An Australian woman received an unwelcome surprise when she went to the washroom without the lights on and was bitten by a large snake inhabiting the toilet.

Helen Richards was staying with her sister-in-law in Brisbane鈥檚 Chapel Hill suburb earlier this week when she visited the washroom. She said she felt a 鈥渟harp tap鈥� accompanied by a 鈥渂it of pain,鈥� which she initially attributed to a frog.

鈥淚 jumped up with my pants down and turned around to see what looked like a longneck turtle receding back into the bowl,鈥� she recalled to .

As it turns out, the unexpected guest wasn鈥檛 a frog or a longneck turtle, but a 1.6-metre long carpet python.

by the snake-catching company that responded to the incident, the python was just as frightened of Richards as she was of it.

鈥淯nfortunately, the snake's preferred exit point was blocked after being spooked by the customer sitting down and it simply lashed out in fear,鈥� Snake Catchers wrote. 鈥淚t showed no defensive behaviour after this point.鈥�

The company said one of their snake catchers arrived at the scene with first aid so the woman could clean the small puncture marks left by the snake and spray antiseptic on them. Snake Catchers said it was fortunate that Richards didn鈥檛 flush the toilet after the incident because that would have likely caused the python to retreat down the pipes again.

鈥淭he snake was safely removed and relocated, and the customer handled the situation like an absolute champ, having a sense of humour about it the entire time,鈥� the post read.

Snake Catchers said that although they don鈥檛 see snakes in toilets every day, it鈥檚 still a 鈥渞egular occurrence.鈥� However, the company said it was the first time they had encountered a customer with a bite from a snake in a toilet.

The reptile company advised people not to poke or prod a snake if they find one in their toilet. They also reminded people not to flush the toilet, either.

鈥淧ut the lid down, secure it, and call a snake catcher,鈥� they wrote.

As for Richards, she wanted to warn others to 鈥減eek before you leak.鈥�