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Swallowed — cord, box and blanket

PHOTO: AP

QUITE A MOUTHFUL: Bit off more than it could chew.

Houdini, a 12-foot Burmese python, had to undergo surgery when he swallowed an electric blanket, including its electrical cord and control box. The blanket was meant to keep the snake warm. The snake's owner, Karl Beznoska, said that the blanket may have got caught with the snake's dinner but the snake had managed to unplug the cord. The blanket had gone about eight feet into the digestive tract and it took an 18-inch incision to remove it. Veterinarian Karsten Fostvedt, who conducted the two-hour operation, had never operated on a snake before. Specialists at the University of California — Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who were consulted said it is probable that the reptile would have died without the operation.

R. KRITHIKA

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