Two reptiles treated at the UF Veterinary Hospital in the past six months received viral attention on the Internet from photos and videos widely shared on social media. Stories about these patients, an alligator and a crocodile, both residents of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, were collectively picked up by most major news networks and the Associated Press and reached millions from around the globe.

The popular reptiles were seen through the hospital’s zoological medicine service. The first patient, a 660-pound 12-foot alligator, named Bob, came to the hospital on Sept. 3 for radiographs to diagnose a cause of lameness. Diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a bone infection, he was treated with antibiotics over several months and is doing well, his caretakers say. Bob’s full story can be found here. 

The second patient, a 10.5-foot, 341-pound crocodile named Anuket, received successful surgery on Feb. 5 to remove a shoe she had swallowed after it fell from the foot of a ziplining park visitor. UF veterinarians initially attempted to remove the shoe by extricating it manually from the animal’s esophagus but ended up performing a gastrotomy to remove it from the crocodile’s stomach. Anuket’s full story is here.

A gallery of photos from Anuket’s visit is below. Meanwhile, Anuket and Bob continue to recuperate well back at the alligator farm.