Adelaide resident Aaron Rouse was feeding his pet python, Winston, a rat, and when the snake smelled its dinner, it immediately reacted, taking the rodent and the tongs in one swift swallow. Rouse, fearing for his pet’s life, immediately took Winston to the hospital.
Winston, a woma python, was taken to the University of Adelaide’s Companion Animal Health Centre by his owner. Attending surgeon, Dr. Oliver Funnell, talked with CNN by telephone about what happened after Winston was seen.
Dr. Funnell at first thought it would be a snap to remove the tongs using a pair of forceps, but on closer examination, it was apparent the tongs were already well -lodged in Winston’s digestive tract. “You could feel the outline of the tongs through the snake,” he said by phone from Adelaide.
Regurgitation could be fatal for Winston
Because of the sharp ends on the barbecue tongs, it was a possibility the python could be injured or even die if he was made to regurgitate the tongs. “There was a chance (he could have regurgitated the tongs) but they were too far in,” Funnell said. “Even dragging them out could have been fatal.”
The only other option proved to be emergency surgery. Dr. Funnell, with the assistance of veterinary students. performed the 25-minute surgery. The surgeon made an incision near the widest part of the barbecue tongs. “We are a teaching hospital and the students helped all along — they got a lot out of it,” said Funnell.
“With reptiles you have to make an incision between the scales and we just made it over the big end [of the tongs] because that was further away from some of the vital organs like the heart and the lungs,” Funnell said.
Winston is recuperating and healing well. Dr. Funnell said he saw Winston on follow-up a few days after surgery, and he has been drinking water. “We won’t feed him for two to four weeks, but the incisions are healing nicely,” Funnell said.
The Woma python of Australia
Aspidites ramsayi, commonly called the Ramsey’s python, woma python or sand python, is endemic to Australia. Once common throughout the Western part of the country, the woma python has become critically endangered in some regions.
The woma python was named after Australian zoologist Edward Pierson Ramsay. Adult woma pythons average about 4.5-feet in length, although they can reach lengths of up to 7.5 feet. One interesting bit of information about the woma python is that it is one of two members of the Aspidites species that are pit-less. This means they lack the heat-sensing pits of all other pythons.
In the wild, members of the Aspidites species feed on other reptiles, although they will take warm-blooded mammals in captivity. This is perhaps the reason why they didn’t develop heat-sensing pits. All in all, an easy to handle and gentle pet. Don’t you just the love the name, Winston, too?
