American scientists have caught the biggest Burmese python ever weighed, and they are now examining the euthanized giant snake at the Florida Museum of Natural History, hoping to manage invasion threats posed by the species.

The python, pregnant with 87 eggs, weighed 74.39kg. It was 5.18 metres in length.

Experts are awed by the size of the python, comparing its size to monstrous levels.

"This thing is monstrous, it's about a foot wide," Kenneth Krysko, the herpetology collection manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Researchers are interested in learning more about the python to better manage the species and solve issues on invasion.

"By learning what this animal has been eating and its reproductive status, it will hopefully give us insight into how to potentially manage other wild Burmese pythons in the future," said Mr. Krysko.

The giant snake will be exhibited at the museum after scientists are done with their research.

Skip Snow, a biologist at the Everglades National Park wildlife, said the studies will contribute to efforts exerted towards controlling future invasive species.

"There are not many records of how many eggs a large female snake carries in the wild... This shows they're a really reproductive animal, which aids in their invasiveness," said Mr. Snow.

The pythons, which prey on large animals from birds to alligators, are common in southeast Asia. They were first spotted in the Everglades in 1979. There is no known natural predator for these species, and they have been known to grow in numbers reaching up to hundreds of thousands.

"(T)hese snakes are surviving a long time in the wild... There's nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble," said Mr. Krysko.

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