pet snakes

10 Stories

Guy Who Surfs With Pet Python Hit With a Fine

Wildlife authorities aren't pleased with Australia's Higor Fiuza and his snake, Shiva

(Newser) - Higor Fiuza is a familiar face in the beach community along Australia's Gold Coast, and he's often got Shiva in tow. Shiva isn't the name of his surfboard, or a canine companion—that's his pet Morelia bredli python, who accompanies Fiuza in the water as he...

Cause of Death Determined for Guy Who Lived With 124 Snakes

Maryland man died of accidental snake envenomation

(Newser) - Update: The cause of death has been determined for the Maryland man found dead amid the 124 snakes he kept as pets in his home. David Riston died of “snake envenomation,” per the state medical examiner’s office, which ruled the 49-year-old's death accidental, NBC News reports....

Python Escapes From Home, Bites Neighbor on Toilet
He Sat on the
Toilet at Dawn.
Suddenly, a 'Nip'
in case you missed it
Jul 11, 2021 9:15 AM CDT

He Sat on the Toilet at Dawn. Suddenly, a 'Nip'

Python escapes from Austria apartment, ends up in neighbor's bathroom

(Newser) - An elderly Austrian man had an unpleasant surprise waiting for him while answering nature's call early Monday: a python, in his toilet. The man, identified by the BBC as 65-year-old Walter Erhart, tells the broadcaster that he "went to the toilet as usual" in his Graz apartment around...

Massive Snake Falls From Ceiling Onto Sleeping Man

The central New York man got a rude awakening

(Newser) - A central New York man got a rude awakening when a large snake fell from his bedroom ceiling and landed on him while he slept, per the AP . The state Department of Environmental Conservation says one of its officers responded to a call on June 29 from a man who...

Boa Constrictor Wraps Around Ohio Woman, Bites Her Nose

Unnamed woman was rescued by firefighters

(Newser) - Firefighters have rescued an Ohio woman after a boa constrictor wrapped around her neck and began biting her face, reports the AP . The unnamed 45-year-old Sheffield Lake woman called 911 Thursday afternoon asking for help, reports the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram . The boa constrictor was one of two snakes she had rescued...

SD Man Busted for Not Having Snake on a Leash

'He was literally asking me to put a rope around my snake. I was like, 'Dude, no.''

(Newser) - "It was April Fool’s Day, so I thought he was playing a joke," says Jerry Kimball. Alas, no joke: Kimball was fined $190 for allowing his pet snake to slither freely in a South Dakota park, what an animal control officer called "animals running at large....

Couple Gets 12 Years After Pet Python Crushes Toddler

Lawyer blames sentence on Casey Anthony

(Newser) - A Florida couple whose pet Burmese python crushed the woman's 2-year-old daughter to death have been sentenced to 12 years in prison each on manslaughter and child neglect charges. Experts testified that the 8-foot-long snake was severely underweight and had tried to eat the child whole, reports the New ...

Snake-Free Hawaii Fears Slithery Invasion

Authorities see more illegal pets, worry about ecosystem

(Newser) - Leave it to a snake to ruin paradise. Hawaiian officials are worried that a steady increase in illegal snake ownership—a 9-foot boa and a 7-foot python were captured this month after escaping—will threaten the islands' fragile ecosystem and kill off birds and flowers, reports the Associated Press . Environmental...

Granny Finds 6-Foot Anaconda in Toilet

Polish cops capture stray South American snake looking for way out

(Newser) - A Polish grandmother slammed her toilet lid down very quickly after opening it to find a 6-foot anaconda looking back at her, the Telegraph reports. The Wroclaw woman called police, who managed to capture it with the help of a local zoo worker. Authorities believe the snake, native to South...

Pet Boa Constrictor Kills Owner
Pet Boa Constrictor
Kills Owner
Jun 11, 2010 1:43 AM CDT

Pet Boa Constrictor Kills Owner

Cops pry animal from owner's neck

(Newser) - A suburban Omaha man was strangled by his pet boa constrictor in his home as he was showing off the snake to a friend. Cory Byrne, 34, died in a local hospital just hours after cops and paramedics pried the 9-foot snake from his neck. The snake is being held...

10 Stories