Snake Saved By Veterinarian After It Ate Beach Towel

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Snake Saved By Veterinarian After It Ate Beach Towel

The 18-year-old jungle carpet python went home the same day, a little hungry but otherwise healthy.

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A jungle carpet python (Morelia spilota cheynei) that had eaten a beach towel was saved when a veterinarian at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia went to work and were able to extract the towel from the digestive tract of the reptile. 

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jungle carpet python eats beach towel

SASH

Staff at SASH were able to safely extract the beach towel from the stomach of Monty, an 18-year-old jungle carpet python.
 

Dr. Olivia Clarke and assistants at SASH went to work on the 18-year old snake named Monty Python, anaesthetisizing and taking radiographs to determine where the towel was located. She was then scoped so staff could direct very long forceps down her intestinal tract to grab the towel. After a few moments, the towel was safely removed from Monty. 

It is unknown why the snake ate the towel, but some are known to eat things that they aren’t supposed to, like bottles, tongs, and even golf balls. 

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A video of the procedure posted by SASH went viral last week on CBS News with more than 10 million views. Monty is reportedly doing well and is back in the care of her keeper. 

Monty Python isn’t the first constrictor that we know of that ate a towel. Back in 2014, we wrote a story about Killer, a boa constrictor that also ate a towel. In this case, surgery was required to safely remove the obtrusion. Lesson in these incidents, keep towels away from large constricting snakes!

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