Safe Snake Services - Lismore & surrounds

07/09/2026

Do you have a resident carpet python who has emerged to soak up some beautiful spring sunshine? 🐍🌼
Spring brings the start of the mating season which means we might see more snakes than usual as males move around to visit females in their home ranges.
It’s a good time to be extra cautious with our pets and snake-proofing at home.
If you find you have more than one python, do not despair, the visiting python/s will go back to their own home after a short while, maybe a week or two.
It’s fascinating and can be quite confronting to see the males in combat, they twist around each other, while pushing each others heads down, like a snake version of an arm wrestling match.
Once the dominant male has won the battle he will pair up with the female for a while. In some cases multiple pythons stay together for the mating period. But it doesn’t last too long.

⚠️We will also see a lot more snakes crossing the roads right now. Since we are all experts at dodging potholes in the Northern Rivers, we can use those same sharp eyes to spot snakes and other wildlife and avoid injuring or killing them.
The wildlife hospitals get inundated with animals over spring-time, the least we can do is our best to be safe on the roads.

See below pics of some local pythons recently encountered in Lismore, Goonellabah, Alstonville, Pimlico and Eltham.

Safe Snake Servicesss ☎️ 0458 732 022

Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital

19/08/2026

The value of having our very own wildlife hospital is beyond measure. It enables local wildlife rescue volunteers to have a place close-by to take our rescues, saving us a lot of fuel and time and therefore being more available to respond to urgent calls in our area. The animals have a much better chance at survival when they are attended to quickly.
Before we had the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital at Wollongbar, volunteers were constantly driving animals to Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital and Currumbin WH. As much as we love and value these incredible organisations, the driving takes a toll on us and puts more wildlife at risk by being on the roads.
The level of expertise & care provided by the staff and their volunteers are exceptional.

Let’s help support a worthy cause, for the love of our amazing wildlife! ♥️❤️🐍🦘🦔🦢🐢🦅🐣

Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital urgently needs your help.

As a community-owned not-for-profit, we provide veterinary treatment and care to sick, injured and orphaned native wildlife completely free of charge. We rely on funding and support from government, Councils, donors and our community to continue providing this care.

Right now, that support is not enough.

And with H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) expected to reach our region, our wildlife needs us more than ever.

We are calling on our community to help Save Our Wildlife Hospital by donating, sharing our story or connecting us with people and organisations who may be able to provide financial support.

Can you help, or do you know someone who can?

Please donate, share or contact us at [email protected]

We cannot afford to lose our hospital.



https://nrwh.com.au/donate/

18/08/2026

Common tree snake! The blue colour is just their smurfy skin showing between the scales when puffing up to look fierce and scary! For a completely harmless snake, they are quite formidable! 💛🩵

06/08/2026

Well, it seems snake season has officially arrived! 🐍🌼

I’ve had to come out of my own sort of brumation and jump straight back into action this week!

Monday started with two beautiful carpet pythons needing to be safely rescued and relocated from a house in North Lismore that was about to be demolished. From there it was off to Koonorigan, where a harmless common tree snake had brought kitchen renovations to a standstill after settling into a wall cavity.

The week kept me on my toes with:
🐍 A big eastern brown snake from Dunoon. (Highly venomous)
🐍 A brown tree snake tucked inside an electrical switch at Modanville. (Mildly venomous)
🐍 An eastern small-eyed snake inside an electrical box. (Highly venomous)
🐍 A red-bellied black snake in Ballina. (Highly venomous)
🐍 Another stunning carpet python in Lismore. (Non-venomous)
🦎 And to top it all off…a gorgeous little pink-tongued skink in Goonellabah that had been mistaken for a snake after only a tiny part of it was spotted inside a toolbox!

Whether it’s a harmless skink or a venomous snake, every animal deserves calm, respectful handling and the chance to continue playing their part in our environment.
Remember, snakes are not out to get us, they simply follow their noses seeking out habitat, food & mates.

A few simple steps can greatly reduce the chances of an unwanted encounter around your home:
-Keep areas around the house tidy by removing clutter.
-Trim shrubs and garden beds back and lift foliage off the ground where practical, especially in areas where children and pets play.
-Before gardening, have a good look through the area. Using a rake to gently disturb long grass or dense vegetation before using machinery or putting your hands in will encourage any hidden wildlife to move away.

If this week is anything to go by, I think we’re in for a very busy spring💚

Stay safe & give us a call if you have any snake concerns 🙂
Safe Snake Services ☎️ 0458 732 022

15/06/2026

When an eastern brown snake needs to go to the wildlife hospital to assess injuries, this is how it happens.
The vet/vet nurses involved are venomous snake trained. We release the snake into a small room with no obstacles in it, except for the people and the only place to hide, a snake tube. Snake tubes come in a range of sizes. We pick the size that fits. The snake inevitably goes into the tube, giving us a chance to pick it up. Allowing the snake to self-navigate to the tube allowed the vet to assess the snakes abilities, in this case. So much less stress for the snake to minimise human contact.
Standing dead still the snake does not even know we are there.

The eastern brown snake had to be euthanised. He had sustained injuries from what looked like a large dog attack (hope the dog is unharmed!).
The previous week I rescued another eastern brown snake that had been hit by a car in Diadem Street.
⚠️ Warning to the public that some of the condemned flood houses in Lismore have become rat habitat. Snakes, naturally, will follow. Please be very careful walking dogs around empty/neglected houses. While snakes are good at avoiding people, dogs often go sniffing scents of rodents and might encounter a snake 🐍

A biiiig thanks to the staff at the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital for always doing their very best to save our animals ❤️‍🩹♥️

Safe Snake Services ☎️ 0458 732 022

31/05/2026

Autumn snake mash-up! It’s been a busy last couple of months with moving house and working inbetween, regular trips to the wildlife hospital and loving all the rainbows the rain brought along 🌈🐍🐍🐍 Snakes included here are coastal carpet pythons, common tree snakes, brown tree snakes, some highly venomous eastern browns, red bellied black snakes, eastern small eyed snake, a lost pet children’s python, dwarf crowned snake and a tiny blackish blind snake. Available in the Northern Rivers, extending towards Evans Head now. Safe Snake Services - Lismore & surrounds

29/04/2026

Southern dwarf crowned snakes rescued from a swimming pool in Lismore.
We see a lot of this species in the Northern Rivers. Often mistaken for baby eastern brown snakes, these small snakes are completely safe to have in your garden. They can be identified by the little yellow band at the back (nape) of the neck.
Although they are classified as venomous, their venom is very mild and the snake so small that they pose no risk of harm.
Dwarf crowned snakes are nocturnal, shy hunters of small skinks.
Swimming pools with deep edges should have a ‘frog saver’ installed, a simple ramp that allows any creature to get itself out of a pool if they fall in. You can easily make one by securing a mat or piece of shade cloth on the edge of the pool with a brick or rock so that one end of it hangs in the water, creating a way out.

Remember that occasionally a dangerously venomous snake may also end up in the swimming pool, please reach out to a wildlife rescue group or snake handler for ID and rescue assistance if this happens!🐍🛟

Safe Snake Services ☎️ 0458 732 022
WIRES ☎️ 1300 094 737
Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers ☎️ 6628 1866

13/04/2026

Common tree snake rescue! 🐍 (non-venomous)

An elderly resident of Lismore Heights got the fright of her life when she unexpectedly saw a snake dangling out the air vent in her outside bathroom. She was unsteady on her feet and it worried her that she could fall if it happened again.
By the time I arrived the snake had become tangled in the fishing net that was leaning against the wall. Because the entanglement was attended to quickly, the snake sustained no injuries.

This scenario highlights three important things!
•tree snakes use this sort of gap (weep holes, air vents, any little hole leading into the walls/ceilings) to get in and out of places they like to live in. This is why so many people get baby tree snakes appearing inside their homes during hatching season. The wall cavities provide the perfect incubation conditions and when the babies hatch they follow the light to get outside but sometimes find themselves in your living room! Gaps like this can be blocked with gauze.

•Netting! It’s such hazardous stuff, wherever it goes. Netting should be stored in a sealed bag and only wildlife-safe netting (available at Bunnings) should be used around the garden. If you can poke your finger through the netting, it’s the hazardous type. Disposing of bad netting- seal tightly in a bag so it doesn’t continue to be a problem.

•The third important thing here is the fright-factor. It doesn’t matter how harmless a snake is, getting a big fright can cause physical injury and anxiety.
If you are afraid of snakes, setting up your environment to minimise the chances of an encounter (declutter homes and gardens, put weather strips on doors that lead outside, store garbage away from the house, etc) and even practice desensitising yourself with toy snakes.
Educate yourself on local common species and learn about their behaviour. A lot of people have overcome their fears by following snake ID pages on facebook &/or watching snake catchers videos. By doing this you will see snakes are mostly predictable creatures and can be managed.
Call your local snake catcher if you need to talk through a snake situation. We always love to help.

Safe Snake Services
☎️ 0458 732 022
0488 906 896

08/04/2026

An East Lismore resident had called a pest control service about a big, pesky rat that just wouldn’t go away. Little did she know that the rat had already drawn the attention of natures most effective rat eliminator, the deadly eastern brown snake!
Just the snakes tail-tip was seen by the pest control man quickly disappearing into the skirting of a built-in cabinet so we had no idea what species we were dealing with. To my surprise it was a big eastern brown! With some careful extraction the snake was caught!
Built-in cabinets in the house that have the big cavity along the bottom -those are breeding grounds for rodents & cockroaches. Consider replacing with open shelves where appropriate, to stop pests 🐀🪳

It’s worth mentioning how well behaved the snake was on release. I had Billy, our curious, giant poodle right beside me (he knows to sit still), we were very close to the snake and all the snake wanted to do was find cover, a place of safety.
Eastern browns always prefer to get away rather than attack, if they can see that they have a choice.
Being still and calm gives the snake a chance to think and move off without any drama.
A great way to stay calm around snakes is to breathe slowly and deliberately. It not only settles your nerves, but also helps you appear less threatening, giving the snake the confidence to leave peacefully 🐍😮‍💨

Safe Snake Services ☎️ 0458 732 022

01/04/2026

The snake, the frog and the toad! Yesterday I was called to rescue an unknown snake who was trapped in a drain and found two companions also needing some help.
The snake turned out to be a marsh snake, they’re mildly venomous, very reclusive and will only bite if handled or harassed. They’re a small snake and can be identified by the two fine, white lines on each side of the head. A little warmth and the snake was fine!
The beautiful green tree frog hopped off to a nearby hiding place 🐸
I carefully removed the cane toad and because cane toads are a major invasive, poisonous and harmful species in Australia it was best to remove from the environment. The fridge to freezer method is the kindest way to deal with cane toads (12 hours in the fridge, then 24 hours in the freezer, and they just go to sleep before/during euthanasia)
If you have a hazardous pit-type drain on your property you can cover the grid with fly screen mesh to prevent small animals from falling in 👍💛

Safe Snake Services ☎️ 0458 732 022