Maria Venture, a digital influencer with more than 6 million followers, began her career on the internet in 2015, when she started posting videos on her YouTube channel, which today also has more than 6 million subscribers.In addition to being an influencer, the young woman works as an actress and has already taken part in the reality show “On Vacation With the Ex: Celebs” in 2022.
In addition to her media career, Maria is also known for her love of animals. She is the guardian of Frederico, a snake royal python, and three disabled puppies – Catarina, Antônio and Janaína – rescued in recent years.
Frederico, the python
Having been looking after the exotic pet for three years, the actress says she doesn’t force anyone to interact with the animal, but always makes a point of explaining a little about living with the species.
To Canal do Pet, she tells us that she bought the snake after being attracted by the possibility of having the reptile as a pet
“It all came about with a trial, when a friend commented to me about a colleague of his who had a pet snake. I was incredulous and started researching snakes every night,” she reveals
She emphasizes that Frederico was bought from a legal breeding ground where, according to the law, only non-venomous snakes can be purchased.
“He [Fred] came here to my house from Curitiba and he arrived with all the documentation, I have a folder with everything you need to have a snake as a pet,” she says.
Veterinarian Maria Ângela Paneli, who treats exotic animals, such as snakes, explains that in order to raise a python, care must be taken with the location and feeding the animal.
For the location, she points out that a terrarium with temperature regulation is necessary. “It has the right container for it, usually a dry aquarium […] always well sealed, because it can get through any little hole,” she warns.
In the terrarium, she indicates the presence of a temperature gauge, a heater and somewhere for the snake to cool off. “You have to have a humidity meter with the right heat. It’s even good to have a stone or a rug that heats up, so that it can change places whenever it wants,” he adds.
There is also special care for feeding, which can be done with small slaughtered animals, such as chicks or rats.
“Feeding, depending on age, [can be] weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bimonthly. It depends a lot [also] on the size of the animal.”
“Always be careful not to pick up the food first, because the food smells on your hand. So, [if] you pick up a little mouse and go to pick up the snake, it will smell the mouse on your hand and will [want to] bite,” warns the expert.
Maria Venture says she takes these precautions carefully. “A daily care is to always keep his terrarium humid, spraying water on the plants so that the environment is suitable, and he [Frederico] loves it,” she says. “He [Fred] has a life outside the terrarium too, I have a yard with lots of greenery and I always take Fred for a walk,” adds the actress.
The influencer also tells of an unusual event she experienced with the pet during one of her walks in the yard. “The most unusual event was during one of his walks around the yard. He tried to get into the gutter. When I realized, he had half his body sticking out,” she says.
“I held him tight and after a few minutes, when he stopped struggling, I carefully pulled him out of the gutter. In the end everything worked out, but during the situation I felt very desperate, because if he went completely in I would have to call in professionals to rescue him”, she adds.
The puppies Catarina, Antônio and Janaína
Catarina is a docile puppy with a brown and black coat. The difference between her and the other dogs is that she doesn’t have one of her hind legs, which reduced her chances of being adopted.
Antônio, a white-coated dog, has coxofemoral dysplasia, a genetic condition that causes a lot of pain in the femur joint. He was abandoned by his former family and rescued from the street, where he was being mistreated.
Janaína, a caramel mongrel, no longer lives with Maria, and is at the home of one of the influencer’s uncles, with all expenses borne by her.
The pet was rescued with rickets, a condition that causes weakened bones, and with a body full of worms.
Maria comments that she rescued the puppies because, with special care, few would be willing to adopt them. “I took Catarina, Antônio and Janaína because I knew they were animals that wouldn’t have many opportunities to be adopted, and that it would be more difficult to find an owner, since they needed special care,” she says.
Maria reveals that she managed to restore a healthy routine for the animals, and that Catarina is already living very well, even without one of her paws. She also says that she had great challenges in the recovery of her puppy Antônio.
“The care to recover Antônio was very challenging […] He had to undergo a complex and very expensive surgery in order to recover. A large part of the challenges also lie in ‘behavior’, all of them are animals that have lived on the streets […] I also have to understand their emotional limitations,” she says.
Carina Duarte, the veterinarian responsible for the dogs’ care, talks about the importance of a quality diet, a routine with environmental enrichment, walks and periodic check-ups.
“As for disabilities, dogs adapt much better to them than we humans do […].Disabled pets should have a normal life, but always with an eye on the individual needs of each one”, she reiterates.
About the puppies’ interactions with Fred, Maria Venture tells the Pet Channel that the animal is curious, but that she is always attentive.
“I always take great care with this. When I let Fred out for a walk in the yard I always make sure that the dogs aren’t loose so that no one is at risk, both the snake and them,” she concludes.
Follow Canal do Pet on social media too: Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
