Enormous pythons have been found lurking in Australian bathrooms - with two snakes reportedly released from Queensland toilets this month.
It took Elliot Budd, a snake catcher at Buddy Ell Snake Removal, 15 minutes to remove a 2.4 metre carpet python from a U-bend in Townsville.
The snake was completely immersed in the toilet apart from its head and 10cm of its body.
Unable to unbolt the toilet, Mr Budd said he simply had to “hold on” to the python until it “relaxed and came out if its own accord”.
Snake in a North Ward toilet
Just a week before, Mr Budd removed a three metre carpet python from another bathroom in the North Ward area.
"At first I thought it was a friend having a go at me but she was very serious about it," he told ABC.
"I went out and there was a snake curled up in the toilet."
“He decided to be difficult and went down the toilet through the U-bend so we had to remove the toilet to get him out.”
Mr Budd told Daily Mail Australia that the snake was “one of the biggest” he had ever relocated.
“He was really big and strong,” Mr Budd added, “so when he tensed up and held himself in there, I couldn’t pull him out.”
The pythons had most likely sought refuge in the toilets due to a recent period of hot weather in the country, according to Mr Budd.
Elliot Budd holding captured snake
The dry weather meant the snake was “probably just looking for a drink,” he said.
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Carpet pythons are one of the most common breeds of snake in Australia, according to Snake Catchers.
They are mostly harmless but can inflict powerful bites with curved teeth which can pierce the skin and protrude back out.
Professor Lin Schwarzkopf, a reptile expert from James Cook University, told the Guardian it was unusual for snakes to find their way into toilets.
She said the snakes had probably become more daring in their search for water during this year’s dry breeding season, causing them to seek out unusual sources of moisture.
