Japanese police are investigating a resident of the southern city of Osaka after discovering about 80 snakes and poisonous lizards in his apartment, media reports said Tuesday. A neighbour contacted the police after spotting a 1.5-metre-long (4.9 foots) snake on a wall outside the man’s home, said the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.
When police raided the apartment they found dozens of snakes, including a three-metre boa constrictor, as well as a number of lizards. All were being kept in individual containers in the 10-square-metre (108 square foot) room.
Officers seized 25 of the creatures, which were being kept without the necessary permits, the official said.
The owner, a man in his 40s, was not arrested, but the case was sent to the prosecutors’ office on suspicion he had violated the law on the welfare and management of animals, police said.
“The man told us he kept them as pets and fed them on things like frozen mice. We are investigating where he obtained these reptiles,” the police official said.