The owner of a deadly zebra cobra that escaped in a north Raleigh neighborhood last summer is speaking out for the first time since he was hit with more than 40 misdemeanor charges.
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Chris Gifford, now 22, a TikTok-famous snake handler, was forced to surrender more than 75 of his reptiles and pay hefty fines as north Raleigh collectively held their breath while authorities searched for the deadly spitting snake.
The days-long frenzy ended after the zebra cobra was spotted on a front porch in a community off Leesville Road.
"To know that an animal you were supposed to take responsibility of, and due to your mistake and not making a call, is out ... I was in tears," Gifford said. "What I learned is you make the call, you keep yourself accountable, which I didn’t do."
Gifford pled guilty in court to not alerting authorities when his African zebra cobra escaped from its confinement in November 2020. That means it was loose for months without the community's knowledge.
"I love these animals, and I can share these animals on social media," he said. "It’s fascinating to some people. Some people are terrified."
Before temporarily deleting his account during the zebra cobra frenzy of summer 2021, Gifford boasted nearly half a million followers on TikTok. His account is now back up, with 535,700 followers and nearly 7 million cumulative likes, according to TikTok.
Gifford said he decided to speak with WRAL Investigates not to change minds about ownership of venomous snakes, but to explain to the community what happened and why he didn’t report the escape.
"I was young and terrified. I still am young and terrified about the whole situation," Gifford, now 22, said.
How the zebra cobra escaped
He purchased two African zebra cobras in November 2020 to add to his collection of snakes.
"These guys were eight, nine inches. Really small guys," he said.
Gifford put them in separate, temporary enclosures as part of a standard quarantine process so they wouldn’t spread disease to other snakes.
But he said that didn't last long.
When he came back the next morning to check on the enclosures where the deadly snakes were — one was missing.
"Just this giant, 'Oh crap' moment," he said.
After a quick search, he noticed that one container wasn't latched closed properly.
"That's something that I should have 100%, full-blown checked," he said.
Gifford said that's when the panic took over.
"Immediately, just frantic searching. Checking everything and everywhere," he said.
He was confident that the snake was somewhere in his parents’ basement because of the safety measures he and his father put in place.
They closed off any entrance or hole they could find using wired grates and foam sealant.
Those safety measures were required by his parents when he started collecting venomous snakes.
"We had to fool-proof that room first for me to have everything," he said.
After Gifford and his father removed every enclosure from basement, they found a small hole in the wall "the size of a pen" that was previously used to have an ethernet cable running through it. That hole was never sealed off.
"That hole went into the crawlspace and into the drywall," Gifford said. "If anything, that was a sign of relief, because this thing's not going anywhere. It's still in the house."
With little comfort knowing a venomous, spitting cobra was loose in his home, the Giffords took more steps.
"At this point we had bombed the basement with chemicals, set up cameras. That’s when the discussion comes up about reporting," he said.
Gifford said he convinced both himself and his parents that they didn't need to report the zebra cobra to the proper authorities.
Because the zebra cobra was native to Africa, Gifford believed it wouldn't survive North Carolina's cold temperatures.
"I was scared," he admitted. "I convinced them that I don't think we need to make this call."
Animal control comes knocking
A January snowfall and 50 nights at or below freezing over the next couple of months eased anxiety at the Gifford family home.
Then, June came around, and animal control came to visit. Gifford thought that this was a routine check on his snakes, and had no reason to believe they were there looking for the cobra that had escaped months earlier.
The officers searched his home and then revealed the real reason for the visit.
"She pulls out her phone, and low and behold it is a picture, for sure, it is the zebra spitting cobra, which has now grown about 5 to 8 inches," Gifford said. "She goes, 'This was found about three streets over.’ She asked me, ‘Is this snake yours?'”
Gifford said out of fear, he lied to her, and said he didn't know whose snake was in the photo.
"I was petrified. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared. I didn’t know what the precautions would be," he said. "And none of this was an excuse. Immediately I said I have no idea."
Soon after she left, Gifford’s conscience took over.
"I need to take heat for this. I messed up big time," he recalled feeling at the time. "I immediately called her, she came back to the house, and I gave her the full story."
Gifford faces a judge
Gifford was ordered to turn over $35,000 worth of snakes to the county and pay $13,162 in restitution for, among other things, the police and EMS response to capture the loose snake. The snakes will be used for cancer research and anti-venom development.
Gifford also promised not to possess any other snakes for a year.
As a result of the community-wide panic, the city of Raleigh instituted a new dangerous animal ordinance aimed at stopping ownership of animals like Gifford's.
Reflecting on what happened, he understands it was small price to pay for a big mistake.
"It was on a lady’s porch. Imagine if a little kid or something of that nature had happened?" he said looking back at what could have happened.
Gifford has a simple message for the Raleigh community he put in danger: He's sorry.
"Mostly this is just an apology because there are no excuses for what happened," he said.
Gifford’s court-imposed ban on owning venomous snakes expires in August. He said he does plan to get back into the snake ownership business at some point, but not at his parents' house.