“We are very happy to have her back and it is thanks to the publicity in the media,” said the relieved owners of Jenga, the albino boa constrictor snake who was found in a pet shop in the Dublin area.
The family had given interviews and used social media to alert other animal lovers to her being unique and let them know that she was in fact stolen from their home near Duleek, county Meath in the middle of the night.
“She was gone for a week but it seems she was in the pet shop for most of that time so she is in okay condition,” said Joanna Lynch (26) said.
She and partner Darren Ryan (30) had said that if their six-foot long pet was returned, "we will ask no questions and we have kept to that".
They were alerted by an anonymous phone call yesterday from a man who said he had bought the snake for €100 but had then sold her on as his girlfriend did not like her.
The snake had gone to a pet shop and both Darren and Joanne went to the shop yesterday and retrieved her.
They say the owner of the shop told them he had not been aware that an albino boa constrictor had been stolen and had not seen the newspaper reports or heard any of their radio interviews.
"I don't think she was stolen to order and whoever did take her clearly had no idea about what is involved in caring for snakes. I said no questions asked and so it," Ms Lynch.
The family had feared that Jenga would perish if she had not been kept in the correct temperature of 30 degrees or cared for properly as she is shedding.
She believes that it was the national publicity that resulted in Jenga being safely recovered. “I want to say a big thank you to everyone who shared our story and read our story. We are very happy to have her back. All the publicity worked and Kai (3) is very happy to be able to look at her in her tank again.”