Snake on a plane: Woman flies from Australia to Scotland with spotted python in her suitcase

The snake was discovered inside a shoe in a passenger's suitcase. Credit: Scottish SPCA

A 72-year-old woman accidentally packed a snake in her suitcase after visiting her daughter in Australia, and then unknowingly bringing it home to Scotland.

Moira Boxall discovered the spotted python hidden in a shoe, the day after she arrived back in the UK, having caught three flights from Queensland to Glasgow, on a 40-hour journey.

She initially thought it was a toy her family had planted as a joke, but the snake had actually survived the trip, shedding its skin in the process.

The grandmother said she had the "biggest shock" of her life when the python moved in the slip-on shoe.

The python survived the 40-hour journey inside a shoe. Credit: Scottish SPCA

Her son-in-law Paul Airlie told ABC: "She was not at all expecting to find the snake when she was unpacking a bag when she got back to Scotland.

"She actually thought that Sarah (her daughter) and I had put a fake snake in her shoe to wind her up, so at first she thought it was a joke until she touched it and it moved," he said.

Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone said: "I responded to a call from a woman who had just returned from a holiday in Australia who had found a small snake inside her shoe in her suitcase.

"When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property."

"Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous," he added.

The snake is now in quarantine at the organisation’s animal rescue and re-homing centre in Edinburgh, according to the Scottish SPCA.