Medusa, a giant python that recently joined a popular haunted house in Missouri, may slither into the record books as the largest snake living in captivity.
The 136kg, 8m-long snake requires 15 people to hold and is part of the horror show at Kansas City's The Edge of Hell, local media report.
Next month officials from the Guinness Book of World Records will determine if the seven-year-old Medusa — named after the monster from Greek mythology who turns unwary onlookers to stone — has earned a place in their books.
The previous current record was set by Fluffy, a 7.3m-long reticulated python at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio who died last year due to a tumour.
Medusa's trainer Larry Elgar told local TV news station KSDK 5 the snake could live into her 50s and grow as heavy as 220kg.
"They've actually cut people out of them, they are man eaters," Mr Elgar said.
But he insists he is not afraid.
"Fear is just a lack of understanding. I have no fear. I understand that she can kill me."
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