Florida vets perform CT scan on 376-pound alligator

If you need to perform a CT scan on a nearly 400-pound sick alligator, you better make it snappy.

That is what veterinarians at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine had to do this week when faced with a hulking patient named Brooke.

The 376-pound alligator living at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park was brought in for tests after displaying intermittent head-rolling and other symptoms in the lagoon where he’s lived for nearly 20 years.

As part of the veterinary exam, the scaly patient was tied to a board and had his eyes covered with a towel to sprare him any street while Dr. Bridget Walker drew his blood.

Photos shared by the college on its Facebook page Thursday showed Walker bravely straddling the giant reptile while a man stood directly in front of Brooke to keep his toothy maw secured.

Brooke — named after the Brookfield Zoo where he came from originally — also received radiographs and a CT scan to help with the diagnosis.

The reptile was photographed being wheeled into the CT machine for the test with the help of six staffers.

“Our zoological medicine service team determined that Brooke had an ear infection,” the college reported in a post. “We hope he’ll be on his way to recovery soon!”

The staff at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park later thanked the college’s team “for taking such amazing care of our animals!”

Brooke was not the first alligator to have been treated at the veterinary college — nor the largest.

In 2020, the clinic made international headlines when it welcomed as a patient a 660-pound alligator named Bob, also from the same zoo in St Augustine, who had been limping.

The 38-year-old beast was strapped to a gurney, with his jaws taped shot, and had X-rays down on his right leg, which showed signs of a bone infection.

Bob was prescribed pain medication and antibiotics, and was said to be doing better just days later.