Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a about 9' green female anaconda that i bought from a guy i have had her maybe close to a month now and she is a nice and healthy, she does not bite, but i have tried to feed her the past two weeks large frozen rats that i have put in hot water to get it warm and the guy told me to give her chicken legs...and that i may have to force feed her until she eats on her own...i tried again sunday and she went to it but she still did not take it....does anyone have any ideas for me to try beside force feeding her...you may email me at laevans76@hotmail.com...i will post some pictures of her later...

Dont force feed her! Try quail or chicks. Mine wouldn't eat at first then i left her alone with a quail and bingo! The next feeding was with a quail scented rat(live) then another regular rat(unscented). Now I am finally on rabbits(live). I'll give her a couple more before I try a pre-killed rabbit.
What is her cage(environment) like?
If she's stressed she'll refuse food for a LONG time.
Try a live rat at night but keep an eye on her and the rat. If she shows no interest after 1/2 hour take the rat out.

you feed live rats and rabbits? you are so lucky they haven't killed your snake.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

-funny typos-
"There are six genes which determine the amount of melanism present in a person's skink"-about human skin color

please give me more typos

In my post I stated that my snake wouldn't eat at first. I tried all sorts of frozen rats,chicks,etc. What finally worked was locking the conda in my bathroom with a live quail. I then tried a frozen(thawed) rat scented with a quail and nothing. A live rat scented with quail worked however. I also stated that after a few more live rabbits I will try the switch again to prekilled rabbits. This is my first conda but I have kept numerous large snakes for the last 15 years. I've found that sometimes a live prey item is what is needed to initially stimulate a feeding response. Then gradually try to get them on prekilled. Now that she has a good appetite her strikes are so precise the rabbit doesn't have a chance. So for the next couple feedings at least I will continue to feed live rabbits.
You must be using some voracious carnivorous rabbits or a mutant strain of rat. I know about prey items chewing on captive snakes and even killing some, but 1/2 hour of supervised feeding I find it unlikely.
In conclusion my snake is happy and feeding great now. So thats all that matters to me.
Arik

` A healthy 9 foot female Green Anaconda can go for over a year, even more, without eating, and suffer no injury, and no permanent physical damage at all!!!
` Force feeding is highly traumatic to the snake. It can cause permanent physical, and behavioral damage.
` Sometimes, a sick or emaciated Boid must be force fed. I would estimate that 75% of the force feedings done are not necessary. They are done because the keeper needs the snake to eat, much more than the snake does.
` And yet, for years, I've watched people who were advised to be patient, instead kill or ruin a Boid that didn't need to eat yet, by ramming food down its throat!!
` If you concentrate on making an Anaconda comfortable, and happy, and consider what the snake needs to be happy, not what you need, it will almost always always come around.
` Boids are slow critters, in every sense. Sometimes a certain animal will take months to get used to a big change. It may feel insecure for quite a while. When they eat, they are at their most vulnerable. So, instinct tells them to wait to eat until they feel very secure.
Besides all that, if you go trying to force a 9 foot constrictor to do anything it doesn't want to do, you're liable to have quite a fight on your hands. A big fight, or too much restraint, can make a snake nasty, permanently. Not to mention physically injure it, and you.
` Also, I would not resort to live rodents, period.

` Of course that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. ( but not in this case )
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I agree with dfr, a few posts below kelly haller talks about non feeding greens or switching over to rats. Please read that Kelly is very smart when it comes to this type of thing. But please do not force feed.---Eric---

mr anaconda is totally right and kelly was posting on helping me with my green. if you have not tried chicken yet..do because they usually eat it. chicken parts actually is what my snake it eating. What kelly was helping me with was switching from these parts over to rodents since my snake would not take any rodent of any age or size or scented with anything. he would however eat garter snake (which i found out by accident and dont recomend since she should take chicken) ..what kelly told me was to wrap a rat in chicken skin and gradually use less chicken until rodents are the steady diet. I have not tried it yet because the snake is in shed but i dont see why it wouldnt work. plus..if you have never been bit by that snake you dont want to try force feeding...anacondas have the worst bite of any snake i have ever been bit by..boas have bit teath and are a bit of a nip, amazon tree boas which i keep have nice long teeth and bite all day long and i will take 1000 bites from them over one green bite, and i have been bit by pythons from ball to retic and they have a nice assortment of nice needle teeth(i have never been bit by a venomous snake) but anacondas have these nice sharp teeth like a shark and they will rip right into you and it wont be like the little holes from a python..its going to be like big gashes and bleeding cuts....try chicken whole and parts and work from there...hopefully that works for ya ; )

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when there is an interest in amazon tree boas and anacondas...its almost impossible not to take a few hits in your days...I am more careful than my last post sounded though...but i hope the message got through...anacondas hurt the worst! so if the stress of the snake doesnt convince you not to force feed maybe that will...lol

I have been left a bloody mess myself. A redtail will usualy just hit you once, a anaconda is like a machine gun- rapid hitting. you can get nail 30 times before you know what the heck just happend...GOD I LOVE ANACONDAS!!!!!!!!!!!

` MR_ANACONDA28 wrote ( between transfusions ):

"a anaconda is like a machine gun- rapid hitting. you can get nail 30 times before you know what the heck just happend...GOD I LOVE ANACONDAS!!!!!!!!!!!"

` Good grief! Where did you get your Anacondas, Baghdad?

` I have one Yellow Anaconda who will bite if you don't respect him. He just opens his mouth very wide and slaps you with his teeth, you usually get the uppers only. Usually only bleeds a few drops.

` Now I know why there was a thread on this forum, sometime ago, about stun guns, cattle prods, and tactical nuclear weapons.
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My anaconda is the rare taliban strain, not bagdad. the bagdad anacondas usualy put on a big show, and hissing alot and then run and hide in a hole. out of all the people on this forum i thought that you of all people would know that. lol---Eric---

` When I was in the military, a long time ago, I hid in some holes, believe it. I was happy to find them, too.
` If Saddam and I were eyeing the same hole, he wouldn't have a chance!
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i believe the person with the original post is talking about force feeding a 9ft green anaconda...i truely believe that a slap with the uppers and a few drops would be a nice result from a pissed of girl like he might deal with...the stories about the nasty anaconda bites were for a purpose and if she does decide to fight him...its going to hurt like hell

` You're right, and getting back to the origin of this thread. I still think the best tool to have to make an adult eat is, a hungry Anaconda who is able to be enthusiastic about it.
`
`
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Yournottrue anaconda keeper till you lose some blood, in my case a few pints of blood. Like all anaconda care sheets state- they are puppy dog tame or chain saw spastic, so the only true way to find out what kind of temperment your snake has is to stick you head into his cage and spack him or her in the head and seewhat it does HMMMMM you dont think that thats the reason why I get bit all the time is do ya??? OK OK I'm kidding dont shoot me- LMAO ---Eric--- GOD I LOVE ANACONDAS!!!!!!

I live on a college campus so all the fraternities bring their pledges over to my home smeared in goats blood...then i unlock the cage of the great green anaconda. Pledges must then wait as the elder members of the frat watch their pledges pulse rise and their body temperature increase. This of course draws the anaconda toward them. As long as nobody speaks words of the sigma tau gamma case...i continue to allows this tradition year after year.

The way the topic changed throughout the body of this thread was hilarious. But the consensus on the original question was great. I don’t believe I would personally ever force feed a boid for any reason. The stress on the snake and the high probability of permanent damage is too great. If an anaconda is not feeding, there is a reason for it and force feeding is really not the answer. Force feeding will actually compound the problem in many cases. Ruling out an illness, if the environmental conditions are right, a healthy anaconda will eventually feed. Just try the different feeding scenarios mentioned in the above thread. The key is once you get the anaconda feeding in some manner, stick with that technique for a while until the snake becomes a consistant feeder, before making any needed switches. As Rich stated, a larger individual, (over 6 or 8 feet), could easily go a year without feeding. I would not be too concerned until 4 to 6 months had passed, and then I would re-evaluate my caging setup if it still wasn’t feeding. On the teeth issue, I have seen the teeth of larger anacondas with the sheaths pulled back, and they are impressive. Definitely longer than those of most other boids. A hit from a large one would ruin your whole day without a doubt.

Kelly