Live snake found in carry-on bag at the airport, owner says it’s for ‘emotional support’

Strictly no snakes on the plane! 

A woman tried to bring a 4-foot boa constrictor with her on a trip “for emotional support,” but her attempt didn’t turn out well. 

In a tweet on Saturday, Jan. 7, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein shared that the snake—named Bartholomew—was found in the traveler’s carry-on bag at the Tampa International Airport last month. 

“Woman claimed the snake was her emotional support pet. TSA notified the airline, which ruled that there was not going to be a snake on their plane!” she wrote. 

Snake on a plane? This is a @TSA X-ray of Bartholomew, a boa constrictor who was in a traveler's carry-on bag at @FlyTPA last month. Woman claimed the snake was her emotional support pet. TSA notified the airline, which ruled that there was not going to be a snake on their plane! pic.twitter.com/kSg6YeRluU

— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) January 6, 2023

For its part, the TSA later shared the same image of the woman’s bag on Instagram along with a myriad of puns in the caption. “Our officers at Tampa International Airport didn’t find this hyssssssterical! Coiled up in a passenger’s carry-on was a 4’ boa constrictor! We really have no adder-ation for discovering any pet going through an x-ray machine.” 

In the same post, the TSA highlighted the importance of understanding the airlines’ travel rules and restrictions.

“Do you have asp-irations of taking a snake on a plane? Don’t get upsetti spaghetti by not understanding your airline’s rules,” the TSA said, noting that airlines “don’t allow nope ropes in carry-on bags and only a few allow them to slither around in checked bags, if packaged correctly.” 

In November, a similar incident happened with a live orange cat, which was discovered inside a checked luggage at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York when it was put through the x-ray machine. It was freed before the suitcase was loaded into the airplane’s pressurized cargo hold.