Here’s the story behind Janella Salvador’s pet snake, plus tips if you wish to adopt one

To convincingly portray the character of Serpent Queen, Valentina, in Mars Ravelo’s Darna, Janella Salvador put herself into a similar mind space by adopting snakes as house pets.

The Kapamilya actress tells Kapamilya Chat, “Sabi ko, kung makuha ko ‘yung role, eh ‘di kukuha ako ng snake. Ayun, nakuha ko ‘yung role.”

Janella, an animal lover since she was a kid, wants to own different kinds of pets. She used to have snakes at home, but, “nakatakas ‘yung isa.”

She first introduced her pet snake, which she named Versace, on Instagram. She also arrived in a full ‘kontrabida’ outfit, with a snake wrapped around her arm as an accessory, during a media event for her newest teleserye.

While adopting a snake for house pet sounds thrilling, Janella mentions you actually need a permit from DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) to own one.

She says there are only certain snakes that are admissible as pets, usually those that enjoy being caressed and are low-maintenance, like her ball python, “They like being held. Hindi naman sila naa-abuse because they’re being held captive, hindi naman.”

Her pet snake, for example, only feeds on mice once a week, “Mga dalawa, depende sa size ng daga.”

Janella’s son, Jude, who’s turning two in two months, is starting to show his natural penchant for animals, “Feeling ko masasanay siya sa pets growing up kasi surrounded siya with pets.” She says Jude was close with her dog Max, who recently passed away. And having a pet snake at home isn’t a problem since Jude doesn’t seem scared.

To cap it off, Janella reminds viewers to only adopt a snake or any animal if they’re capable of caring for them.

Catch Janella as the reptilian villain Valentina in Mars Ravelo’s Darna, weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.