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whats the biggist ???
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Anonymous post on August 24, 2004
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this is not a venomous question but i know you can answear so please do. i m interested in boids and large snakes i love them , whats the largest snake that has ever lived and when i say ever i mean since snakes have been alive . whats the most massive snake species ever ? thanks you guys
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RE: whats the biggist ???
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by Chance on August 24, 2004
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The classical answers are as follows. Reticulated pythons are known to be the longest snakes while green anacondas are known to be the most massive snakes. The largest retic was supposedly somewhere in the neighborhood of 32 to 33 feet, while the large green anaconda around 30 or 31 feet. However, a 30' anaconda is going to weigh a lot more than a 33' retic, simply because they are more massive.
Of course, the above sizes are extremely rare, borderlining impossibilities. The tendency in captivity is for retics to get both larger and longer than green anacondas. In fact, the condas seem to be averaging around 15', while the retics can easily reach 18 to 20'+. The largest retic in captivity, though there is some controversy around this, is a snake by the name of Fluffy belonging to Bob Clark. I've seen this snake in person and can vouch for her enormous size, but she's also quite a bit overweight. I believe the last measurement on here was 23 or 24' feet and over 300lbs. When I saw her at Dallas, she seemed like she could barely move around, so I think she's being fed as much as she'll take to try to keep her ahead of the rest. However, it is in my opinion that retics have much more of a probability to reach gigantic sizes than the condas.
In the end, I guess it mainly boils down to which kind of snake you'd rather keep. Condas are semi aquatic and do well with access to a large soaking pool, are usually pretty nasty-tempered, and can be picky eaters. Retics are terrestrial (non-aquatic, though they will soak from time to time), are much more slender-bodied than the condas, eat just about anything, and can also be temperamental. However, retics are bred quite frequently now in captivity so the attitude is certainly being worked on. I have 4 retics in my care, and all but one are 'nice' snakes. If your only interest in getting a snake like this is for the 'coolness' factor in regards to their size, I highly suggest you look into another hobby. A large adult of either species can easily (and I mean EASILY) overpower and kill a single person. They should not be taken lightly and should be treated with just about as much care as any highly venomous snake.
-Chance
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RE: whats the biggest ???
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by GREGLONGHURST on August 24, 2004
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To add just a little to what Chance so aptly put...If you keep large constrictors, NEVER open the cage unless someone else is in the room. Period.
Wash your hands after feeding. This means if you have more than one large constrictor, wash your hands after feeding every flipping one of them. A snake cannot tell the difference between a hand that smells like a prey animal & a prey animal. If you choose to keep large constrictors & do not follow the two rules laid out above, you could join others who have not, and wind up being killed by your snake.
I personally always wore a large knife on my belt when working big snakes, just in case.
~~Greg~~
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RE: whats the biggest ???
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by Chance on August 24, 2004
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Carried a knife eh Greg? Lol, wow. I can't say I do that, but when my female het retic gets a bit larger, that may be an option. She's the one out of the four I was referring to.
To Anonymous, washing your hands before handling is definitely a good idea. However, don't just assume that it will automatically keep you safe. Two of my three retics (not counting the aggro one) will bite me every time I reach into the enclosure, no matter what my hands smell like. It's a feeding responce that retics are very well known for. They will bite and then immediately release, but the damage has been done. Thankfully, for now, they are still rather small. That won't be true much longer. Always always always use a hook to initiate contact with a large snake. I can't emphasize that enough. If I use a hook to prod the snake a bit, the feeding responce is immediately turned off. That's what you want when handling. The clean hands will help to keep the responce turned off. Good luck with whatever you decide, and be safe.
-Chance
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RE: whats the biggist ???
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by pygmybait on August 25, 2004
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According to the fossil record, the largest snake science knws of is the Gigantophis. It was found in El Faiyum, Egypt and is estimated to have been in the 50'to 65' range, depending on who you talk to. The Giantophis lived around 60 million years ago and were related to modern day Boids.
I have read that there is "evidence" of a larger snake in the fossil record but I can't find any information about it.
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RE: whats the biggist ???
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by paleoherp on August 25, 2004
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hey pygmybait answeard your question perfectly gigantophis was a massive snake discoverd in 1901 by andrews and found in north of birket quarun , egypt as already pointed out , it was found in the eocene (the priabonian) it was found in the sagha formation and they found about 20 midtrunk vertabrae bones which was massive they think it was from 25 to almost 40 feet in length, the subfamily palaeopheinae were a group of massive snakes almost like gigantophis especiaily paleophis coloseus this might be the snake pygmybiat may have heard of . they were also eocene aged snakes it seems that the eocene snakes were the big ones .
thanks shaun
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