Last thing he saw: Snake's open mouth

• Naturalist says he wore a special suit and was swallowed by a giant green anaconda


• "The last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black"


• Paul Rosolie says he survived the ordeal and the snake is fine, too

(CNN) -- Paul Rosolie says he was eaten alive by a giant green anaconda, the largest and most powerful snake in the world.

The herpetologist, naturalist and author presented himself as prey to the snake after putting on a special reinforced suit with helmet and devices to measure his vital signs, he says in a press release on the Discovery Channel website.

"She got me right in the face," he said. "The last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black. As this happened, she wrapped around me and took me off of my feet. I felt the suit cracking. It felt as if my arms were ripping out of their sockets."

Rosolie doesn't say much about the experience in the western Amazon, which was filmed in advance, because he wants everybody to tune into Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive" show 9 p.m. Sunday ET.

However, he did say he spent an hour inside the snake, which was difficult because he's claustrophobic.

Some animal rights organizations complained but he says the snake came out fine. "I would not have done this if there were any real chance of hurting or stressing out the snake," he said.

Next, he wants to find the biggest anaconda.

"During an earlier expedition in the Amazon, we encountered a 26-foot-long anaconda that weighed hundreds of pounds," he said. "The snake for the 'Eaten Alive' project was big, about 18 feet long, but we know that there are even larger anacondas out there.