Cage Erupts During Snake Dance Story

Movie star Nicolas Cage left American chat show king David Letterman speechless on Thursday night (04SEP03) with a tirade of foul language as he chatted about his new pets - a pair of king cobra snakes.

Cage, appearing on the late-night talk show to promote new movie MATCHSTICK MEN, began by calmly describing how he likes to sit in a specially-constructed cell he has at home, drinking wine and watching his snakes Moby and SHEBA.

But the eccentric actor went too far when he tried to describe the look his caged albino, Moby, gives him from time to time.

Cage explained, "Sometimes Moby will do this little charming snake dance and show his back to me and he's got this little round, circular pattern on his back and he's doing this dance.

"Every now and then he'll turn around and go, 'Fuck you, motherf**ker. I wanna f**king kill you.' So after that I say good night kids, I have to go upstairs and lie down and think about what just happened.

"It's kinda like driving 190 miles per hour in a sportscar with a scotch - the adrenalin levels goes up."

A shocked Letterman regained his composure and later asked Cage, "What does your snake say again?"

Cage revealed he keeps the antidote to a venomous snake bite by the side of his pets' cage - because he has only 15 minutes to live if he's bitten.