles seized from Gatineau home

Gatineau police have turned a number of reptiles over to a local zoo after they were seized from an east-end home Thursday morning.

Police and animal control officers searched a home on rue Hup around 10 a.m. after receiving several complaints about exotic animals, according to a news release.

They ended up seizing ten animals in total :

• A 50-centimetre caiman, a crocodilian which can grow to be eight feet long and 300 pounds as an adult.
• A seven-and-a-half foot Burmese Python.
• Three boa constrictors ranging in size from five to over seven feet long.
• A three-and-a-half foot python.
• A green iguana.
• A bearded dragon.
• A snapping turtle, which is illegal to have in captivity.
• A pitbull-type dog, which police said the owner didnt have a license for.

Police said three of the snakes were loose in the apartment, not held in a terrarium as is required by law.

Officers had visited home before

Police said the owner, a 24-year-old man, wasnt there during the search.

Hes facing a number of fines for possessing non-venomous exotic animals which could be dangerous, keeping exotic animals without a terrarium and having an unlicensed pitbull.

Police said those offences are all fines of $100 plus costs and theres the potential for him to be charged under the wildlife act.

Gatineau bylawofficers had previously tried to inspect the apartment, according to the release, but they werent allowed inside.

That inspection followed a complaint that the man had left his home with a "massive snake" in his hands.

Gatineau police said the reptiles have been given to Little Rays Reptile Zoo in Ottawa.