Lucky escape for blanket scoffing python
By Steve Robinson
A twelve-foot Burmese python had a lucky escape on Tuesday morning after his owner discovered he had consumed an entire queen-size electric blanket.
The python, fittingly called Houdini, underwent emergency surgery for two hours to remove the blanket, which the snake had ingested along with the control box and power cord.
Owner Karl Beznoska of Ketchum in Idaho, US, noticed on Monday that the snake did not look well, and started to worry when he could not find the electric blanket used to keep the cage warm. When Houdini was taken to the vets, X-rays revealed a mass of tangled wires running through the python. Neither vet had operated on a snake before, and so the vet was only able to perform the life-saving surgery after telephone contact with two specialists.
Mr Beznoska believes that the blanket must have become entangled in the rabbit dinner the snake had received, and the snake simply consumed the both items. The vets commented that it would have taken the Python over six hours to ingest the whole blanket. Had it not been removed, they added, Houdini would surely have died later that day.
The 27kg (60lb) python has been with Mr Beznoska for 16 years, and is a popular figure in the community, appearing at libraries and schools in the area.
"The kids just love him," Beznoska said.
He has been given the all-clear from the vets and is now on the road to recovery: another lucky escape for Houdini.
To read more about Steve or to view more of his articles click here
The python, fittingly called Houdini, underwent emergency surgery for two hours to remove the blanket, which the snake had ingested along with the control box and power cord.
Owner Karl Beznoska of Ketchum in Idaho, US, noticed on Monday that the snake did not look well, and started to worry when he could not find the electric blanket used to keep the cage warm. When Houdini was taken to the vets, X-rays revealed a mass of tangled wires running through the python. Neither vet had operated on a snake before, and so the vet was only able to perform the life-saving surgery after telephone contact with two specialists.
Mr Beznoska believes that the blanket must have become entangled in the rabbit dinner the snake had received, and the snake simply consumed the both items. The vets commented that it would have taken the Python over six hours to ingest the whole blanket. Had it not been removed, they added, Houdini would surely have died later that day.
The 27kg (60lb) python has been with Mr Beznoska for 16 years, and is a popular figure in the community, appearing at libraries and schools in the area.
"The kids just love him," Beznoska said.
He has been given the all-clear from the vets and is now on the road to recovery: another lucky escape for Houdini.
To read more about Steve or to view more of his articles click here
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