Video link at URL
WTSP (Tampa Bay, Florida) 30 December 05 Tiny the 17 foot python goes in for surgery
Tampa, Florida: This morning, the staff at a local veterinary hospital is preparing for surgery with an unusual patient: a 17 foot snake named "tiny"!
Don't let the name fool you, there is nothing tiny about this snake. At 17 feet long and 170pounds, this albino burmese python is a lot to handle.
Dr. Nicolas Maldonado, Veterinarian, FVS: "Normally this is a nice snake but we've been dealing with her, working with her a little bit too much and she's a little bit irritated."
Tiny has been admitted to Florida Veterinary Specialists and Cancer Treatment Center in Tampa. If you look closely you'll see the tip of her tail has turned brown. Doctors say it has started to rot off and they're not sure why.
Maldonado: "We'll probably have to cut all the way up to here. if we end up cutting somewhere up to here there’s the potential all this tissue is going to continue to die."
While the act of cutting about 10 inches of a tail isn't particularly challenging, what Dr. Nicolas Maldonado is worried about, is how his staff is going to be able to restrain Tiny and how the snake will take to the anesthesia. Even putting her back in her cage is a feat itself.
It will take at least four or five people to handle Tiny. The surgery is slated to start at 11 a.m. Friday morning and should take about an hour and a half.
Tiny the 17 foot python goes in for surgery
