Saw this on the news tonight.... all I can say is, that's one snake I wouldn't care to find in my backyard....:cross-eye

It'll be interesting to see if this is truly the largest ever in captivity.

Wonder how many people it took to catch it in the first place, and what the hell were they thinking?

http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3845750&p1=0

Wooooh... I love it's diet... 5 full size dogs a day...

As a herpetologist (weird person who keeps reptiles) for over twenty years, this find is awesome, I am staggered however that this animal is alive in captivity, most large snakes in this region are killed for their skin and food.

I have had contact with many reticulated pythons and as a rule they are a real handful, not the friendliest snake you will ever come across, even a small one can take several people to handle safely.

Would be interesting to see when the snake is measured officially as from memory there is a substantial reward on offer (about $100,000 USD I think) for any snake that measures over 30ft, this reward has been on offer for years.

There was a reticulated python at a small zoo in the UK that measured about 29 feet, one good meal consisted of a fully grown sheep and 17 chickens (enough to last for six months)

With all that going in the front end imagine what comes out the other end

:sick:

Being a dog lover, I'm not so sure I like the fact they are feeding it dogs....

But, it also seems to me that it would require a lot more food than that... just the size of it, at almost 900lbs, makes me think they would need to feed it a lot more that the one Lee is talking about....

Maybe they ought to feed it a few pot bellied pigs... give it some of the "other white meat" for a while.....

I was just thinking, at this weight, it wouldn't really need to squeeze its prey, just curl up on top of it.....:cross-eye

Their government much be a little nutty.....How can that allow Dogs to be fed to animals in a Zoo.

-Brandon

My parents said it's really inhumane to feed the snake dogs. At first they thought it was a prank.

Originally posted by 2ManyZs

But, it also seems to me that it would require a lot more food than that... just the size of it, at almost 900lbs, makes me think they would need to feed it a lot more that the one Lee is talking about....

All of the news stories I've read said 4 or 5 dogs a month, not per day as was indicated in an earlier message. Cold blooded animals don't need much food to survive.

Feeding it dogs may seem inhumane to us Americans, but we are very different culturally from Indonesians. Many in India may think our mass consumption of beef is inhumane or barbaric, but to us it is business as usual.

I will rest easy, in Ohio, knowing that I won't find any around here. We get the occasional "gator in the river" thing, but I think you might get that in many cities.

I saw that story today also; and it did indicate 5 dogs per month. Yes we are culturally different. I saw a documentary about 6 months ago showing the capture of an approx 30 ft. Python and it was all that 3 experienced snake handlers could handle. I would not want to get this fellow pissed off.

YAIR, there's lots of NASTIES in S.E. Asia.

TomoHawk,

You mention "gators in the River".

You should see the ocean going crocs we contend with.

Hey Carl,

Back in '66 I was in Bankok. In a restraunt, the menu was in sanscrit, finally made the waiter understand that I wanted a meat dish.

When the plate arrived in front of me there were chunks of very dark meat amongst a mound of veges and perched on top were two EYES !!!!

Turned out to be monkey.

Cost a small bloody fortune but I was buggered if I could eat it.

How's that for cultural differences ??????

Rick.

I had a ball python. Ill take him into my collection