General News
24 March, 2026
Python and owner reunited
A lost python was returned to their owner last week after it escaped in a move more than a month ago.
The actions of a Carisbrook resident saw a lost python reunited with their owner last week after being lost in a move.
Late last Monday, March 16, a Carisbrook resident discovered what at first they thought was a large Burmese python in their woodpile.
Snake catcher Gianni Hodgson, owner of Hodgsons Snakes, was called but was immediately skeptical of the runaways identity.
“That really threw me off a bit,” he said.
That’s because Burmese pythons are classified as a prohibited pest in Victoria meaning the importation, keeping, breeding, and trading of the species, without appropriate permits, is illegal.
“After some photos it turned out just to be a normal carpet python,” he said.
Mr Hodgson said while most of the snakes he meets are native he’s called to a few pythons each year.
Sometimes they’re escaped pets, other times they’re hitchhikers from Queensland, he said you can tell by where they’re found.
“If they’re running around suburbia is generally a good sign they’re an escaped pet,” he said.
Mr Hodgson then organised for the Carisbrook resident, who was familiar with pythons, to catch the snake while he tried to find the owner on Facebook.
He said they quickly responded explaining the snake escaped when they moved around five weeks ago.
It was a happy ending for Mr Hodgson, one he needed, given his dog of 10 years died the week before.
“I had a very hard week and I’m still not quite back to normal yet,” he said.
“It was like losing an arm or a leg to me. It was a really good feeling to have something good happen in that regard.”
Mr Hodgson knows of two other pythons on the loose in Ararat and near Daylesford but warned the community to call an expert for any snake they find.
“Any snake in the Central Goldfields Shire native to the area will be venomous. Always assume you’re looking at a venomous snake, leave it alone, and call someone like myself,” he said.
“It’s also a good story to not be shovel happy because it may end up being someone’s harmless pet they have been looking for for a while and would like to see home rather than in pieces.”