Snakes at daycare? One Humble parent is upset

HUMBLE, TX (KTRK) -- They're invited guests to a daycare in Humble -- snakes. But one parent thought the reptiles put the children at risk.

It was a photo of a python held by a smiling 5-year-old boy that sent his mother into a fit of rage.

"The snake was actually draped around our children's necks, our children's waists," she said. "I was livid. I was beside myself because I cannot believe what I was seeing."

The mother was a whistle-blower and does not want us to identify her or her child. The python was brought in for a spring break presentation at a Kids r Kids facility in Humble.

The flyer advertised the snakes were coming.

"We gave the parents the information 30 days ahead of time the schedule of events that will take place during spring break," said Todd Olges with Kids r Kids. "And we did not hear any kind of questions regarding that presentation."

The flyer mentioned nothing about kids getting a hands-on experience with the snakes. But they did.

The snake handlers were professionals.

"This is a company that has had 15 years experience in the business," said Olges. "They are professionals. They do between 400 and 500 presentations a year in preschools have all kinds."

Yet, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, children at child care facilities are not allowed to handle reptiles and a short list of other animals.

Olges said he was in compliance with the rule, since it was a contractor who brought in the snakes.

"I feel that we have upheld the spirit of it in that we are not going out," he said. "It's not as if I'm going out to the wooded areas behind my facility to go find snakes."

Just a day after that interview, and after we began asking questions to CPS, investigators paid Olges a visit and cited him for letting children handle the snakes.

"That snake constricts. That snake could have done something really serious to my child and the other children that were there," said the mother.

CPS told us the rule isn't about safety so much. It's about the possibility of the snakes spreading disease.