Palisades man finds a python on his toilet
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Glenn Taijeron woke up yesterday to find the mother of all toilet rings in his Pacific Palisades home.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Taijeron was barely awake when he lumbered into his second-floor bathroom and found a live snake on his toilet.
This 2-foot-long ball python is being held at the Plant Quarantine Station after it was was found yesterday.
So what's the first thing he does? He calls out for his 15-year-old son.
"He said, 'Junior, Junior, go get the phone and the phone book and call the Humane Society. We have a snake in our bathroom!' " Glenn Jr. said. "I was like, 'Are you serious?' "
The younger Taijeron walked into the bathroom, saw the snake and ran for help.
"I thought my dad was just trying to say something to wake me up so we could get ready to go," said Glenn Jr., 15. "But when I saw it sitting on the toilet, it kind of scared me."
The elder Taijeron called 911 and inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture soon arrived. What they discovered coiled on the toilet seat was a 2-foot-long ball python.
Plant quarantine inspector Domingo Cravalho said ball pythons are nonvenomous and native to West and Central Africa. They are relatively docile and grow to only about 6 feet.
Docile or not, ball pythons and all other snakes are illegal in Hawai'i. Cravalho said the Palisades snake was less than 2 years old and probably was brought into the state as a pet.
Cravalho said the Taijeron family moved to the home just two months ago, and the snake may have already been there.
Once the snake was removed, Glenn Jr. went to summer school at Moanalua High. But he said he didn't share his story with anyone.
"They probably would think I just had one of those weird dreams again," he said.
