He hit the jackpot, but not the kind anyone would want. A carpet python in Australia was blanketed in ticks – 511, to be exact. Snake catchers arriving at a home Thursday found the snake, who was given the name Nike, in a pool, apparently trying to drown his unwanted guests, according to Yahoo News. FLORIDA SNAKE HUNTERS MARK 1,000TH PYTHON KILL TO FIGHT EVERGLADES INFESTATION Some did fall into the water, but hundreds clung on. Someone commenting on the Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher Facebook page said: “This poor carpet python was living with a whopping 511 ticks….Wow.” Vets at the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital worked for hours to remove the ticks from Nike. DEADLY SNAKE FOUND IN COUPLE'S BEDROOM AIR CONDITIONER “There are still tiny young ones under the scales that will be treated with drugs to kill them…,” the Facebook post said. Nike’s plight drew sympathy and shock on social media. “OMG! That’s a huge tick infestation – poor python carrying that load – so glad it was found, hoping it will be in recovery mode soon,” said one post. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP “Thank you for giving him care and doing your best to restore his health,” another said.<doc-sep>Images of a rare tick infestation on a python rescued in Australia have gone viral, showing the snake covered from top to tail in over 500 of the parasites. The carpet python, which has been named 'Nike' was found lying in a swimming pool on Queensland's Gold coast. Read more: Venomous snakes could be on the loose in south Carolina after Hurricane Florence flooding Tony Harrison, 51, a local pest controller who rescued the snake told Newsweek the animal was close to dying by the time he reached it. "It had been that way for a number of months," he said. "It wouldn't have lasted much longer if we hadn't found it then." The number of ticks on Nike, eventually found to be over 500, was unlike anything Harrison had ever seen. He described picking up the snake as like "holding a bag of marbles. It was like all the ticks were little balls moving in my hands." While he regularly finds snakes with ticks, the parasites are not usually life threatening and the experienced animal handler would never usually look for veterinarians to intervene. "It's mother nature's way," Harrison explained. In this case, however, treatment for the python at a wildlife clinic was crucial. Harrison said he could see there were "multiple generations of ticks" on the snake and an underlying illness could have allowed the parasites to overwhelm Nike. This suspicion was later confirmed by the clinicians who found the reptile had an infection. Since the snake's rescue, concerned individuals have tracked its recovery on social media. It took the veterinarians treating Nike hours to remove the total of 511 ticks. That amount is only the number of ticks they could see. Other smaller ticks that lie beneath the scales will have to be killed off with drug treatment. Snake expert Associate Prof Bryan Fry from the University of Queensland told the BBC that snakes often pick up small numbers of ticks and similar parasites in the wild. He added, however, that in normal circumstances the animals' natural defences should protect them. "Clearly it was a seriously unwell animal to have had its natural defences so broken down," Associate Professor Fry said. He agreed that Nike would likely have perished without treatment. Since the snake's rescue, Thursday the animal has been recovering well. With the ticks removed, swelling around its face has visibly reduced. Nike has been looking more and more energetic, Harrison said but added that the snake was still had to undergo a great deal more treatment and recovery before its release.<doc-sep>An Australian snake catcher has rescued a carpet python with more than 500 ticks attached to it from a swimming pool in the Queensland city of Brisbane. Tony Harrison said he was called out to remove the snake from a property in the town of Coolangatta on Thursday. Read more: The Burmese python and the fight for the Florida Everglades Harrison live-streamed the rescue on his Facebook page "Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher," and said that in 26 years of snake catching he had never seen such a severe case of ticks. "He's got hundreds of ticks on him. That's why he's in the water; he's trying to drown them," Harrison said. The snake, which has been named Nike, was taken to the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, where vets spent hours counting and removing 511 ticks from its body. There are still tiny young ones under the snake's scales that will be treated with medication, according to the snake catcher's Facebook page. Record-breaking snakes The most venomous snake The inland taipan produces the most toxic venom in the snake kingdom. Researchers estimate that one bite could kill more than 100 men. The taipan's venom is specially adapted to kill warm-blooded animals. It affects the nervous system, the blood and the muscles. The species lives in semi-arid regions in Australia and is strictly protected. Record-breaking snakes The deadliest snake Though its venom only kills one out of 10 untreated people, the aggressiveness of this snake means it bites quickly and often. This is why the saw-scaled viper is considered the world's deadliest snake, killing the most people. Venomous snakes have diamond-shaped pupils, like cats. Non-venomous snakes have round pupils, like humans. But remember: there is no rule without exceptions! Record-breaking snakes The largest snake The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world. Living in the dark, deep waters of the South American jungle, some anacondas have been reported to be up to 8.8 meters (29 feet) long. The average anaconda is only about 4 meters long. They are very robust snakes and packed with muscles which they use to kill their prey by wrapping around it and slowly suffocating it. Record-breaking snakes Even larger The green anaconda is nothing compared to the titanoboa. This pre-historic snake was a true giant. The photo shows a python creeping over a single vertebra of titanoboa cerrejonensis discovered in Colombia. Fossils suggest titanoboas could grow up to 13 meters long and weigh 1,135 kilograms (2502 pounds). Like the green anaconda, they probably lived in or very close to water, 40 million years ago. Record-breaking snakes The smallest snake The Barbados threadsnake is about 10 centimeters long and, according to its discoverer "about as wide as a spaghetti noodle." It feeds on termites and ant larvae and is found only on the Caribbean island of Barbados. S. Blair Hedges, a herpetologist from Pennsylvania State University, discovered the species in 2008. Record-breaking snakes The greediest snake Snakes have a flexible lower jaw that enables them to swallow animals twice their own size. But sometimes even that is too much for them. In 2005, in the Everglades National Park in Florida, a python exploded after trying to swallow a whole alligator. The snake was found with the alligator's tail sticking out of its midsection. Seems like someone got a bit greedy. Record-breaking snakes A master of camouflage Just a leaf? No, it's a gaboon viper. The form and color of its head resembles a leaf perfectly, enabling the ambush predator to wait patiently for prey coming by in the African rainforests. It has the longest fangs of all snakes - up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) - and is also very venomous. The snake is not at all aggressive, though. Only very few people are bitten by it. Record-breaking snakes The sneakiest snake This guy, the scarlet kingsnake, is non-venomous. But it doesn't want other animals to know that. So it mimics the venomous coral snake which has the same tricolored pattern of black, red and white. It's a sneaky way to tell predators to get lost. Record-breaking snakes Most water-loving snake Snakes are everywhere - you can even find them at a coral reef. Some of those sea snakes are really venomous. Unlike fish, they do not have gills and need to get up to the surface regularly to breathe. Sea snakes can grow up to 3 meters (9.8 feet), but the majority only grows up to 1.5 meters. This species, the banded sea snake, regularly returns to land to digest its food, rest and reproduce. Record-breaking snakes Snakes that fly This snake can propel itself forward by thrusting its body up and away from a tree. That's why it is commonly known as the "flying snake." It curls itself up to resemble the form of a frisbee and glide up to 30 meters wide from tree to tree. Its biological name is Chrysopelea and it feeds on lizards, rodents, birds and even bats. But it's harmless to humans. Author: Brigitte Osterath, Sophia Wagner An unusual case Stephen Barker, a professor of parasitology at the University of Queensland, told Australian broadcaster ABC that the ticks attached to the python were reptile ticks but it was unusual to see so many. "We can't help but wonder if the snake is already sick or old … they have lower immune responses to parasites, so you do tend to find a lot of ticks on sick animals," Barker told the ABC. In a Facebook video uploaded on Friday, Harrison said Nike was more "spritely" but did have an infection, for which he was receiving treatment. He looked set to be a long-term patient at the wildlife hospital. Ticks can carry a number of diseases that can result in death if left untreated.<doc-sep>
A tick-covered carpet python was almost unrecognizable last week after a snake catcher rescued it from a pool in Coolangatta, Australia. Tiny blobs, which almost looked like small pebbles upon first sight, covered the reptile's entire body — even its face. In total, officials pulled 511 ticks off the creature's weak body. It took hours for veterinarians at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to carefully extract the pests. "There are still tiny young ones under the scales that will be treated with drugs to kill them," Tony and Brooke Harrison from Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher, which responded to the scene, explained in a Facebook post. SNAKE FOUND COVERED WITH MORE THAN 500 TICKS The animal control service shared several shocking photos of the serpent, including a "gross" picture of a bucket filled with the ticks that were once attached to the snake. In a weekend update, the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital in Queensland revealed the snake, which has since been named Nike, was suffering from a "nasty" infection that may have contributed to its immobility thus allowing ticks to "take advantage of him." Nike now has anemia — a lack of healthy red blood cells. “He is very anemic and that’s because ticks have sucked all the blood out of him,” Michael Pyne, a senior veterinarian at the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, told Yahoo News on Monday. Typically, when a snake notices a tick or other pest on its skin, it attempts to remove it. “Snakes are meant to rub them off but for whatever reason with Nike that didn’t happen,” Pyne told the news site. “Once they get weak they don’t have the strength to rub them off.” ALLIGATOR FIGHTS PYTHON ON FLORIDA GOLF COURSE “He is very anemic and that’s because ticks have sucked all the blood out of him." — Michael Pyne Wildlife officials are hoping for a full and speedy recovery but caution Nike "isn't out of the woods yet." "He is now in the hands of an experienced carer from Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers," the hospital noted in a Facebook post on Saturday. Nike's fans are happy to hear his health is taking a turn for the better. "I do not do snakes at all! But the poor thing, no animal deserves that. Speedy recovery buddy," one Facebook user wrote. "Thanks for the update. I'm sure there were lots of people wondering how he was as well as the koala. Great job done by all," another added. "Wow he looks soo much better with all the ticks off him, a woman commented. "Well done everyone what a great job you do." Surprisingly, Nike isn't the only creature that has suffered from tick bites in recent days. The Australian wildlife hospital said a koala was also found with 100 ticks covering its body and had to undergo a blood transfusion last week. "He was on the hospital's operation table for over two hours having the ticks removed and having the transfusion," the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital said on Saturday. "The good news is he is now with Friends of the Koala and they have reported him to be doing really well!"