"Never came across" or "have never come across"?

Which of the following sentence is correct. If both are correct, is there any difference in meaning?

I have never come across such a big snake in my life.


I never came across such a big snake in my life.

The first one is correct. The second one is only possible if your life is over.

When the life is not yet over, will the second one be possible if "past" is added before "life"?

Only some people believe in past lives.

Thanks bhaisahab for your explanation. And nice name!

Hi There,
I don't know if i could ask question in others thread, if i could may i know the difference between if the second sentence is correct:

1. I have never come across such a big snake in my life.
2. I had never come across such a big snake in my life.

Thank you in advance.

I think the past perfect should not be used here because it applies to a "Completed Action Before Something in the Past"── quoted from http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

Not a teacher.

In the context of telling a story about something that happened in the past, the past perfect is right. As a stand-alone sentence, the past perfect does not work.