A man in Australia was feeding his scrub python (Morelia amethistina) a rat with a pair of barbecue tongs and left the room only to return to fin
A man in Australia was feeding his scrub python (Morelia amethistina) a rat with a pair of barbecue tongs and left the room only to return to find that the python swallowed the rat and the tongs. According to ABC News Australia, Aaron Rouse returned dumbfounded that the snake would eat the tongs and called a veterinarian at Adelaide University.
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The vet, Dr. Oliver Funnell, thought that the snake had swallowed some small tweezers or forceps until he actually saw the snake. "You could basically see the shape of the tongs, and there's a small clip that you slide forward to lock them and you could actually see the outline of that through the snake,” Funnell told ABC News Australia. “You could even see the bumps on the end of the tongs." “Endoscopy was probably not a way to go because dragging the tongs out could have caused damage. The only sensible option was to do surgery."
Funnell made an incision between the scales near the top of the tong and successfully removed them. So what is the lesson to this story?
John B. Virata keeps a western hognose snake, a ball python, two corn snakes, a kingsnake, and two leopard geckos. His first snake, a California kingsnake, was purchased at the Pet Place in Westminster, CA for $5. His first pet reptile was a green anole that arrived in a small box via mail order. Follow him on Twitter @johnvirata
