Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just aquired a very large female Anaconda from Ghana, (235 pounds.)I'm not a novice to this all, just wishing for any insight from your specific studies.
Do you have any information from your research as to the reproductive cycle in the wild ( I believe her to be gravid). Also, any info that you may have on the preferred diet. I say preferred as I understand the opportunistic nature, but is there something that you have found rather palitable (to them).
Much appreciated!
Terry
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry

I can try and answer your questions, but, who told you it was from Ghana?

That's one fat snake - have you measured it, with the string method?

Anacondas are native to tropical South America, only.

Many countries have laws against exporting live anacondas, since they are a part of CITES. And, one so big would be hard to hide...I'd love to see a photo.

Please check out my post previously, about wild-caught herps. I am pretty curious about where you got it from - a breeder, store, or individual? Is it healthy? If it was taken from the wild, it should have a lot of noticeable scars on it - does it? And it will definitely have parasites, and most likely malaria (oddly, they can be healthy and carry malaria). Also, if it was just imported from the wild, it will not have a "good" temper, it would try and bite you the majority of the time you handle it, whether warm or cold.

The large green anacondas eat differently (in respect to species) in the wild than in captivity, since what is cheap and available in captivity is very different than in the wilds of S. America.

Renee

Sorry, It was late..and I really am dumber than I look
I will take a look at your earlier posts on wild Anacondas.
I was just curious as to your thoughts on wild preferred diets.
Yes, she has numerous scars, and yes she will bite.
I have successfully fed adult fresh caught imports on Ducks etc.
So my curiosity was is there a "preference" for Wading birds, or waterfowl.
She was not measured, however she was accurately weighed.
I have a rough guess of 17 feet possibly close to 18. Just by comparing the cage dimensions as she cruised the perimeter.
Again thanks,
Terry
Curator of Reptiles
Reptile Gardens
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry

I thought maybe you meant Guyana. I am still curious, where did you get this snake from???

Snakes do not have a preference such as you questioned, as sit and wait predators they must be generalists, so they take whatever they can most easily get - as long as they have a "search image" for it - and it fits into their size constraints. They go through a prey type switch as they (the females) get much larger, focusing on larger animals, so to get bigger animals this requires a shift to mammals and herps (for example, white-tailed deer, capybara, and caiman).

One interesting fact is that they never eat fish, I believe this is because fish do not make for the most easy prey to catch. Once we found an adult male that had eaten a "sapo", a fat catfish with a face like a toad. The catfish's spines had cut a huge hole all the way through the snake's "neck". Although it healed, I am sure that anaconda learned that fish are not preferable prey. But, this is not for nutrition reasons (as far as I know), more so for ease and safety to catch.

If you have a photo of the ~entire body of the female, I can tell you whether she is pregnant or not. If so, she needs to bask, preferably in real sunlight, a lot. No doubt the other folks on this forum can give you better tips that I for breeding anacondas in captivity.

Renee

Thanks,
I just thought maybe you had some personal experience in a wild large females diet. I don't try to stay on a forum for very long on any one topic as it usually ends up in some sort of flame war.
If you would like some pics of her email me and I will see if I can attach one on for you.
I'm about as handy with a digital camera/computer as I am in the difference between Ghana and Guyana
Terry
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry