Python Bites Man After Slithering Out Of Toilet

A 4-foot-long python slithered out of a toilet and bit a South Florida man on the arm Sunday, authorities said Wednesday. Coral Springs police spokesman Chris Swinson said the man was treated at the scene for the bite.

The man was shocked to find the snake when he lifted the toilet seat and the reptile "rose up and bit him." Swinson said the snake emerged out of nowhere and the reptile didn't belong to the man. Authorities said it was unclear how the snake got into the apartment.

The South Florida SunSentinel reported the Coral Springs Humane Society took the snake, a nonvenomous ball python, to a veterinarian's office. It was treated for a scale infection.

“It’s everybody’s worst nightmare,” Swinson told Coral Springs Talk. “But it’s in an apartment plumbing system, so there are many possibilities.”

Authorities said the snake might have belonged to a previous resident.

Ball pythons are generally considered to be timid and can reach a maximum length of six feet. Native to Africa, the ball python is popular in the pet trade. They, however, are not dangerous like Burmese pythons.

This was not the first time that a snake found its way into a home through the toilet. In January, a 5-foot python hiding in a toilet bowl bit a Queensland, Australia, woman. When the woman sat down to use the bathroom in the middle of the night — with the lights off, the snake emerged and bit her.

“I felt this sharp tap on my bottom along with some pain,” 59-year-old Mary Richards told 10 News First Queensland at the time.

The Snake Catchers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan & Gold Coast wrote on Facebook that their employees arrived at the scene to remove the python from her toilet bowl.

“Our snake catcher arrived promptly, with first aid in hand, so that the customer could clean herself up and get some antiseptic spray on the few small puncture marks left by the snake,” read the Facebook post from the handlers. “Fortunately for us, the customer remained calm and remembered not to flush the toilet, as flushing could cause the snake to retreat down into the pipes again.”