Man finds screaming flatmate 'handcuffed' and bitten by pet black-headed python

'She was handling the snake when it bit her on the thumb and proceeded to constrict her hands together,' says snake catcher

The black-headed python 'handcuffing' its owner (The Snake Catcher 24/7/ Facebook)

A man woke up to find his flatmate screaming - after her pet python had bound itself around he hands and bitten her repeatedly.

The woman had been petting the black-headed python at 3am on Thursday morning when the snake attacked at their home in Sunshine Coast, Australia.

The man called snake catcher, Stuart McKenzie, who recounted the story after going to the pair's aid.

Mr McKenzie wrote on his Facebook page: "So I received a call at 3am this morning from a guy who woke up due to the screams of his roommate who had been bitten by her pet black-headed python.

"She was handling the snake when it bit her on the thumb and proceeded to constrict her hands together so she was basically handcuffed and couldn't get it off.

"The guy had no real experience with snakes and they couldn't get the snake to loosen its grip. After the snake had stopped biting her it continued to constrict her hands together like you can see in the photo."

With the snake catcher's advice, it took 20 minutes to uncoil the snake and return it to its enclosure.

Mr McKenzie said the snake may have thought a small mammal was in her hands or that it was unused to being handled late at night.

He told Brisbane Times: "It might have been a food response, maybe it wasn't used to being handled that late at night, something might have set it off, it might have been a bitey snake.

"It can be a response, showing aggression, it could have thought her hands were a small mammal, they do it for a variety of reasons, but usually it is a show of aggression."