An Australian veterinarian served up a major save for a python that swallowed a tennis ball.

The five-foot python devoured a tennis ball last week in the Queensland suburb of Belgian Gardens, but could not digest the ball.

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"[The snake] would've died eventually from starvation, as it wouldn't have been able to digest the ball or have anything pass it," Trish Prendergast, senior vet nurse at Townsville Veterinary Clinic, where the ball was removed, told Fox News Live Science writer Jeanna Bryner.

If you thought facing an Ivo Karlovic body serve was dangerous, watch the vets work to clear the ball from the python's body in this Facebook video posted by Townsville Snakehandler.  



"Trish manipulated the snake for over 20 minutes to remove the ball," Townsville Snakerhandler wrote in a Facebook post detailing the delicate procedure. "The snake will have some RnR for a few days and fed a normal food item and then be released back to the wild!"




Photo/Video credit: Trish Prendergast/Townsville Snakehandler Facebook