Snakes on a pane: Woman wakes up to find snake slithering through bedroom window in Basildon

A woman from Essex was "terribly shocked" when she woke up to find a three-foot long snake slithering through her bedroom window.

It happened in Hereford Walk in Basildon and prompted the stunned homeowner to run from the room and call the RSPCA.Enola Evans, an RSPCA animal rescue officer, said: “It’s not every day you get woken up by a snake trying to get into your bedroom through a window - the woman was terribly shocked."Without an accurate identification of the snake, a rescue could have potentially been hazardous. 

"But luckily, the photo she had managed to take confirmed to me that it was a corn snake - a non-venomous exotic reptile often kept as a pet."

Ms Evans searched the bedroom and bed but eventually found the snake coiled around the rim of the window.

“He had been very well-hidden, so I was really pleased to find him," she said.

"I am experienced at handling snakes as I worked with reptiles in my previous job then underwent specific exotics training when I joined the RSPCA recently as an animal rescue officer.

"I gently transferred the snake into a carrier before taking him to be cared for at an expert boarding facility. Hopefully, we will be able to reunite him with his owners if he is an escaped pet, otherwise he will be put up for adoption.”

Last year, the RSPCA received 1,219 reports about pet snakes in need of help, including many stray snakes.

RSPCA Scientific Officer Evie Button said: “Snakes are excellent escape artists and will take the opportunity of a gap in an enclosure door, or a loose-fitting lid to make a break for it."

If anyone finds a snake they believe is non-native, the RSPCA’s advice is to keep a safe distance, monitor the snake and call the charity’s helpline on 0300 1234 999. 

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