THOROLD, Ont. — Police in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario are hunting for a number of venomous snakes.

Niagara Region police say the reptiles were stolen on Saturday evening when a home was broken into in Thorold.

The stolen snakes include several juvenile cobra species, rattlesnakes, adders and vipers, and a pregnant albino boa.

The snakes range in size from 12 to 106 centimetres while the nonvenomous pregnant boa is 200 centimetres long and weighs about seven kilograms.

Police caution that a cobra's venom contains neurotoxins that can cause respiratory failure and, eventually, death, and that even baby cobras have full strength venom and can defend themselves just like their parents.

Police say the snakes were being bred in the home for e-commerce and believe the residence was targeted.