An Austrian snake lover whose albino python escaped and bit an elderly neighbour on his private parts when he went to relieve himself has been told he can keep the pet.

The OAP was bitten on his genitals during his morning bathroom trip after his neighbour’s albino python escaped through the drain and ended up hiding in the hapless man’s toilet.

The incident took place when 65-year-old Walter Erhard from the Austrian city of Graz popped to the toilet at around 6am on 5th July.

To his huge surprise, he was then bitten on his sensitive area by his neighbour’s 5-foot-long albino python.

The man had just sat on the toilet seat when he felt, in his own words, “a pinch” in his genital area which made him immediately jump to his feet and notice the reptile staring back at him from the toilet bowl.

After calling the police, who also brought reptile expert Werner Stangl to the scene, it was discovered that “the reptile had escaped unnoticed from the neighbour’s apartment and presumably entered the toilet through the sewage system”.

Stangl, who works for the reptile emergency service, said the snake was non-venomous and managed to take it out of the toilet and clean it without harming it after which he handed it back to its owner.

He said: “The python had all of its muscles tensed and pressed itself against the pipe. It was a difficult rescue.”

Police spokesman Markus Lamb said the neighbour is a 24-year-old reptile enthusiast who owns 11 non-venomous snakes and one gecko.

The police prepared a report for prosecutors which found that the python, as well as 10 other snakes and a gecko that he had in his possession, was being properly cared for and the only mystery is how the snake escaped from the terrarium in the first place.

The good news for the reptile enthusiast is tempered by the fact that he still faces charges for negligent bodily harm.

How serious that is depends on whether the police can find out how the snake escaped from its terrarium.

The 65-year-old victim was taken to University Hospital in the city of Graz in Austria by Red Cross volunteers so he could be treated for ‘minor injuries’ and was later released.

The police probe continues.