Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings Folks,

I've lurked around this Forum for the past several months and I've really appreciated the feedback and information provided by many of you, especially DFR and MR_Anaconda28.
I have to admit that in my 15 years or so keeping Herps I've spent most of that time working with Monitors and other large-ish lizards. As I have also been involved with Reptile Rescue and Rehab I have dealt with many snakes, including large boids and pythons but I have never kept any of these for myself.
Last week I took the plunge and aquired a female captive bred Yellow Anaconda (yes, I made sure she was the real thing, met the "mom" and "dad" and siblings) from a private hobbyist.
Although I've always enjoyed the look of Burmese and Reticulated Pythons, too often I've been turned off by the folks who keep them. I'm not speaking for everyone of course, but I have grown weary of hearing about the newest "morph" or locality and how much they resell for or what they are worth. Too much talk of money and too little talk about the joy or reward in keeping them.
When I found this forum I was pleasently surprised to find a group of people that interact and deal with their Anacondas on the basis of what they are and not what their monetary worth is or could be. For me this is familiar territory, like keeping Varanids, you sort of have to deal with them on thier terms not yours.
I have no doubt that I will have questions and my own fair share of observations to talk about in the future.
Any insights that you folks would like to pass along to me, as a Newbie to Anacondas feel free to post away.
I've also attached a pic of my female.

Take Care,
-Kit

You have a great looking little girl there.

` It sounds like you did everything right [ except the substrate ]. You were really lucky to be in a position to meet the parents, and the breeder. For so many of us, that's just not a possibility.
` I too, started out with Varanids, many years ago. That's where I learned that if you try to do it their way, they will really relax. I had a huge Water Monitor who thought he was a lap-lizard. He educated many a guest in my house, by crawling up into their lap, totally freaking out some. They would always ask if he would bite. I'd tell them that no one had insulted him enough to make him bite, ....so far.
` Good luck with your baby. She's a beauty, her saddles have already stated to fade. Some whose saddles have faded to gold flecks are really beautiful. Keep up the pix!
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