Missing venomous Green Mamba snake found in owner's Tilburg home

The venomous Greem Mamba that has been missing in Tilburg since early this week was found in the owner's home, the City of Tilburg said in a statement. "It was hiding behind a wall in the attic," the municipality confirmed, noting that the wall where it was found was made from drywall.

The snake was in good condition. The snake was "alert and active," said Freek Vonk, a television personality and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam professor. "It was able to drink enough water, and the animal is in very good health!"

The Greem Mamba was initially thought to have escaped from a home on Goudenregenstraat. The owner was unable to find it on Monday, triggering an alert from Tilburg officials as the snake two-meter snake is extremely venomous.

Snake expert Walter Getreuer told Omroep Brabant on Thursday night that he believed the Green Mamba was still in the Tilburg residence. He participated in a second search of the home with his sniffer dog for the second time on Thursday. He concluded the snake was almost certainly behind a plaster wall in the house.

“The owner made holes in the wall. At one hole, my dog sat down and hyperventilated. That is a very clear sign that he smells something. The dog also sat down near the tool the snake owner uses to grab the snake,” Getreuer said, adding that mesh was placed in front of the drilled holes, so his dog was in no danger of getting bitten.

At that point, the snake had yet to emerge from behind the wall. “But it is almost certain that the animal is behind that plaster wall,” Getreuer told Omroep Brabant. “We saw heating pipes where the dog sat down. A snake is a tropical animal that needs warmth, so the place makes sense.”

The owner planned to continue to break down the wall in the hope of catching the Green Mamba. According to Getreuer, there were no exits from that part of the home which could reach the outdoors.