Python hiding in the lavatory gives five-year-old boy surprise of his life

 When a five-year-old boy went to use the bathroom at his home in Southend, Essex, he found a 3ft python concealed under the lavatory lid.

The specialists who rescued the snake have surmised that it was probably a local family’s pet that had gone down the lavatory and made its way through the connecting sewers to another house’s bathroom.

Laura Cowell, the boy’s mother, said that she was “petrified” after the incident, and placed weights on the lavatory lid for a few days after the snake had been removed. Mrs Cowell had noticed that the water wasn’t draining properly, but she only found the cause when her son went to the bathroom on Wednesday and discovered the baby royal python.

“He was frantic and shaking. I could tell something was wrong, but that was not what I expected,” she said. “I had to use a broom handle to lift the lid, then out popped its head and its tongue came out as well.”

Mrs Cowell telephoned several companies asking for help until specialists from Scales and Fangs, a local pet store, came to her aid. Rob Yeldham, the shop’s owner, said: “It was in quite good health but had a bit of a skin problem as its skin had been covered in bleach.”

Mr Yeldham said he would look after the animal until its scale rot was cured, adding it was the first time he’d seen a snake in a bathroom.

Slippery problem: the reptile had most likely been an escaped family pet that had made its way through connecting sewers