UK Man Finds Massive Ball Python Lurking In Toilet, Cannot Get Over Nightmare

A family in Southhampton had the scare of their lives Tuesday when a snake decided to visit their home through their toilet.

Homeowner Richard Grant told the Mirror that his wife saw the reptile when she went up to use the bathroom. She then saw the four foot long ball python (Python regius) “lurking at the bottom” of their toilet and went down screaming.

“One of my children went to have a look and was shaking and and panicking when he came back,” said Grant, 45.

“We were all in a state of shock and not very keen to go back upstairs,” he added.

Grant contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) shortly after the discovery. However, the charity group said that they would not be able to remove the serpent until the next day.

The father of three continued that they cannot bear to leave the animal inside their bathroom overnight so he called a friend to help them in their unusual predicament.

Cornell Collins, who used to own a snake as a pet, was able to aid the family by fishing out the slithery intruder using a shoelace.

“He gently lifted it out of the toilet using a shoelace tied in a bow before putting it in a pillowcase and taking it to a pet shop,” said Grant.

One of the sources pointed that the yellow and white python might have been an escaped pet that found its way to the sewers and onto Grant's toilet.

A rat bite was also found on the snake after it was removed.

The “creepy” ordeal had left a string of shock to Grant and his family, and he described it to be “horrible.”

“Even now I can't talk about it without coming out in goose [bumps].”

The encounter also made him afraid to use the toilet while saying that he now puts a weight on top of the toilet lid every night.

Like all pythons, ball pythons are constrictors. They are popular in the pet trade mainly because of its small size and docile temperament.

The term “ball python” refers to the snake's tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened. An adult ball python can reach up to 6 feet; females can grow up to four and a half feet, while males peak in at three and a half feet.