Nigerians have been advised to improve their sanitation habit and adopt frequent fumigation to forestall the invasion of snakes in water closet systems and homes.
This advise was dished out by environmentalists who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday.
Mr Amos Alao, an Architect and an Environmental Enthusiast, said that the search for rats and rodents made the water closet a safe haven for snakes.
According to him, the invasion of snakes in water closets can also be attributed to the present warm weather condition.
On the way out of the current crisis, Mr Amos Alao stated that the closure of cracks and holes around septic tanks will forestall snakes’ invasion of water closets.
“It is possible to have a snake lurking in our water closet systems but not inside the septic tank or soak away but around it.
“Septic tanks have faeces in them and there is no how snakes can survive inside them. However the snakes can survive in corners or cracks around the septic tanks and ‘soak away’.
“One reason why you find snakes around septic tanks is because they are in search of rats. Rodents are food to most reptiles especially snakes.
“Typically snakes do not enter a place and come out the same way they entered. When they enter cracks in the septic tanks they have no other place to come out from than the water closets.
“Snakes in water closet is possible and not fictitious or a myth. Snake can come into the WCs through the pipes connected to them.
“To prevent the recurrence of snakes in our WCs, we should quickly close up cracks and openings around the septic tanks,” Alao said.
The expert also urges Nigerians to ensure that the bush and shrubs are cleared often, adding that fumigation in and around the home is also encouraged.
“If you eliminate rats, you will eliminate snakes from gaining access into your homes,
“When you eliminate cockroaches you also eliminate scorpions from coming into the house,” the architect said.
The Founder of Bridge-that-Gap Initiative, an Environmental Non-profit organisation, Ms Gloria Bulus, said that a tidy environment would prevent the emergence of snakes and other harmful reptiles in homes.
“The emergence of snakes in WCs can be closely linked to the tidiness of the environment.
“Are there bushes and shrubs around the house?
“There are lots of questions around the invasion of snakes in water closet systems and to an extent one cannot rule out the mythical aspects of their emergence.
“We do not know how practical the advice of people pouring fuel and salt in their water closet is but we can advise them to keep their environment tidy.
“Possible habitats for snakes and other harmful reptiles should be discouraged to prevent further invasion,” Bulus said.