Snake showed up in my living room!!

SleepyheadzzZZ

Hi guys, this is my first post, please help as l am losing my mind here - l had a shock of my life -long story short l saw a live snake in my living room a couple of days ago,& had to react quickly to kill it, but my knees tremble even now... it was 16" corn snake (stayed up until 2pm googling snake types) . I went round to all my neighbours to warn them next day and it turned out my new next door neighbour is keeping them as pets and one was missing for weeks - and he never told anyone about it!!!!!!!!!! he said his daughter took it to the balcony for a "walk" or "excersise" or whatever and they lost it there, so he just assumed it fell down and wento to live in the bushes. so obviously it never fell and slithered into my side of the balcony, and l live with the snake in my balcony for a few weeks! He did say sorry, but he played it down, ahh, you shouldn't have killed it, now my daughter will be upset- those were his words exactly. And what about my daughter, l have two kids, one under two??? and there's a pregnant lady upstairs as well. Regulations in our apt area don't allow pets, but management says their hand are tied and the can't do anything about it, so my question to you is there anything to be done in the situation like this? (l had no luck of finding their landlord and l didn't report it to garda either) obviously l want them gone but everybody's telling me there's no way to evict them over this and l don't want to move myself as l live here for 10yrs, and they're new to the area.
If there's one thing l am terrified in my life is snakes, so obviously l have a myriad of post shock symptoms, have trouble sleeping, afraid of anything moving next to me, my exam results suffered over this and l am afraid to stay in my own apt
Please please help, anyone?

kylith

OK, firstly corn snakes are not venomous, so their bite would be painful but harmless, and I'll wager that this one was much too small to do any harm to a human so there is no need to worry about the pregnant woman downstairs.

I understand that you don't like snakes but as long as his landlord is ok with it and pets are allowed in the building there is nothing that can be done about evicting him. Frankly, looking to get him thrown out of his house because of this is a massive overreaction. If you had a cat and it got into the house of someone with a cat phobia do you think that it would be fair for you to be evicted?

I think that all you can do is ask this man to make sure that his daughter isn't unsupervised with any other snakes he might have so that they don't escape.

Pumpkinseeds

If the tenancy agreement excludes pets then they are breaking the terms of their lease. The fact that one of their snakes escaped and that they didn't warn anyone should surely be grounds to have the snakes removed or the tenancy cancelled. If the management company won't deal with it then you should contact the Private Residential Tenancy Board.

By law all tenancies have to be registered with them. You would have to explain why you want the details and fill out a form. They should be able to trace the landlord.

TimeToShine

You'll probably get people who are more sympathetic to your neighbours cause here. Accomodation & Property forum would sort you out!

For what it's worth that would be my worst nightmare, venomous or not finding a 2 foot snake in your living room is a horror story.

SleepyheadzzZZ

@kylith l wonder if you would talk differently if it showed up in your living room in the middle of the night? as l said pets are not allowed, so they are breaking the rules here, and do you suggest l make sure to supervise their child with the rest of the snakes?

SleepyheadzzZZ

Thank you to Pumpkinseeds and Time to shine for support and advise!! l'll do just that

PucaMama

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

@kylith l wonder if you would talk differently if it showed up in your living room in the middle of the night? as l said pets are not allowed, so they are breaking the rules here, and do you suggest l make sure to supervise their child with the rest of the snakes?

Just because you killed it for being in your room it doesn't mean others would. That's a complete over reaction. If a dog or cat got in would you kill it? Snakes are pets too and a corn snake is no more dangerous than a dog or cat.

kylith

I don't know how I'd react to a snake, no, but I generally have no problem with them.

If regulations say no pets then it is an issue to take up with your management team why they say their hands are tied. Possibly the 'no pets' rule covers dogs and cats but not things like reptiles, fish, and hamsters which generally make no noise. Perhaps bring it up at a tenants meeting.

I recommend that you ask him to supervise his daughter.

SleepyheadzzZZ

PucaMama wrote: »

Just because you killed it for being in your room it doesn't mean others would. That's a complete over reaction. If a dog or cat got in would you kill it? Snakes are pets too and a corn snake is no more dangerous than a dog or cat.

and how l was supposed to know is it venomous or not??? should l have switched on my laptop and google it before deciding to kill it or not? l have no expierence and very little knowledge about them and surely anyone would understand l acted on the instinct? Wouldn't you done the same to protect your children? or l should l have had a cup of tea with it?

PucaMama

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

and how l was supposed to know is it venomous or not??? should l have switched on my laptop and google it before deciding to kill it or not? l have no expierence and very little knowledge about them and surely anyone would understand l acted on the instinct? Wouldn't you done the same to protect your children? or l should l have had a cup of tea with it?

My first step would have been call a vet as an example for advice. My first reaction would never be to kill it. And if I had children I definitely would want to show a better example.

Mr_Red

OP I love Animals and had snakes before when i was younger.

Im not sure what you can do with your neighbor but since you walked into your Living room and saw " A SNAKE " you did what I would have done.

As a reptile owner your neighbour was so irresponsible in not telling anyone that a snake was missing in an appartment block.... he is simply an idiot.

You were not to know what type of snake it was as snakes are not common here.

Its like people saying a taranchula (sure It's only a spider)

TimeToShine

PucaMama wrote: »

My first step would have been call a vet as an example for advice. My first reaction would never be to kill it. And if I had children I definitely would want to show a better example.

To be fair those are the views of someone with a tendency towards animals and certainly do not represent how the majority would react. I'm not saying you're wrong but 80% of people when confronted with what potentially is a very venomous animal will have their biological instincts kick in and try and kill it. Double goes for a mother with a two year old in the next room.

It would take a lot of composure for the average joe bloggs to stay calm and ring a vet if he/she saw a snake and there was something close by to hit it with.

Tails142

I would report you to animal welfare for killing the snake. If you see a snake in Ireland it's obviously someone's escaped pet as they're not native.

FutureGuy

Hi Sleepyheadzzz,
I can imagine your shock and horror - my fiancee is also terrified of snakes, and what you described is her worst nightmare She cannot even tough a snake-print handbag.

You killed his snake out of terror because you didn't know at the time if were poisonous (I would have done the same) and I doubt he will let his daughter do the same again. You were right to research the type of snake, and you now know they are not dangerous. Do not apologise for that - he should apologize for his poor supervision.

I would confirm with him that he intends to keep better care of his pets so this doesn not happen again. He was negligent - he should have informed people of the snake and that it was not poisonous.

I would not try to get him evicted as I think it will not happen again. Besides, I cannot see the landlord evicting him as the snake owner could ask for ALL residents with pets to be evicted at the same time and that is not going to happen.

SleepyheadzzZZ

<snip>

AlanS181824

Jesus OP that's awful.

Hope you feel better soon!

TimeToShine

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

Unbelievable, l can't believe the stupidity of the comment, l do not have anything else to say to you, you clearly have too much time on your hands and distorted views. Goodbye and goodluck, but please go somewhere else and leave me alone

You need to calm down.

As I said before you sort of posted this in the wrong forum. It's pretty much full of animal enthusiasts and as such their point of views are reasonable. The "issues" here are generally to do with the well being of said creatures, and you came here and told them that you killed one of them. You can't be surprised really.

Maybe Personal Issues to get over the traumatic episode or Accomodation & Property to see what you can do to the tenant but in my view you should just let it go. He is bound to be extra careful now and there's not much that can be done to him anyway.

Mr_Red

Tails142 wrote: »

I would report you to animal welfare for killing the snake. If you see a snake in Ireland it's obviously someone's escaped pet as they're not native.

If I killed a Black Mamba which could kill me turned up in my Living room , would you report me too for Cruelty?

FutureGuy

Tails142 wrote: »

I would report you to animal welfare for killing the snake. If you see a snake in Ireland it's obviously someone's escaped pet as they're not native.

Very unfair. The woman has 2 kids and there was an unidentified snake in her house.

Cats are non-poisonous. Dogs are non-poisonous. Snakes can be poisonious, they can also be constrictors.

While it would have been preferable to close the door and call animal welfare, I completely understand what she did in the lheat of the moment.

How about you give out about how unfit the snake owner is??? I'd take all his snakes off him.

Sulla Felix

kylith wrote: »

OK, firstly corn snakes are not venomous, so their bite would be painful but harmless, and I'll wager that this one was much too small to do any harm to a human so there is no need to worry about the pregnant woman downstairs.

I understand that you don't like snakes but as long as his landlord is ok with it and pets are allowed in the building there is nothing that can be done about evicting him. Frankly, looking to get him thrown out of his house because of this is a massive overreaction. If you had a cat and it got into the house of someone with a cat phobia do you think that it would be fair for you to be evicted?

I think that all you can do is ask this man to make sure that his daughter isn't unsupervised with any other snakes he might have so that they don't escape.

Considering the risk toxoplasma gondii poses to pregnant women you'd probably have a better case for having the cat removed!

SleepyheadzzZZ

Thanks to all the guys who speak some sense, l do see now l posted it in the wrong forum, but it's m first post here, can l move it to the right forum? thanks

kylith

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

@ PucaMama : Unbelievable, l can't believe the stupidity of the comment, l do not have anything else to say to you, you clearly have too much time on your hands and distorted views. Goodbye and goodluck, but please go somewhere else and leave me alone

You're the one who came here.

I understand that you're upset because of the incident, but now you seem to be getting worked up about the fact that we didn't all agree with you that this guy should be out on his ear immediately that it was discovered he had pets you don't like.

I really, really don't like spiders and if I walked into my living room and found a tarantula wandering around I would probably batter it into little pieces (from a safe distance), but I certainly wouldn't call for my neighbour to be evicted over it.

kopfan77

Tails142 wrote: »

I would report you to animal welfare for killing the snake. If you see a snake in Ireland it's obviously someone's escaped pet as they're not native.

What a ridiculous post. While I consider myself an animal lover (3 dogs and 2 cats in the house) I would have reacted the exact same way here. This was not a cat or a dog that showed up in the OP's house....it was a snake, a creature which can be venomous depending on type etc. I most certainly would act first and do my research later. If anyone decided to be a tool and "report me to animal welfare" for it then Id be most certainly telling them to so S**te and report the owner firstly!

Mrs Garth Brooks

Tails142 wrote: »

I would report you to animal welfare for killing the snake. If you see a snake in Ireland it's obviously someone's escaped pet as they're not native.

This is a completely unfair comment. You dont know how much the OP knows about animals. Snakes are in the country, obviously as pets but the OP did not know anything about snakes. Its not just a fluffy kitten, its a creature that could have been poisonous. The snake was missing for a while, you don't know when it last ate, did the OP say they had a small kid ? Its not an over re-action on the OP's part at all.

Its the owner who should have been reported for cruelty. Not to warn others to watch out for a snake for weeks.

anniehoo

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

Thanks to all the guys who speak some sense, l do see now l posted it in the wrong forum, but it's m first post here, can l move it to the right forum? thanks

Where would you like it moved to OP?Also can you refrain from criticising other posters in this forum thanks.

SleepyheadzzZZ

kylith wrote: »

You're the one who came here.

I understand that you're upset because of the incident, but now you seem to be getting worked up about the fact that we didn't all agree with you that this guy should be out on his ear immediately that it was discovered he had pets you don't like.

I really, really don't like spiders and if I walked into my living room and found a tarantula wandering around I would probably batter it into little pieces (from a safe distance), but I certainly wouldn't call for my neighbour to be evicted over it.

I did say l want them gone, but my question was not how to evict my neighbour but what to do next here?

TimeToShine

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

I did say l want them gone, but my question was not how to evict my neighbour but what to do next here?

That depends. Do you want to cause this guy trouble? If you don't want him evicted what do you want?

SleepyheadzzZZ

anniehoo wrote: »

Where would you like it moved to OP?Also can you refrain from criticising other posters in this forum thanks.

I am not sure where's the right place for this post to be honest.. renting problems, issues with neighbours perhaps? l admit l should have researched the site more before posting

tk123

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

I did say l want them gone, but my question was not how to evict my neighbour but what to do next here?

1 snake escaped and was killed - the neighbour and his child will have learned a lesson. Why not leave it at that? I'd rather quiet harmless snakes to noisy pets as neighbours tbh - especially in an apartment.

kylith

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

I did say l want them gone, but my question was not how to evict my neighbour but what to do next here?

Next would be to follow up with your management group about what types of animals, if any, are allowed in the complex. Cats and dogs are probably out, but you'll have a lot of people wondering if this covers their tropical fish or their child's hamster.

Also, follow up with this guy. Find out if he has any other snakes or reptiles and of what types so that you can be assured that none are likely to be dangerous. Secure from him a promise that his daughter will not be allowed to take them out of their terrariums so that the chances of this happening again are minimised. Also secure a promise that if one should happen to get out in the future he will notify the residents of the block immediately and conduct a thorough search.

Thargor

How did you kill it?

glued

I would of also killed the snake if I didn't know what it was. What an irresponsible owner.

SleepyheadzzZZ

TimeToShine wrote: »

That depends. Do you want to cause this guy trouble? If you don't want him evicted what do you want?

I don't want to cause him trouble, but I have to make sure it won't happen again, and l also don't want to feel so terrified in my own home, esp when something moves unexpectedly, and about falling asleep - forget it
I also feel he got off too lightly, nobody from the management came to the block (there's only one guy and he only spoke to me on the phone), his landlord knows nothing about it, and l never reported it anywhere else.. So basically he only had a chat with me.

SleepyheadzzZZ

Thargor wrote: »

How did you kill it?

with a pan..

tk123

SleepyheadzzZZ wrote: »

with a pan..

You're terrified of snakes but got close enough to whack one with a pan? Were you not afraid it might jump at you?

Milly33

mmm I can see why you would be scared if you don't like snakes..But me thinks you are over-reacting hugely..

It is an apartment block there are going to be people there who do things, have animals, traditions all types of stuff that you do not agree with but you have to just deal with it.

I am sorry I do not mean that in a harsh way, but just because you don't like snakes does not mean that this man should not be aloud keep them.

Now if it was a regular occurrence I would see why you got so annoyed but if it happened just once me thinks it is just one of those things you have to get over...

Motherf**kin' snakes on a mother**kin' balcony

Sunny Dayz

It wasn't that he was keeping a pet she didn't agree with, it's the fact that pets are not allowed by the mangement company per her original post.

craigfoster

give samuel jackson a call and he will sort them snakes out

Milly33

That again could be just the unit she has, it this the case maybe?? How do you know for sure that animals are not aloud

Sometimes landlords will say they do not want animals just incase people bring in huge animals, big dogs, something like that but will allow them depending on what the circumstances are..

Just ask the neighbour what snakes he has and maybe he will let you see them so you know what they are, and if one does come in you know how to handle it.. Again for a first time offence id say your getting a bit excited.

DBB

This thread has run its course now.
Closed.
Thanks,
DBB