THE old Glasgow tenement building had probably seen a few goings-on in its time, but it’s doubtful it had ever before been home to four snakes and two tortoises, all living in a student’s digs.

For owner Ben Price, who was on a five-year vet’s course, they were, shall we say, par for the course. But his flatmate, who was studying to be a dentist, was less enthusiastic.

“He didn’t mind the tortoises, but he wouldn’t go near the snakes,”

said Ben.

“Did you have a flat cleaner?” I asked. “No,” he replied, “We couldn’t get one.”

It reminded me of the time many years ago when I interviewed the wonderful and sadly missed Chris Cox, who went on to open the animal and bird garden at Welland, near Malvern. When Chris was a medical student, a lady used to come in to clean up his room, until one day she pushed the vacuum cleaner under the bed and out slithered his 10ft pet python. The poor woman didn’t stop running for miles.

Snakes, you see, are not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s probably something biblical.

However, Ben, who successfully qualified as a vet and now works for Martin and Carr in Pershore, has no such qualms and happily keeps half a dozen at home.

It’s a fascination that began in his student days. He went to school at Prince Henry’s Evesham and grew up in a family that always had pets about – “dogs, guinea pigs, tortoises, that sort of thing”. But no snakes.

“That started when I went to Glasgow University to study veterinary medicine,” he explained.

“It was a big old tenement building with really good sized rooms, so I had plenty of space. I began by buying a Ruthven’s kingsnake.

“They grow to about 3ft 6ins and they’re non-venomous, although they look as though they are.

However, they do eat other snakes, that’s why they’re called a ‘kingsnake’, so you have to keep them on their own. Otherwise you’d have a very full kingsnake and no others.”

Ben began with a young male with red, blue and yellow markings and then bought a female, unusually hooped in red and white that made it look like a barber’s pole.

In view of the Kingsnake’s culinary aspirations, the pair were kept apart, living in vivariums, large heated boxes. They were followed into the flat by a couple of young royal pythons and a pair of tortoises. Where there was room, the dental student kipped down too.

“Pythons are a lot less active than kingsnakes,” said Ben. “So they only need feeding once every 10-14 days, whereas the kingsnakes eat every week.”

“What?” I asked. “Rats and mice,”

he replied. “You buy them ready killed and frozen.”

In fact, this availability of reptile cuisine is one of the reasons why snakes have become more popular pets in recent years. Perish the thought that I would ever encourage anyone to buy one on a whim or as a “fashion accessory” because as a living thing they do need looking after, but they’re not the trouble they were.

“At one time if you kept a snake you used to have to buy live mice from pet shops and kill them yourself,” said Ben. “Not everyone liked doing that. Now there are firms that produce ready-to-eat rats and mice, a bit like they would for laboratories. They come frozen and you keep them in the freezer until needed.”

Although presumably not next to the Vienetta or the oven-ready chips.

“You can now get vivariums, heat pads and lamps, which all make looking after snakes easier,” Ben added. “In fact, if you get the husbandry right, you should be OK.

I’d say 90 per cent of the problems with reptiles we come across are related to husbandry.”

After all, snakes are hardly likely to break a leg. Although they do shed their skin about once every six weeks and occasionally suffer from what is known as a “retained eyelid”, when the part covering the eye remains in place. Applying some lubricant usually sorts that out.

However, the vet does relate fairly graphic tales of gluing back together the shells of tortoises that have been attacked by dogs. Amazingly this can be done and is largely successful. The veterinary equivalent of a tube of Bostik working wonders.

With six snakes in his Pershore home, you might think Ben could be short of a few friends to come round and visit, so it’s just as well his girlfriend’s a vet too.

“She’s quite interested in them,”

he said. “Although, it’s just best to keep clear of the one python when it gets a bit grumpy.”

“What,” I asked, “does a grumpy python look like?”

“It vibrates its tail and hisses,” he replied. “It’s a female.”

Enough said.