Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if you made your cages or purchased them. I'm kinda new here. Your ball python looks massive, how old is she? Do you prefer the boa constrictors, or the yellow anacondas? I have been thinking about getting a yellow but you know when people think anaconda they think the movie. How large is your largest yellow? I have a ball python, a BCI, and I recently aquired a carpet python. Just wondering if the yellow would be more challenging then the snakes I own. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

do you keep all your snakes together?

` First, I definitely do not keep all my snakes together. There are just a few who are the right size, have the right health history, have the right temperament, and have similar environmental needs, that I keep together. Keeping Boids in a community is not something to do on a whim. It can be a disaster for the animals. Their welfare has to be the primary consideration.
` I buy plastic cages. A light weight cage is so easy to take outside and hose down. Plastic cages are also easy to seal at the top so humidity can be retained. I keep my vents low, and fan boosted.
` The Ball Python is an old male. He is not quite 5 feet long, but he's a tub.
` My Yellow Anacondas are very tame, and calm. Males rarely reach 10 feet. Most are 6 to 8 feet. I have a 12 foot female, who is young and still growing fast. She is an exception, I think. Males don't get much bigger than large female Boa constrictors.
` Another name for them is "Water Boa". That is really what they are. They got the name "Anaconda" by mistake, anyway. It means "elephant killer" in the Asian Indian Sinhalese language. How in Hell that name got to a South American snake is a mystery. When I introduce mine to new, non-snake keeping people, I call them Water Boas.
` I don't consider them any more challenging than any other large Boa. A humidity trapping cage, belly heat with a soaking tub over a hot spot (they like a container they can just fit into) with the water at 78 to 84 degrees, provide plenty of humidity, if you don't allow it to escape. I keep mine on flat newspaper, with some crumpled up on top. They don't need a giant cage. When they are happy, they move around very little. Just back and forth from water to dry spot. When mine start hunting, I know it's time to feed them. That's usually at around 4 week intervals. The challenge would come if you got the wrong snake. Traumatized babies can be a handful. That is why it is so important to get the right babies. I only got interested in them when I happened across babies that were exceptionally calm, and not aggressive.
` There are lots of pictures posted earlier in this forum, and still up, which show my husbandry methods.
` Just for a little perspective, here is a picture from Mc Carthy Boas. Boas get big, too. He has a great collection of pictures on his site. Here's the address: www.mccarthyboas.com/home.html

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Could you come here and tell this to my mother? lol. It's really hard for me to order snakes online, or anything for that matter. I like being able to see and hold what I am buying. With the snakes I have now, I went to a local breeder, but he doesnt do Anacondas. I heard you talking about NERD, I'll look into them, and try the classifieds. Thanks again!!

` Ma'am; respectfully, I say this to you. If you do not challenge your preconceptions, they will challenge you.

` Bermuda; if you contact NERD, talk to Kara. She might pick out a calm little male for you. She is a herpetoculturist to admire. I recommend that you do not get a female, only because of their size. Anacondas display more sexual dimorphism than any other terrestrial vertebrate. The males are much smaller than the females.

` Are you in Bermuda?
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I was thinking of getting male as well. My name is Burmuda because thats what my dad named his Burmese python, kind of mixing the country and the snake, hence the spelling. Thanks again. My ball python wont switch to rats, any advice?