A SIX-FEET long boa constrictor is on the loose in an upmarket Manchester suburb - and residents have been warned to watch their toilet seats.
The alarm was raised after the snake was spotted in an apartment on Clyde Road, West Didsbury.
A 19-year-old man went to the bathroom and spotted the constrictor curled up inside the bowl of the toilet.
He ran from the room and into the garden to find a concrete block which he placed on the toilet seat to stop the snake from escaping.
Fibre optic
RSPCA officials and firefighters were called to the apartment block and used a fibre optic camera to check the drains and plumbing.
But there was no sign of the snake and experts now believe it has entered the sewage system on the street where semi-detached homes go on the market for up to £400,000.
Property agent David Fitzgerald, from landlords KF Property, said: "It was 2am and the resident was obviously quite sleepy so I think he was quite surprised to see the snake there looking back at him.
"He raced down to the garden and got a concrete block which he used to cover the toilet seat and I think he quite forgot about going to the toilet."
Should large snakes be kept as pets? Have your say.
Tenant
Mr Fitzgerald said it was still not certain where the snake had come from but a previous tenant had kept a boa constrictor in his room. "All we know is that we had a tenant in the property who did have a snake and who left a couple of months ago.
"The building has been thoroughly checked out. It's not in the house anymore but I don't think people will be feeling too comfortable."
There are some 100 properties on the street, many of which have been converted into flats.
The RSPCA said there was nothing they could do until the creature was spotted again.
Animal collection officer Donna Holt said: "The camera has done what it can to check the system and it's a question of waiting now.
"We would advise people to keep their toilet lids down and check before using the bathroom."
She stressed that the snake's species had not been confirmed but that any creature should not be approached.
The boa constrictor hails from South America and in the wild eats rodents and small birds and can grow up to five metres (16 feet) long.
Comments
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If it helps, I'm pretty sure the snake is called Keith.
He likes frozen hares.
Hiss Hiss instead of pi** pi** hey !!!!!! .
I'll be in the Woodstock til it's caught.
As a keen reptile keeper, i think that providing the animal in question is kept is good care, then it should be ok to keep them.
Many people are now coming over to the hobby of herpetology, and it is a worthwhile pastime, and isolated incidents like this are VERY rare. It is just the same as a dog escaping, but because there reptiles are not of the norm, the incident is being blown out of proportion.
Chris Mcgowan, keen reptile keeper, and owner of Herpmania.
I hope it is not in my flat. If it is i might have to tackle it. God only knows what my missus will have to say when she comes back from work and finds me choking the python.
This is the funniest thing I ever heard. I hope a bigg a$$ snake appears round my place - I will have my camera ready
its not the snake i was thinking about when i read this story its the 400,000 for a house in that area of manchester i think our house is expensive but maybe i have been away to long.
Great - we've already got a mammoth spider in our bath which refuses to die. Now we're going to end up with a SNAKE. Woodstock it is! Actually, getting towards the end of the month, so Barleycorn is a better idea!
NO NO NO NO NO IT CAN KILL AND SHOCK PEOPL
My girlfirend and I live on Clyde road and have not been warned by anybody about this. Has anybody else?
I bet he hissed himself when he saw that hey !!!!!!!!!!
Very witty Julie! My child can't sleep because he's too afraid of being eaten, ive assured him that if the snake DID come up through our toilet it would have to go through my room first thus eating me first with enough time for him to escape from my screams, yet he still hasn't found any comfort.
What sort of oddball keeps a snake as a pet & why is it an important part of the story that the houses sell for B#400,000?
Off to the Four In Hand...
Don't worry folks, the beasts of Burton Road will sort out the snake (or vice versa).
What sort of oddball keeps snakes?? - I do.
And come on, are the RSPCA really suggesting that there is a 6ft long boa living in the sewer system just waiting to pop out of toilets? I presume that there are also giant aligators down there with it??
And if your child really is afraid of being eaten by a completely harmless animal that in reality probably does not exist, then that perhaps says more about you then it does snakes
This is perfect practical joke material. Imagine if you had a friend with a snake phobia and invited them up from London - you could leave a realistic looking rubber snake in the loo and close the lid.
Does anyone know if it has been found yet?
He's been found! Panic over!
I live in the house with the escaped serpent, it was spotted in the flat above mine!!! I must say, it's quite disconcerting when you're dashing to the toilet in the middle of the night to imagine that a boa may realistically be waiting to greet you! My cats aren't too impressed either!
I personally know of four instances of snakes curled inside or emerging from loos during a six year period whilst living in Nigeria. One man was bitten, but survived. One snake was caught, one poisoned and one retrieved from the drainange system.
The storys amazing and how a snake lives that long, wonder what its been eating. I have snakes 2 rat snakes and 1 boa, same species the boa as the one shown. That is either a common or red tail boa. If i could i would adopt it. Please RSPCA don't kill it, its an animal, people should be more educated that these are beautiful, nice personality animals. So if your reading this RSPCA and want me to adopt email me. nick2005fighter@aol.com
hahahahahah
Now that the snake "Keith" has been captured, the RSPCA have said that it is not unusual to discover snakes in toilets. WHAT????
Exactly how often, in the experience of the RSPCA, are snakes found in toilets? Why don't Homebase, etc, sell snake guards to put inside toilet bowls?
Also, what was Keith eating in the toilets? Boa Constrictors kill their prey; they don't graze on food left lying about, so to speak.
I think we need to know.
Captive Boa's will happily take dead food, and would not need to eat for a few months anyway....
The amazing part of this story is that we are expected to believe that a large constrictor (of varying lengths of 6ft, 10ft and 3.5m depending on reports) is capable of travelling through a u-bend with a 76mm diameter and climbing VERTICALLY up 100mm diameter down pipes. All of this while having icy cold water flushed down over him at regular intervals (he is cold blooded remember). Large snakes when cold, curl up in a ball or head for somewhere warmer - not climbing up through a cold water flush!!