25-feet, 250 kg python found on Malaysian building site

A quarter-tonne snake that was found nestling on a building site could be the longest ever captured in Malaysia, officials said Tuesday.

A quarter-tonne snake that was found nestling on a building site could be the longest ever captured in Malaysia, officials said Tuesday.

This handout picture taken on April 7, 2016 and released by the Malaysia Civil Defence Department shows members of the Malaysia’s Civil Defence Force posing for pictures with a python that was caught near a tree at a construction site in Penang, outside Kuala Lumpur. (AFP)

The reticulated python was a whopping 7.5 metres (25 feet) long and weighed a staggering 250 kilogrammes (550 pounds).

The giant creature was discovered on Penang island by construction workers and kept in an office, where it was fed and watered while wildlife experts were contacted.

However, the python died on Sunday after laying an egg, a spokesman for the civil defence department told AFP.

“We are so sad this happened,” he said. “We have rescued many other snakes and animals before. We’re not sure why the snake died.

This handout picture taken on April 7, 2016 and released by the Malaysia Civil Defence Department shows a member of the Malaysia’s Civil Defence Force handling a python that was caught near a tree at a construction site in Penang, outside Kuala Lumpur

“We fed it mice, other meats and gave (it) water, just like we gave other snakes in the past.”

The civil defence spokesman said the snake was certainly one of the longest found in Malaysia.

The longest snake in captivity -- also a reticulated python -- is a 7.67 metre specimen called Medusa, which lives in the United States, according to the website of Guinness World Records.