Sickly snake slithers into Princeton elementary school classroom

<p>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 &ldquo;Zeus,&rdquo; on Tuesday.</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 27, 2017, 8:52 PM

Updated 2,702 days ago

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Sickly snake slithers into Princeton elementary school classroom
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.