Escaped boa Sheila found in San Carlos Park

Breath a sigh of relief San Carlos Park, Sheila is back at home.

The  6½-foot long boa constrictor that slipped out of her wood and wire enclosure in late September was found Tuesday night by a resident not far from owner Joseph Petaccio's home,

"The Lee County Sheriff's Office contacted me and said she was found," Petaccio said.

A resident across San Carlos Boulevard but on the same street as Petaccio pulled into his driveway and found the snake stretched out.

Sheila the boa remains missing in San Carlos Park neighborhood

"He had put a garbage can over the snake," Petaccio said. "They were were worried about her, but I just put my hand in the can and grabbed her."

Petaccio and his wife Amber were elated that Sheila was found.

"She was super skinny," he said. "But there are no marks on her."

He said it was a miracle Sheila was in good condition given that she had been on the loose for more than two months.

"She looks perfect," he said, "not aggressive.".

In September, Amber Petaccio  said she put the reptile back in her cage but forgot to snap a bottom lock and didn't notice the snake had gotten out until the next day.

"She just pushed her way out,"  Joseph Petaccio said, adding that there had been no sightings since then.

The area where the snake went missing was on Caloosa between Phlox Drive and Oriole Road.

Joseph Petraccio said Sheila had to have been hungry and he was planning on treating her to a large, frozen rat Wednesday.

"She's fed every two weeks or so," he said, adding she's only ever eaten frozen food which makes a less aggressive animal, he said.

Boa constrictors are non-venomous snakes with no fangs.

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