• Question: hi im Melissa I go smithswood and I was wondering if you know how long snakes can grow ?

    Asked by to Thon, Catherine, James, Natalie, Shaylon on 24 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: James Bell

      James Bell answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      Modern day snakes grow up about 7 or 8m long (anacondas) I think…but around 58 million years ago (when the climate was warmer and could support larger reptiles) there was a genus of snakes called titanoboa.

      The largest one ever discovered was almost 13m long and would have weighed an estimated 1.1 tons!! It could have been big and strong enough to take down an animal the size of a modern day hippo (maybe even bigger)

    • Photo: Natalie Pilakouta

      Natalie Pilakouta answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      Actually, I believe anacondas are the heaviest (and largest in terms of diameter), but the longest snake is the reticulated python! And as James already said the maximum length for a snake ever recorded was just under 8 m.

    • Photo: Anthony Caravaggi

      Anthony Caravaggi answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      As James and Natalie said, pythons top the length charts, anacondas are the heaviest. Historically speaking, titanoboas take both titles.

      Pythons and anacondas are non-venomous snakes known as constrictors. This means that they wrap their long, muscular bodies around their prey, and kill them by gradually squeezing harder as the prey breathes out. The prey dies due to a lack of oxygen, not, as is commonly believed, because the snakes crush them as we might an aluminium can.

      The longest venomous snake in the world is the king cobra which can grow up to (and possibly over) 6m in length.

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