Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With all of the questions about green anaconda spur structural differences between the males and females, I decided to attempt photos of each for comparison. I took a few last night and posted the best ones below. For reference, the male is about 7 feet and the female 8 to 9 feet. Notice that on the female, her spurs are recessed in a cavity and can only be seen when the skin is parted. Her spurs are shorter than the males and a little smaller at the base. Also, the spur on this male is a little lighter in coloration than most. Both of these greens are 2 year olds. Hope this helps to answer some of the questions.

Kelly

The spur is typically recessed in a cavity and cannot be readily seen without pulling back the surrounding scales.

The male green anaconda spur is usually completely external and has a characteristic curve which turns sharply out toward the end. There is also a very small appendage structure that can be seen as an attachment point to the body.

if i have to pick i guess...my snakes spurs more closely resemble the female. this snake is almost one year old and was not a good eater until i found the grocery chicken diet so "it" for now is much much smaller than either of those snakes so i still think i might be change and become more deffinite once it is over say 6 ft. sometimes i can see spurs without digging...sometimes i can only see one without really parting the scales...but for the most part..they are more like the female from what i can see..they are darker coloration and i do not see the hooked shape the male has (right now...still tiny spurs)...thank you for those pictues and i guess for now i am thinking its female.

The size of the anaconda really won't make any difference in the appearance of the spur structures. It is only the actual size of the spur that will change. The spurs will look essentially the same whether it is a 3 foot male or a 10 foot male, the same with the females. The only difference I can think of would be that the female spur may show a little of the tip above the skin on a really young snake. They tend to recess more with age and weight gain. However, the spur is still conical in shape and does not have the sharp hook at the end like the male's. Additionally, the female spur is not attached to a short appendage structure as is seen in the male's. It is attached down within the recessed area.

Kelly

no..i get that...its just i wonder if they will be more visible outside the scales later on...right now i think it is female since i cant really see any hooked shape spurs like the male. but the spurs look so tiny i dont trust myself not to be wrong....plus i was told it was male so the back of my head keeps saying "maybe im missing something"...i also thought i saw a tiny little sharp edge on one of the spurs that was lighter..like tan and the rest of the spurs are pretty much black. i dont know if that is the appendage you are talking about but the black part is deffinitely the majority of the spur... and the tip i dont think as hooked as the male you showed...so i guess what is confusing me is it looks like there may be an appendage..the shape overall looks more coneal to me..and sometimes i can kind of see the spurs (or just one)without really digging and other times is cant get to a spur for the life of me.

Sounds like a female to me, but without magnification, the spurs on a 3 or 4 footer are difficult to see in detail. Wait until she is 5 or 6 feet and then it will be much easier. Fortunately, boa constrictors and anacondas are some of the few species of boids that can be fairly easily sexed by spur structure. Many species of boids do not show enough variation to make sexing by spurs very reliable.

Kelly

OK i am going to stop being a moron and just say that female is the final consensus since after countless times looking..both my girlfriend and i think that this snake very much more closely resebles the female picture you posted...now that i stressed the snake out enough to where it isnt taking food...i will let this go. thank you very much for all the help..and it has been a great learning experience since i was always under the impression spurs were just a relative guess with constrictors. and anacondas are the snakes i research and have an interest in the most...thanks again and i hope i can get this snake eating again.

A easter basket full of fresh chicks might just do the trick. lol

Do you have an opportunity to see any other adult anacondas?
Just being able to compare gives you a better frame of reference. I know this isn't a technical explanation, but upon first glance, the spurs of even a big (15 feet) female are hard to see. With a male a third her size, they are relatively easy to see without looking TOO closely...

I don't suppose this helps?

RO

When looking at the spurs of our large females, (between 13 and 14 feet) usually only the tips of the spurs are visible protruding from the surrounding scales. As you said, they can be easily missed if you are just casually looking for them, even on such a large anaconda.

Kelly

i am aware of all this information...i guess what all the confusion i have been causing with my green is that it is a little difficult for me to tell shape for sure with them being so small and i just wonder if since now i think its female after seeing different pictures...maybe the little spurs i have so much trouble seeing will larger when the snake is big and i will able to see that if it is male...if it is female they will probably show up less...thats where i was getting at when i say it will be easier when the snake is bigger. also..sometimes i can see them if i get her (or him) in the right position and other times it looks like they are sinking way way into the scales to where i will never get a good look. sorry for all the confusion on why this is kinda hard on me. thanks for everybody's help though...especially kelly who has gone to extremems of countless posts explaining as well as pictures (which helped quite a bit in my female guess)