Huge Python Swallows Pet Birds Alive, Snake Catcher Issues Warning

A snake catcher in Australia has issued a warning to pet owners after a huge python snuck into a cage inside a house and swallowed two birds alive.

The hungry python entered the cage Wednesday through gaps in its narrow bars, and ate the birds. However, after swallowing the birds, the reptile was unable to squeeze out to escape.

Queensland snake catcher Stu McKenzie, who was called following the incident Wednesday, said even though many people believe snakes cannot squeeze into the cages, this was not the case as there have been many instances where pythons have attacked pets inside enclosures.

"The daughter gave me a call saying she had just got a call from her mum saying a snake has gone into the cage and eaten two beloved birds," Mr McKenzie said in a video posted on his Facebook page. "She was a bit stressed as well, nobody wants to see that situation. Birds are like family to some people."

"Unfortunately a lot of bird owners don't realize how small of a gap snakes can squeeze into! The horizontal or vertical bars that are common on bird and guinea pig enclosure simply aren't good enough to keep a hungry snake out," he wrote alongside the video.

"Please check your bird cages, guinea pig enclosure, chicken coops and any other pets enclosure you may have and make sure that it is snake proof 100%!"

Brisbane resident Ren Park said their family faced a similar ordeal after a python snuck into her birdcage and ate the family budgie, according to 9News. "I had two budgies in the cage and woke up to one snake and one budgie in the cage," Park said. "My son was devastated as they were his birds. One survived thankfully."

Last year, a woman in a suburb of Brisbane found a gigantic python consuming a bat in her yard. The fight went on for two hours. “I just hear this squawking - this really weird sound that I hadn’t heard before,” Tova Ferris told 7 News at the time. “I sort of looked toward the right and obviously it was the bat making noises and the python going for it.”