WATCH the moment a local resident had a shocking surprise when an unexpected guest slithered out of a dog basket she had bought from Pets at Home.
Amanda Hartley had taken the travel basket, purchased from the Trafford Retail Park store, into her kitchen to unpack it when a snake slid out from inside.
“I was petrified,” she said. “I thought it was a rubber dog toy at first – I was just looking at it in amazement.”
On seeing the vibrantly coloured red and black snake Amanda and her 21-year-old daughter, Olivia, screamed and ran out of the kitchen of their Inkberrow home, shutting the door firmly behind them.
“We rang the store and they said they had lost a snake two weeks previously and would come to collect it but not to worry as it was very friendly.”
After around an hour’s wait, during which Amanda’s husband and son returned home and covered the snake with a bucket, a store representative arrived.
“She told us the snake was not being that friendly and might bite,” Olivia added.
“I was absolutely terrified.”
The reptile was a Mexican milksnake of around 16ins – more heavily-bodied than other milksnakes, the Mexican variety can grow to around two-and-a-half feet in length and can live for up to 20 years in captivity.
They are not poisonous.
Currently milksnakes are on sale on the Pets at Home website for £59.
Following the ordeal, the family received a £20 voucher from Pets at Home who, when contacted for a comment, did not respond to the Standard.
You can watch the horrifying moment here…
