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Big retic at Chester zoo?

4K views 43 replies 25 participants last post by  Dextersdad 
#1 ·
Just watched Michaela's animal road trip on channel 5. Apparently the retic at chester zoo is the largest in Europe at 21' and the largest in the world is in a zoo in Thailand at 24'. Am i right in thinking this is way off the mark?

The one at Chester zoo they rescued from a private collection a year or so previous. They were moving it into a new enclosure and to do this they had attached a length of plastic piping over it's head and secured it to the snake around the neck with brown packing tape. To release it the bloke then cut it with a knife because he was having obvious difficulty removing it...............:whip:
 
#30 ·
I wonder how many of this 20+ snakes zoos claim to have are even near that size. even an 18ft snake can look 20ft. due to the slender body they look so much bigger then they usually are. the zoos are in it for the money so they will always claim there's are the largest. that one at chester zoo is clearly a monster but not the size they have stated imo. never seen the one at the cold blooded zoo but have heard it's not as big as they say again they are going to want to attract more people for the money so they are going to claime this. have heard of 21-23ft retics in private collections so i don't get why zoos say theres is the biggest in europe. there's actually supost ot be someone in portsmouth with a 22-23ft retic
 
#31 ·
steve d

to ryan i wouldnt believe until you measure yourself i went to see a so called 27ft retic recently needless to say it was under 20ft yet another fine example of stupid exaggeration i also went to see a so called 22ft retic in my area when i measured her she was 16ft 8in i had been told by close to 20 people these snake was 22ft long and they were experienced keepers themselves just goes to show experience is not everything if you can estimate a snake over 5ft wrong
 
#35 ·
to ryan i wouldnt believe until you measure yourself i went to see a so called 27ft retic recently needless to say it was under 20ft yet another fine example of stupid exaggeration i also went to see a so called 22ft retic in my area when i measured her she was 16ft 8in i had been told by close to 20 people these snake was 22ft long and they were experienced keepers themselves just goes to show experience is not everything if you can estimate a snake over 5ft wrong
totally agree steve. i dont believe half the measurements these zoos and some people claim. even bob clarks fluffy looks a few feed shorter then what shes claimed but this is just my opinion shes def the largest i have seen though. i remember brady bar mesured a 21ft retic thats about the largest i have seen measued on camera. there's probs just a handful of true 20+fters in the country most would probs be in private hands
 
#40 ·
image

I took this photo at Chester Zoo in July 2009. She's huge isn't she.

I didn't see the smaller snake in the enclosure though, perhaps this is a new addition?
:mf_dribble: Awesome animal!

I was aware it was way shorter than initial claims (i.e not 49ft) but there are still conflicting reports on its actual length. Based on the size of the head alone I'd be happy to believe it to be nearer the 30ft mark. No other retic I've seen holds a candle to this one in terms of size.
I reckon its closer to 23 / 24 ft than 30 tbh... Still an impressive monster though!
 
#37 ·
steve d

to kaydee big betty is virtually the same size as my female she may be slightly longer if you want to see my female look on my profile shes the one coming towards the camera called rosie ive seen a lot of pics of big betty and i would say they very similar 23ft is the claimed length on her i would say between 21.5 and 22ft is more what she looks like but very difficult to judge as i havnt seen her stretched out.
 
#41 ·
in all fairness this can go around all day for years it aint this big it aint tht big blarr blarr like a few people have said untill u can messure it properly with a decent tape messure stretched out yourself the will always be doubts the could even be doubts about steves retic being the size he says it is no one will no untill u get a chance to be one on one with the snake in hand witch a decent tape messure,pictures on camaras can be very deceitful as alot of people no....
 
#43 ·
steve d

to dexterdad she was accurarely measured on camera at 7.3 metres by a newspaper and from seeing the photos and the footage she is about 23ft probably the biggest in captivity though ive yet to see one measured larger except the one on the big snake documentry which unfortunately was then killed
 
#44 ·
to dexterdad she was accurarely measured on camera at 7.3 metres by a newspaper and from seeing the photos and the footage she is about 23ft probably the biggest in captivity though ive yet to see one measured larger except the one on the big snake documentry which unfortunately was then killed
That's just it. She's been measured by all an sundry and at different lengths. It's a scenario that we make of it what we will.

I'd seen, a while back that she was both 33ft and 27ft from different sources. I'd happily agree with 27ft.
 
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