When Julia McLennan heard her baby cry out in the middle of the night, she thought he was probably just hungry.
The last thing she expected to find was a baby python in her eight-week-old son's bassinet.
"I just ripped him out of the bassinet and took him in and put him on his change table … and there were maybe three or four bites to his cheek," she told ABC Radio Darwin.
"I've probably done five or six first-aid courses in my life so you go to your snake bite first aid response, but they don't teach you what to do if your eight-week-old baby has been bitten on the face."
An ambulance took baby Hamish Lidgerwood to hospital from his home in the rural Darwin suburb of Girraween just before 1:00am Wednesday.
"We got to the ER and [there were] probably about 15 medical staff in there, I guess it was a rare occurrence for them too," Ms McLennan said.
Hamish's initial observations were fine and he was soon discharged from hospital.
Ms McLennan said the snake has been identified as a non-venomous baby olive python but that did not make the situation any less stressful.
"I don't know if you've seen a baby olive python but they've got brown skin and a yellow belly, which is what a baby brown snake looks like as well," she said.
'They can get just about anywhere'
While Hamish has been recovering, his parents have been busy snake-proofing the house.
"We think it came under a gap in the door from the door that leads into the garage — we've put a weatherproof seal across it now," said Ms McLennan.
"We've only lived at this property now for six months but I've never even seen a snake here, and I've lived in the Territory for 10 years and I've probably seen a handful of snakes in the whole time."
Matthew Lamb from the Northern Territory Wildlife Park says people need to be snake-wise during the warmer months as snakes become more active.
"They can get just about anywhere — if a snake can pass its head through a small hole it can get the rest of the body through there, so any small hole going into your home is potentially an entrance," he said.
"However, most of our snakes are non-venomous up here in the Northern Territory, we're quite lucky."
Mr Lamb recommended putting flywire up around possible entry points, closing doors, and making sure gardens are kept clear.
