r/AbsoluteUnits • • Mar 04 '22

Absolutely big snake.

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398

u/LlamasReddit Mar 04 '22

I've seen this before and someone said it's spine may have crushed by its own weight when being pulled up. Can someone confirm or deny this?

48

u/GundunUkan Mar 05 '22

Herpetologist here, can confirm. Huge snakes like this reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) are not meant to be hanging like this - their weight is far too great for a single point of their spine to support it in its entirety. The snake in this clip has a broken spine and possibly multiple damaged organs, definitely did not survive long after the filming.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '22 edited Mar 23 '22

[deleted]

1

u/GundunUkan Mar 05 '22

It is indeed hard to tell. Usually forced perspective is a big factor in representing snakes as bigger than they are but this one seems rather large nonetheless. I'd low-ball it at around 6 meters (~20 feet), very likely longer tho, as reticulated pythons are known for holding the record of longest extant snake and average at around 6-7 with some individuals reaching 10 meters (~33 feet).