IT was an operation like no other: a python with a broken back, a vet on her first snake surgery and a reptile expert called in to help manage the patient.
The unusual scenario unfolded on Monday night when an almost 3m python was brought to Northside Vet Surgery in Smithfield with a broken spine.
Clinic owner Sheila Gadaloff had never treated a snake and called an expert in Sydney who coached her through the operation over the phone.
"I’ve never treated a snake," she said.
"The only scary thing was putting a tube down its throat to anesthetise it.
"We gave the snake a shot of antibiotics and pain relief and it remained on oxygen through the whole operation."
Ms Gadaloff wrapped a 30cm fibreglass splint around the snake’s injured back while securing it with a special vet wrap which acts like a cast.
The python was bought in by a Clifton Beach resident who accidentally injured the snake’s back while trying to remove it from a chicken pen.
More Cairns snake tales:
- Snake slips in for coffee
- Snake terror in kids' bedroom
- Python eats too much duck
- Man wrestles 5m python in chook pen
- Snake bites man's penis
- Tourists keep snake in tent
