Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I clean mine every 2 days but was thinking of taking it out all together and just having the water dish to drink from?
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

When I got my male green anaconda two years ago Kelly Haller and Jud McClanahan told me that they do not provide pools or soaking tubs for their greens and large water areas are not needed in captivity. They provide only a small water bowl for drinking water and keep moderate humidity in the enclosure. The advice from these two gentlmen is all I need to hear. I have kept my green accordingly and he is thriving. Bill.
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

I only have two yellow anacondas, I have used both water bowl and soaking dishes and have to clean them just as often as the other. So I stick with soaking dishes, I think if you have the means you should provide a water vessel big enough for the snake to submerge in. I do not think it is essential however and one could use a simple water bowl type of setup wthpout ill effects, Green anacondas in my opinion based on studying available data have closer ties to water than yellows, but I would imagine a water bowl would suffice and not be deleterious to the animals health.
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Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological Frank Roberts & John Rodriguez
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research

I also adhere to Kelly and Judd's advice and only provide drinking water for my green and yellow anacondas and provide moderate humidity. It makes care a great deal easier and results in a cleaner cage too.
Cheers
Tom

Just wanted to put the topic in perspective and give a little additional information on it. Jud and I have raised all of our breeder greens from newborns to adults with the only water source being a small drinking bowl. We have bred two of these unrelated females and produced three litters from them in the last five years. All of our greens are raised in this manner and we have never had any health issues with them. The fact that they grow to a large, healthy adult size and successfully reproduce, seems to indicate that large water sources are not essential to this species in the captive environment, as they seem to do quite well without them. We feel that as easily stressed as greens are, they would not be reproducing for use to this degree if lack of a pool were causing them much stress at all. However, I would say that access to large water sources is obviously important in their natural environment, as a source of food and for protection from predators. We will be attempting to breed an unrelated third female this winter, so if successful, this will further support our husbandry technique. One additional point, we feel that keeping them with just a small water bowl needs to be started from birth. Once they become acclimated to a large water source, it would probably be very stressful to the snake to all of a sudden be deprived access to it. Hope this additional info helped.

Kelly

Thanks Kelly, the little guy is doing great. He pounds his food and I seems very docile although a little jumpy at times if that makes sense. I hope then I did not screw him up for the last couple weeks. I have given him a big dish to get into and he has been eating in it. I guess this week will determine if I did when I go to feed him.

Thanks

Jeff
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

Jeff,
They can tend to be a little jumpy on occasion when young, but I have noticed that the bloodlines we are working with get progressively calmer with age. Handling them several times a week will also help considerably. He has been raised the first 6 months of his life without a large dish, so I don’t think anything you did will cause any problems. I would guess that if he had access to a large dish for several months and you removed it permanently, it might possibly cause a problem. And then again maybe not, considering he was initially started without one. Thanks for the update.

Kelly

To use your technique from birth, snakes in my experience can be easily conditioned in the captive environment. As I posted earlier, I assumed it would not cause the animal any ill effects, it could actually be beneficial in the captive environment to provide just a drinking bowl. I have seen greens with Blister disease from sub optimal water quality, the water in question was being filtered and I tried to tell the person that the water quality wasn't good just because the water "looked clean".
To be honest I have only kept yellows for the past 6 years and have never kept a green. I can't get one now if I wanted, NJ recently made yellow and green anacondas illegal to possess by categorizing them as "potentially dangerous species" I was fortunate enough to have the yellows permitted already and the state grand-fathered them and allowed me to keep them. I was merely hypothesizing when I answered this post, I am glad someone with actual experience with greens answered as well. Thanks for the information Kelly.
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Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological Frank Roberts & John Rodriguez
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research

Frank, you are absolutely correct, filtering the water will only remove a small percentage of the bacteria. The problem of contaminated pool water is definitely a big issue with keeping anacondas. And as you mentioned, a common problem with greens seems to be the blister condition that many young animals, and some larger ones acquire from poor water quality. I wouldn’t say that a person should not use soaking pools, but if they do, they need to be fanatical about keeping them clean. I agree with you in that it is probably more beneficial in a captive environment to keep them without pools. We have raised over 60 neonates, and a few of them to adults, without ever having one come down with blisters. This has been done with small water bowls and newspaper substrate. Humidity is typically between 60% and 70%. Shedding problems are rare, and misting just before a shed solves the issue for the few that need it. Also, that is unfortunate that NJ made anacondas illegal, as I believe competent individuals should be allowed to keep them. Thanks,

Kelly

I was glad they grandfather things in NJ, I would have been upset if they made me get rid of them, they are in immaculant conditions, I don't use a pool however, my water bowl is big enough for the snakes to submerge in, I change it 5 times weekly however, because they usualy urinate and defacate in the bowl, so i don't realy think it's a pool, but it is definately bigger than a drinking bowl, but they feed in or out of the bowl, as a matter a fact, they are very well acclimated and will eat anywhere I wanted to feed them, they are very well trained to take dead food right off the newspaper without any manipulation involved, about 50 of my 53 snakes feed in this manner, which is one of the many reasons I truly believe most snakes can be conditioned over time in the captive environment
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Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological Frank Roberts & John Rodriguez
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research

I usually allow my anaconda to soak for about 2-3 days then i will remove the water source for about 3-4 days. I have been doing this for about 3 yrs now and it has worked out for me. Another reason i do this is because my green prefers to feed in the water about 90% of the time. its def a little more time consuming. but since i change the water every 2-3 days i have never had any problem with health issues.

rick

I will probably get yelled at for this post but here goes anyway...Anacondas, yellow or green, are a primarily aquatic species--period. Those who don't wish to make at least a minimal amount of effort to house them in appropriate habitats should probably seek out terrestrial pythons/boas. Anacondas may be induced to eat and breed without a water pool(a container large enough for the snake to completely immerse itself), but it does not mean that it is appropriate or that the snake likes it. since the snake cannot ask for the housing it would like, it is much better to replicate its natural habitat as closely as possible within reason. Yes, fouled water is a nasty mess to clean up, but this is the responsibility that goes along with an aquatic snake. As for the doom and gloom about soaking creating skin infections, I would attribute this to the temperature of the water dish or ineffective cleaning. room temperature water is far too cold for the anaconda's immune system to operate...such low temperatures would never be experienced by the animal in the wild. if the water is kept reasonably clean and at a minimum of 80F, skin troubles will not occur. This can be acheived even in large pools by overhead heatlamps/ceramic emmiters. And, water pumps/hosing help to drain/refill large pools. if you are still worried about bacteria, don't make your anaconda live on land, large aquarium uv sterilizers are highly effective at eradicating free floating bacteria. As a final note, I give a reptile analogy...I'm sure arboreal snakes such as tree pythons/boas could be induced to eat and breed in terrestrial habitats with no branches more convenient to the keepers;but I'm sure most would agree not giving a 'tree' python a tree is inconsiderate of the needs of the pet at best--there is a reason anacondas are known as 'water boas'. give it some thought...
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Heather J. Martin
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1 Solomon island ground boa, female
1 Green iguana, male
1 Ball python, gender unknown
1 Green anaconda, juvenile, gender unknown
1 Burmese python, 9', female