This 15-Foot Python Is the First Known Snake to Receive Electrochemotherapy for Cancer. Now, She's Officially Free of the Disease

England’s Chester Zoo is home to a very special 15-foot reticulated python. She is the first known snake to receive electrochemotherapy to help treat her cancer. And thanks to that therapy, she is now disease-free.

The python, which arrived at the zoo about 20 years ago, is named after the actress Jodie Foster because of the initials “JF” for juvenile female on her intake paperwork. But around two years ago, she stopped eating as much and became lethargic. Her keepers found and removed a malignant tumor from her jaw, but another grew in its place about a year later.

The tumor was making it increasingly difficult for Jodie Foster to eat, which was threatening her life, according to a statement. But another surgery on its own likely wouldn’t have saved her. The bursts make diseased cells more penetrable, allowing better absorption of traditional chemotherapy drugs.

It was first used in humans in the 1990s, and today, creatures like cats and dogs can receive it, too. To treat Jodie Foster—a member of the longest snake species—veterinarians and keepers had to get creative. They pushed two operating tables together to accommodate Jodie Foster’s 110-pound body.

She was anesthetized during the 90-minute surgery, and heated blankets and warmed air kept her body temperature stable. The lengthiest reticulated python ever documented was a whopping 32.8 feet long. And that helps open up the cancer cells basically to improve the intake of the chemotherapy drug.” The procedure took place in October of 2025.

Since then, the giant reptile has made a complete cancer-free recovery. After the operation, her mouth rapidly healed, and she quickly resumed her typical diet and started putting on weight, Ashpole tells the AP. She is once again her “bright and feisty” self, per the statement.