A little boy has been bitten and attacked by a python while asleep at home in the Australian town of Macksville.

Six-year-old Tyler Thurgood screamed with fear as the three-metre carpet python curled itself around him bit him several times on his face and hand.

Mum Tamara described how she ran into the boy’s room and tore the snake from her child.

“It was like a nightmare,” she told the Nambucca Heads, the local newspaper for the New South Wales town.

“It was a terrifying scream and I didn’t know what had happened – I certainly didn’t think it involved a snake.

“I have no idea how it even got into the house.

“I tried to pull Tyler from the bed but he didn’t come with me … I had to roll him, then pull.

“I saw his face and the blood and his eyes were still closed so I don’t think he was fully awake.

“I tried to check him over but he wouldn’t let me touch him anywhere.”

Relatives arrived at the home soon after and killed the snake, while Ms Thurgood took her son to hospital – he was released the same day.

“Tyler doesn’t remember anything – which is the best part,” Tamara said.

“He was only complaining about his finger hurting. He tapped his head on the way to hospital and he asked me why he was bleeding.

“He wouldn’t know that a snake had bitten him if we hadn’t told him or if people hadn’t been talking about it.”

A local reptile handler said it was the first time he had heard of such an incident, despite having worked with snakes for more than 10 years.

Another expert said it was possible the python had gone for the child, not realising how big he really was.

Credit: Yahoo