22-06-2015 15:00

A snake in a zoo in Brazil was losing weight. Vets ran some tests and found out that she had a calcified egg in her body. The vets had to perform a life-saving surgery on the 5-metre-long python.

Pythons do not produce venom. Instead, they kill by squeezing the animal with their big, strong bodies. This kind of python lives in Southeast Asia.

The vets cut into the snake’s body near its tail and removed the egg. They also took out 12 underdeveloped eggs. The snake cannot have baby snakes now.

Difficult words: calcified (something that is hard because a lot of calcium covers it), venom (poison), underdeveloped (not ready).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.