GRANITEVILLE — A man was bitten by his illegal and highly venomous pet viper inside his home, forcing him to decapitate the reptile to get free, police said.
Michael Larneard, 27, was cleaning the tank of his gaboon viper inside his Richmond Avenue apartment at about 10:47 p.m. on Friday when the snake bit his arm, according to the NYPD.
He tried to get free from the snake's fangs — which can be up to 2 inches — but couldn't and had to eventually cut off the reptile's head to release the grip, police said.
Larneard was taken to Jacobi Medical Center — the regional center for snakebites in the area — for treatment, police said.
Doctors didn't find any venom in his arm and he was released Saturday afternoon, the New York Daily News reported.
Police also found a boa constrictor in Larneard's apartment and he was issued two summonses because both reptiles are illegal to keep as pets in the city, police said.
Gaboon vipers have the longest fangs of any snake and can grow up to 7 feet long, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
They have the highest venom yield in snakes — so bites are often fatal — but tend to be calm and docile so rarely bite humans, according to the Los Angeles Zoo.
