A sickly snake that slithered into a classroom at a New Jersey elementary school has been turned over to a rescue center.

Third-graders at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton found the 4-foot-long boa constrictor, which they named “Zeus,” on Tuesday.

Principal Valerie Ulrich said Zeus appeared to have been a pet and was not in ideal health when he was found. He was removed from Megan Reilly’s third-grade classroom and placed safely into a container in Mark Eastburn’s science classroom.  

The students are taking care of a female boa named "Cuddles,” and Eastburn believes Cuddles' scent might have attracted the stray boa from a home in the neighborhood.

“In all my years in education, I have never before encountered this particular situation,” Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane said. “You might think that the students would be terrified by finding a snake in their classroom. Instead, a likely terrified snake was lucky enough to find a compassionate class of third- graders.”

Princeton’s Department of Animal Control picked up Zeus from Riverside Elementary on Wednesday morning and will be working with Scales and Tails Exotic Pet Rescue in Randolph to find a new home for the snake.