Your data on MRCVSonline
The nature of the services provided by Vision Media means that we might obtain certain information about you.
Please read our Data Protection and Privacy Policy for details.

In addition, (with your consent) some parts of our website may store a 'cookie' in your browser for the purposes of
functionality or performance monitoring.
Click here to manage your settings.
If you would like to forward this story on to a friend, simply fill in the form below and click send.

Your friend's email:
Your email:
Your name:
 
 
Send Cancel

Snakes discovered in Queensland toilets
Snake
Look before you sit! Queensland residents were shocked to find snakes in their toilets.
On the hunt for water during dry breeding season

Snake catcher Elliot Budd from Queensland, Australia, was called out to a house in Townsville after a man discovered an enormous python living inside his toilet cistern.

The shocked resident told Mr Budd that the 2.3 meter coastal carpet python had found its way into the bathroom through the ceiling after it had pushed through a vent.

His toilet was not working, so he decided to take the lid off the system, allowing the snake to slither in and mess with the plumbing.

The discovery was made just one week after Elliot had released an enormous python from a toilet also at a house in Townsville.

Tradesmen working on the house came across the three metre reptile coiled up out in the downstairs loo.

"It was about three meters long - definitely one of the biggest I have ever relocated,' Mr Budd told the Daily Mail Australia.

‘They didn’t give me too many details before I arrived so I wasn’t really expecting it to be in the toilet,’ he added.

As Elliot went to touch the python, it quickly retreated and slipped back down through the pipes and into the u-bend.

‘He was really big and really strong so when he tensed up and held himself in there I couldn’t physically pull him out.’

'In the end his head was poking out so i just kept pulling until he eventually started sliding out."

Reptile expert professor Lin Schwarzkopf from James Cook University told the Guardian that it wasn’t usual for snakes to go into toilets.

She said that they liked damp places with objects to hide, but had become more adventurous in the hunt for water during a dry breeding season. 

Become a member or log in to add this story to your CPD history

Equine Disease Surveillance report released for Q4 2025

News Story 1
 The latest Equine Disease Surveillance report has been released, with details on equine disease from Q4 of 2025.

The report, produced by Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance, includes advice on rule changes for equine influenza vaccination.

Statistics and maps detail recent outbreaks of equine herpes virus, equine influenza, equine strangles and equine grass sickness. A series of laboratory reports provides data on virology, bacteriology, parasitology and toxicosis.

This issue also features a case study of orthoflavivus-associated neurological disease in a horse in the UK. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS annual renewal fee for vets due

RCVS' annual renewal fee for veterinary surgeons is now due. Vets must pay their renewal fee before Wednesday, 1 April 2026.

This year's standard annual fee has increased to 431 from last year's 418. This is an approximately three per cent increase, as approved by RCVS Council and the Privy Council.

Tshidi Gardner, RCVS treasurer, said: "The small fee increase will be used to help deliver both our everyday activities and our new ambitious Strategic Plan, which includes aims such as achieving new legislation, reviewing the Codes of Professional Conduct and supporting guidance, and continuing to support the professions through activities such as the Mind Matters Initiative, RCVS Academy and career development."

A full breakdown of the new fees is on the RCVS website. Information about tax relief is available on the UK government website.