Which is the longest snake in the world? The answer is simple, the netted python, aka Malayopython reticulatus. While they can typically reach lengths in excess of 6 meters, the longest python ever recorded was a gigantic 9.75-metre webbed python found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 1912. Unfortunately, this tall sample was shot down and thus only got the record after his death.
Longest snake in captivity
The world’s longest snake in captivity was a female named Medusa, which measured 7.67 meters in length. According to the 2011 Guinness World Records she holds, Medusa lived at “The Edge of Hell Haunted House” in Kansas City. The 10-year-old snake had to be carried by 15 people to make the record measurement.
Feeding such a tall world record holder required a diet of a mix of rabbits and pigs, and he could swallow an 18-pound deer in one sitting. Medusa herself weighed 158.8 kilograms. While Medusa is the last record holding snake recognized by Guinness World Records, another taller webbed python was found in 2018.
This gigantic reptile was 8 meters long, but died just three days after being caught at a construction site in Penang, Malaysia. It is believed that the giant was laying eggs at the time of his death, but the exact cause of death is unknown.
Can reproduce on its own through asexual reproduction
In addition to being the longest snake in the world, netted pythons can reproduce on their own through asexual reproduction, also known as parthenogenesis. An 11-year-old netted python named Thelma was the first to demonstrate her ability to the scientific community by laying six fertilized eggs without mating with a male.
Using skin cast samples for genetic analysis, Thelma was able to deny that she stored sperm, and it was shown that all six babies were produced by her alone. In sexual (sexual) reproduction, sperm and egg cells must come together to form an embryo, but in Thelma’s case, cells called polar bodies (containing the genetic material left over from egg cell formation) were basically replacing the sperm.
So this species is not only the longest snake in the world, but a really special type of snake that can spawn other long snakes on its own…
