A man who bit off the head of his girlfriend’s pet python’s during a domestic dispute has been seized by police.

The suspect has been named as Kevin Mayorga, 32, and he was arrested by Miami-Dade police in Saga Bay, a neighbourhood in Cutler Bay in southern Florida, after they responded to a report of a couple arguing.

The cops heard the couple fighting and broke down the door after repeated requests to let them in went unanswered and they heard the woman scream, according to local media.

Mayorga reportedly hid behind a door when the police entered and when they located him and tried to arrest him, he allegedly resisted arrest and hit one of the police officers, causing them to taser him and place him in leg restraints.

The woman, who has not been named, reportedly told police after her partner had been restrained that Mayorga had bitten off the head of her pet ball python (Python regius).

The ball python, also called the royal python, is a species native to West and Central Africa.

Mayorga was remanded in custody and has reportedly been charged with domestic violence, resisting an office, false imprisonment, and animal cruelty.

The investigation is ongoing.