Qurratu A’in Rohaminordin, 27, said that her job as manager of the Melaka Butterfly & Reptile Sanctuary (MBRS) requires that she always be on guard when dealing with the reptiles in her care. And she said that when it comes to snakes, one should never be too confident.
Armed with a degree in animal resource science and management from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Qurratu A’in said that never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d end up working with snakes on a daily basis. It was something even her family found hard to accept initially.
“They felt it was too extreme for a girl. But with help from my employer and colleagues – and the knowledge I gained – they are starting to accept it,” she said.
She cares for over 30 snake species at the sanctuary and sometimes has to handle an injured or moody snake that might bite her. Still, she loves her job immensely.
In fact, Qurratu A’in is on a mission to debunk existing falsehoods about snakes.
She said one prevailing myth is that all snakes are venomous and must be killed, especially if they enter the house. “But if we know how to identify a snake, it can be safely removed,” she said.
“I would like society, and especially women, to gain basic knowledge about snakes. There’s no single way to handle an encounter with a snake. The most important thing is not to panic.”
She also warned against hitting a snake that entered your home as this would make the snake feel threatened and it will likely strike you. And should the worst happen and you are bitten, do not tie a knot around the area near the snakebite. “Go straight to the hospital instead,” she said.
Also try to snap a picture of the snake for ease of identification and treatment. “The key thing to remember is that snakes won’t bite unless they feel threatened. When a snake enters the home, it’s normally because its habitat, like the jungle, has been destroyed by humans,” she said.
Snake department head, Athirah Faiqah Md Wahi, 25, said one of her most thrilling experiences since joining MBRS in October 2021 was caring for a hypo champagne Burmese python.
“I never thought I would get the chance to care for it because the species can’t be found in Asia. Not only is it unique because of its size, but also its high price of up to US$5,000.
In conjunction with World Snake Day last week, MBRS is inviting the public to its month-long line-up of programmes to learn about Malaysia’s snakes that are threatened by habitat loss.
An albino Burmese python named Bella is the main attraction, said Athirah, after 35 albino and one black baby python hatched from her clutch of eggs on July 11.
“It’s our biggest success after we got Bella and her mate, Snow, an albino granite Burmese python. Both weigh around 100kg. A clutch of 40 eggs was produced after an unsuccessful attempt before this,” she said.
Visitors can also view seven of the world’s deadliest snakes, including the ular kapak (viper) and king cobra, and immerse in interactive programmes such as ‘New Skin New Me’ about how snakes shed their skin and ‘Hissing Story’ about the negative effects of unbridled logging on the survival of snakes in the wild.