It took a team for this slithery patient at Zoo Miami to get her annual exam
Even a snake needs a checkup every once in a while.
But how do you give a nearly 100-pound, 13-foot green anaconda a physical exam?
Very carefully.
On Thursday, Zoo Miami assembled a team to hold the massive constrictor as it received the full workup: Blood, X-rays, mouth and eye exams and an ultrasound.
“Fortunately, she was relatively calm during the procedure and required minimal restraint,” said Ron Magill, a spokesman for the zoo.
The good news: She is healthy. And has since been returned to her habitat in the zoo’s Amazon and Beyond exhibit adjacent to the Flooded Forest Building.
Anacondas, which are nonvenomous, are the world’s largest snakes. They can grow to over 20 feet long and weigh over 500 pounds though most do not get that large.
The snake’s exam is part of the zoo’s preventive medicine program.
“Because wild animals generally hide any symptom of being ill or injured until the problem becomes so severe that treatment becomes a much greater challenge, the animal health team performs regular exams on a wide variety of the animals that live at the zoo with the main goal of diagnosing any potential problems before they become serious,” Magill said.
