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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. 

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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
NSA webinar explores sheep tailing and castration

The National Sheep Association (NSA) is to host a free webinar on the castration and tail docking of lambs.

The webinar, 'Understanding the tailing and castration consultation: A guide for sheep farmers', will be hosted online on Monday, 2 March 2026 at 7.30pm.

It comes during a government consultation into the methods used for these procedures. Farmers are encouraged to engage before the consultation period closes on Monday, 9 March 2026.

The webinar offers clear and actionable guidance to support farmers to contribute meaningfully to the consultation and prepare for potential changes.

On the panel will be former SVS president Kate Hovers, farmer and vet Ann Van Eetvelt and SRUC professor in Animal Health and Veterinary Sciences Cathy Dwyer. Each panel member will utilise their own specialism and expertise to evaluate risks and outcomes to sheep farming.

Find out more about the webinar on the NSA website.