CHORLEY GUARDIAN (UK) 28 December 06 Meet my latest squeeze...
At six foot long and strong enough to kill a wild pig, you wouldn't want your pet boa constrictor to worry about a mouth ulcer.
But for the owners of the unnamed snake in Astley Village it was a serious matter when a small cut by the side of the boa constrictor's mouth got infected and it became too painful to eat.
The cranky reptile lives with her new owners Danielle Whittingham and Matthew Stark, of Buckshaw Hall Close, and was rushed in to see the vet when she stopped eating.
The snake, who hasn't been named yet, needed an op at Hillcrest Animal Hospital in Chorley to remove the abscess and even bit someone at the practice who was handling her.
Vet Vincent Wager, who deals with exotic patients, had to put her under anaesthetic to remove the dead tissue and get rid of the infection.
Antibiotics were put into the wound before stitching her back up.
She's now recovering at home with their other pet snake and is expected to make a good recovery, but Danielle admits that it's been a worrying time.
"She must be in a lot of pain," she told the Guardian. "She's usually really good around everyone. She's not eaten for a while now so that's probably getting her down as well."
Vince said: "It's a bit unusual for snakes to get an abscess like that. I would hope that she'll be a lot more comfortable now. I expect that she'll be fully better within three to four weeks but unfortunately there's quite a high chance it'll come back."
The owners will have to inject their pet snake with antibiotics for the next week.
Meet my latest squeeze...

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• GBR Press: Meet my latest squeeze... - W von Papineäu, Thu Dec 28 17:40:40 2006