Deadly python put down

A post mortem has confirmed that two boys in Eastern Canada who were apparently attacked in their sleep by a four-metre python died of asphyxiation, police said.

Noah and Connor Barthe, aged 4 and 6, were found dead early on Monday after the snake, a 45kg African rock python, escaped from its glassed-in enclosure, slithered through a ventilation shaft and fell into the room where they were sleeping.

A examination was performed on the snake, which was put down after the attack, and police said it appeared to be in good health.

The python that escaped and killed two young boys has been put down, Canadian police have confirmed.

The snake was put down by a local veterinarian before being sent for an examination to help understand what may have caused it to attack.

The two brothers strangled by the python, which is reported to have been over 4.5 metres long and over 45kg, were earlier named locally as 5-year-old Noah Barthe and 7-year-old Connor Barthe.

The two brothers strangled by a python in Canada have been named locally as 5-year-old Noah Barthe and 7-year-old Connor Barthe.

Following the deaths of two boys in Canada after they were strangled by a snake, ITV News spoke to London pet store owner Nick Traquair to find out how animals of this kind should be kept:

• Snakes tend to be attracted to warmth. It is very unusual for them to attack a human or to see humans as food.

• A snake as long as this would need a room-sized enclosure - approximately 10x10ft or larger. Many owners of snakes this size convert rooms to jungle habitats in order to keep them.
• Only experienced handlers should keep African Rock Pythons.

• Snakes this size should be fed a frozen rabbit or large rats at least once a week. In the wild they can wait for months before eating.
• To keep a 4.5m snake in a glass tank, it would need toughened glass around 10/15mm thick.

The snake that is believed to have killed two young boys at their home in New Brunswick, Canada is an African Rock Python, according to CBC.

The non-venomous snake is reportedly as much a 4.5 metres long and weighs 45kg.

It is understood a python that strangled two children - aged five and seven - in Canada had escaped through a ventilation system.

Global News reports the pet shop in Campbellton, named Reptile Ocean, had been closed but the owner had converted the building into his apartment and animals remained inside.

The owner told Global News the boys were the children of a friend and had been sleeping over when the snake is believed to have found its way into the building's ventilation system before falling through the ceiling and into the room where the boys were sleeping.

Jean-Claude Savoie told Global news: "My body is in shock, I don't know what to think."

The snake has since been found and is in the possession of the police.

Two children have died after a python escaped from an exotic pet shop and strangled them inside their flat in Canada, according to CBC news.

A five-year-old and seven-year-old were reportedly strangled by the snake after it escaped from the pet store Reptile Ocean and entered their flat above the store in Campbellton, New Brunswick.

In a statement, Constable Julie Rogers-Marsh said: "Police are investigating two sudden deaths of two young boys.

"The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a python snake escaped its enclosure in the store sometime overnight. It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake."

The Deputy Mayor of Campbellton, Ian Comeau, said the city was "in shock" after the incident.