MAN WITH 1OO-PLUS PET SNAKES KILLED BY BITE

The cause of death of a 49-year-old man whose body was found at his Maryland home with more than 100 pet snakes was “envenomation,” according to the state's medical examiner's office.

David Riston's death was ruled an accident, NBC News reported. He was fatally bitten by one of his snakes in January. His body was found after authorities did a welfare check on him.

“He does have a collection of venomous snakes that are illegal to keep in the state of Maryland,” Charles County spokeswoman Jennifer Harris told NBC on Jan. 20, “so we're looking into, obviously, how he would have acquired that and kept them inside the home.”

Snakes in clear bins were carried out of the home.

Along with nonvenomous snakes, which Riston had permits for, animal control officers also found rattlesnakes, cobras and black mambas, Harris said.

The largest of the snakes was a 14-foot Burmese python. Pythons are nonvenomous. They consume their prey by constricting it and swallowing it whole, according to the San Diego Zoo.

The snakes at Riston's home were kept in good condition and he was “very meticulous” about how he cared for and handled them, she said.

“He did not keep a lot of furniture inside the home so there was no place — if a snake, for example, were to escape — it could hide or harm anybody. It seems as if he was almost obsessive in his cleanliness and keeping and care of the animals,” she said.

A licensed handler was expected to take the nonvenomous snakes to Virginia, while another would take the venomous ones to North Carolina.