FOR more than a year, Flame the corn snake had been given up as lost.

Then, against all odds, the one-metre long pet slithered back to its home in Kings Worthy.

The Clements family in Cedar Close bought Flame in early 2007, but in April 2008, the lid was accidentally left off his tank and he made his escape.

Then earlier this month, Edward Clements, 10, was playing in the front garden when he came across Flame beneath a tree.

Edward’s mother, Kasey, said: “Nobody could believe that a year later he’d come back.

“He must have been living rough all of that time, and even lived through all the snow we had this winter.”

The family is now making sure that the lid on Flame’s tank is kept securely down from now on.

Mrs Clements added: “People were a bit concerned when the snake went missing. They didn’t want to come over for dinner, and friends were reluctant to do sleepovers for a while!”

While the corn snake might look menacing to some, it is not actually venomous.

The species rarely bites and usually eats small prey, such as mice and rats, killing them by constriction.

Their average length when fully grown is between 1.2m to 1.8m, and their native habitat is North America.

They prefer temperatures of between 21c and 29c.