Two massive pythons evicted from Cairns building

A Cairns snake catcher has wrangled two enormous pythons that had made their home inside the roof of an abandoned building due to be demolished.

Cairns Snake Removal owner Dave Walton was called to the Trinity Park site by the property's developer, who was concerned that wildlife had made the derelict building their home.

The concerns were well-founded with Mr Walton and a colleague removing two 4.5m and one 2m Amethystine python that were living in the rafters.

Footage of the operation, posted online on Sunday, shows the massive reptiles appearing relaxed as the snake catchers hold them up for the camera. 

Mr Walton said "when handled the right way" "these giants... can remain quite calm."

"I often see stories and pictures and other snake catchers restraining these pythons by the scruff off their necks. In the right hands this is not neccesary as it only stresses and aggravates the snake making it want to bite and constrict," he said.

Mr Walton told the Brisbane Times that two- to three-metre pythons were "quite common" but not snakes up to four or 5m. 

He said that while the building may seem like an unusual place for a snake to live, the reptiles were "not silly" and would opt for a roof over their head if given the choice.

"They don't get annoyed, they don't get disturbed. It is shelter, who wants to sleep in a tree when you can sleep in someone's roof," he said.

Mr Walton said the location had “all the right ingredients" for snakes to live there, one of them being the close proximity to colonies of wallabies that the pythons prey on.

However, the reptiles will need to find a new home with all three of them being relocated.