It's also hard to measure pythons because of all the kinks, or bends, in their bodies. Python skins are often saved, but this makes it hard to officially measure them afterward, as skins can be stretched.
#Big screen snake skin
For instance, a taxidermist could preserve the serpent, or its skin could be put on display at a museum, Secor said. "It probably didn't die because it laid an egg."Īlthough the snake is dead, the specimen could still be used to educate the public. "I don't know why the snake died," he said. A necropsy (an animal autopsy) would clear up matters, as a pathologist or other doctor would be able to see whether more eggs were left inside the snake, he said.Īlternatively, the snake could have died because it was traumatized from its capture, Secor said.
Or, maybe the python was just starting to lay eggs when it died. But not always - lodged eggs can also be reabsorbed into the body, Secor said. The blockage can cause medical problems, and sometimes even death, he said. Snakes have two oviducts (structures that pass eggs), but a lodged egg can block the other eggs that have yet to be laid. Perhaps the snake was laying eggs, and one egg got lodged inside its body when the animal was captured. A snake that large could easily lay 75 eggs at one time, he said. Secor is also intrigued because the snake died after laying an egg on Sunday (April 10). Those numbers don't add up, especially because Medusa is a captive snake and doesn’t have to actively hunt for food in the wild, so she's probably heavier than most reticulated pythons, Secor said. (90 kg) less than the newly caught snake. (about 159 kg) in 2011, or a whopping 200 lbs. An anaconda might weigh that much, but not a reticulated python, he said.įor example, even though Medusa was just 1.1 feet (0.33 m) shorter than the new record holder, she weighed 350 lbs. Reticulated pythons are also slender, so they're not the heaviest snakes, and Secor doubts that the 550-lb.
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