“The big fella, a fully grown male weighing 21kg, had sustained quite a bit of injuries from a veld fire. He was quite ‘friendly’ and we were able to catch him without too much trouble,” said Brendan Murray of the Owl Rescue Centre.
The centre was contacted by a concerned farm owner in the Magaliesberg area who spotted the injured snake on their property. “The wounds were not recent and may have been weeks old. They were septic and infested with maggots,” he said.
The python was taken to the Bryanston Avian, Exotic and Small Animal Clinic, where the wounds were treated and bandaged.
“He will be on antibiotics for the next week and will spend a few weeks in our rehabilitation facility. Snakes heal quite slowly. Once he has healed, we will release him in a suitable environment,” Murray said.
