--- title: Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet description: Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet canonical: https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-09T19:43:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:15:51.494Z og:title: Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet og:description: Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet og:url: https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9987eff9ae6190aa/6987792e524fc0fad2debd35/dsc_0008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3872 og:image:height: 2178 og:image:alt: Colombian rainbow boa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet twitter:description: Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9987eff9ae6190aa/6987792e524fc0fad2debd35/dsc_0008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a63da8e2-ed89-4857-8a7f-329de1d58187&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Kelli Bender / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Kelli Bender / People Contributor Jan 9, 2015 7:43 PM UTC  Colombian rainbow boa Colombian rainbow boa COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES by [Kelli Bender / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Kelli Bender / People Contributor Jan 9, 2015 7:43 PM UTC Hold on to your toilet lids because things are about to get creepy. A 5½-ft. Colombian rainbow boa slithered out of a San Diego, California toilet on Tuesday, according to the [_Los Angeles Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-snake-downtown-20150107-story.html). The porcelain throne the reptile chose was located at the Vertical Public Relations firm, which occupies a structure built in 1886. Vertical PR’s cofounder, Stephanie Lasca, was the unlucky lady to happen upon the restroom intruder. “I thought my eyes were deceiving me,” Lasca told the _Times_. After seeing the critter’s flickering tongue, Lasca realized she was dealing with a snake and quickly ran from the bathroom to call Animal Services. Handlers sent to apprehend the boa found the snake curled up behind a toilet when they arrived. Aside from biting one of the handlers, the non-venomous reptile was vacated from the bathroom without incident. The snake was taken to a nearby animal care center for examination and appears to be in good health. It was later claimed on Jan. 8. Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet, which means double-flushing from now on might be a good idea. _This_ [_article_](http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/article/0,,20889933,00.html) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/"},"headline":"Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet","datePublished":"2015-01-09T19:43:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:51.494Z","description":"Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet","url":"https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","Bizarre","Snakes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9987eff9ae6190aa/6987792e524fc0fad2debd35/dsc_0008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kelli Bender / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9987eff9ae6190aa/6987792e524fc0fad2debd35/dsc_0008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Colombian rainbow boa","caption":"Colombian rainbow boa","creditText":"COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3662005/snake-slithers-out-toilet/","name":"Snake Slithers Out of San Diego Toilet"}}]}] ```