This is the nerve-wracking moment a snake slithered across a living room floor while pet dogs and a cat napped on a sofa.

Pet owner Anthony Abejero was in the toilet while his two beagles and Siamese cat were sleeping when the 6ft Oriental rat snake entered his apartment in Manila, the Philippines.

CCTV footage shows the canines, named Rusty and Zoey, lying on the grey couch with Kokomi, the resting feline, on September 20.

Moments later, the reptile carefully glided across the floor and briefly lay still.

Anthony then came out of the room and switched off the light when he noticed the snake on the ground.

Terrified by what he saw, he kept his distance and even accidentally woke up the unsuspecting dogs when he gasped in fear.

The black serpent then crawled into an overturned wooden crate behind the door before eventually escaping through a gap in the doorway.

The frantic homeowner slammed the bar barrier attached to the door to scare the snake.

Meanwhile, the pooches watched and moved off the sofa, wagging their tails in front of Anthony.

He then checked on his still-sleeping cat, Kokomi, who seemed unfazed by what had happened.

Anthony recalled that when he first came out, he thought it was just a belt lying on the floor. He even assumed his dogs had been playing with it, so he casually turned off the lights. However, he realised that he does not own a belt.

He said: 'My mind froze. I didn't know what to do. I tried to stay quiet, because if my pets noticed it, they might go near and get hurt.

'I decided to let the snake crawl into a crate so I could slip outside and call the animal rescuers for help. When I thought it had finally settled inside, I was about to leave—but then I noticed its head poking through a small gap near the door. I panicked and screamed.

'Desperate, I thought maybe if I slammed the metal railings, it would scare the snake away. Thankfully, it worked. The snake slithered out of the house, and I could finally breathe again.'

The Oriental ratsnake is a non-venomous species in the Philippines that feeds on rats, birds, and frogs, and poses no threat to humans and other animals.