A fat cobra that had a California neighborhood on edge for days this week was in custody at the Los Angeles Zoo on Friday.
The bite of this snake, a monocled cobra, can kill a person within hours if untreated. The poison in the snakes glands appeared intact, LA Zoo curator Ian Recchio said.
"There's no indication that it's had its venom glands removed," Recchio said.
The snake, about 3 feet long, was captured on Thursday in a neighborhood in Thousand Oaks, where it had been slithering around since at least Monday.
The snake injured a dog, according to a veterinarian, but the dog survived its injuries and got away.
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The snake was spotted Thursday by a driver who alerted a nearby news crew, and by Thursday evening the cobra was in the custody of the Los Angeles Zoo . Recchuo said the snake would be transferred to the San Diego Zoo, which has a supply of antivenom for Asian cobras.
A monocled cobra gets its name from the ring-like mark on the back of its hood, but the cobra found in California lacked the mark because it is nearly pure white.
The blue-eyed snake lacks pigment -- a condition known as leucism, Recchio said.
Recchio said the snake probably was raised in captivity because its color would make it an easy dinner for predators in the wild.
The snake is an adult and could be anywhere from 5 years to 20 years old, Recchio estimated. He said monocled cobras can grow to 5 or 6 feet and live two decades.
Recchio said the snake appears to be healthy and probably ate rats and mice while it was loose.
"It looks pretty fat," he said.
The zoo didn't try to determine the snake’s sex.
"We don't have the antivenom here so putting your hands on it wouldn't be in the cards," he explained.
Cobras are illegal in California without a permit to keep one for scientific or educational purposes. Authorities are searching for the owner.
There is a thriving black-market trade around the world in exotic and dangerous wildlife but Recchio said he couldn't understand the motivation of the owner.
"I can't get into the person's head who would put their neighbors and their family at risk," he said.
Snakes aren't aggressive but will bite if they are cornered, so it's a good thing that the cobra will have a new home at the San Diego Zoo, Recchio said.
"I'm looking at an animal that's over-the-top, nervous, just wants to get away from you and settle down," he said. "So I'm happy it's going to be in a place ... where it'll be safe."
AP contributed to this report.
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