Escape-hungry snake slithers into neighbour's shower

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 10:14

THEY'RE not the type of scales you would normally expect to find in a bathroom.

John Langton nearly jumped out of his skin when he found a snake slithering around his shower.

John, from Craigentinny Road, got the scaly surprise when he went to take a wash on Wednesday morning and discovered a two-foot corn snake.

It turned out Coco had escaped from her tank three weeks earlier and – after making her way through the drainpipe system – ended up in her neighbour's bathroom.

Luckily the red and yellow runaway reptile is only a five-month-old baby – far from the five-foot monster she will eventually become.

Mr Langton, 40, said: "It was certainly a shock when I came into the shower and there was this snake, looking at me. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye.

"Somehow it had managed to climb into my shower room. My partner thought it was hilarious – although she didn't like the idea it had been in the shower room.

"I knew there was only going to be one of us leaving that shower not in a box – and it was going to be me.

"I had to take the snake on my bike to work. I managed to flick her into a shoebox with a spatula and strap it on to my bike. When I got to work I met some SSPCA officers and they took her in."

Fiona Tulloch and daughter Gina (10) with their snake Coco and John Langton in his bathroom next door where he found the snake after it was missing for 3 weeks.

Owner Fiona Tulloch was delighted when her prized pet was returned after Mr Langton checked around nearby houses – but she revealed it wasn't the first time her adventurous snake had made a break for freedom.

She said: "The last time Coco escaped from her tank she ended up in the Hoover and we almost turned it on. She seems to be addicted to danger.

"I patched up the holes in her cage but it obviously wasn't enough. This time I think I'll buy her a new, much stronger home. She's certainly a tricky one."

Despite Coco's runaway nature, Ms Tulloch and her daughter Gina, said they would not swap the scaly scoundrel.

Ms Tulloch said: "She's just so placid, despite being a snake, and never bites. She's just a bit lively. When I was cleaning out her cage three weeks ago she quietly slipped away. We think she slithered through the hole behind the tumble dryer into the pipes.

"She was a bit hungry when she came back."

She added: "Coco is expected to live 20 years and I'm starting to wonder just how many holidays she's going to take in her lifetime."