Even though I agree with Kelly and know many house their anacondas similar to retics, I personally provide mine with a large 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank "pool". The pool is located above the substrate and acts as a hide (behind it) and also gives her some exercise getting in and out of it, which she does quite often. Her walk in enclosure is 8X6 with a 5X2 heat mat on one side hooked to a thermostat and I use about 4 inches of fir bark as substrate (no substrate is on the heat mat). Her pool is heated with a 300 watt titanium heater encased in a PVC protective cover which keeps her water temp at 80 deg. Her pool and all the parts in it are treated with Pro Products Bioshield to inhibit all bacterial growth. That said I still drop her pond twice per week or immediately if she has messed in it. I also give her a dry cycle where I pull the pond out for 6 to 8 weeks every year at which point she gets a water dish and twice daily misting. Her humidity is almost constantly kept at between 70% to 80% (due to the pond giving off humidity and mistings when the pond is pulled). I keep her background temp at around 82 deg. with the heat mat set at 90 to 92 deg. She seldom uses the heat pad, but does occasionally following feeding. I feed her one 8 to 10 pound f/t rabbit every 9 to 10 weeks. She is almost nine years old now and is around 14.5 feet and 180 pounds. She is a little heavy, I know, so I will be dropping her prey size down a couple of pounds per feeding to see if I can get her weight back in line. She is on a 12/12 light schedule, which I adjust about an hour each way throughout the year. I cycle in natural substrate such as piles of dry maple leaves during the fall dry season which she burrows into (it gives her some exercise) during that time. I also get her out in my fenced backyard, supervised, for a swim in a large plastic pool and some basking when I can. I know allot of this may not be necessary, but I feel it is good for her and if nothing else I sure do enjoy it!

Hope this helps

Best regards,

Shane

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]