Reptile & Amphibian Forums

` Yup, it's true. She's well over 50 pounds. She spent 02 and 03 going through a very difficult reproductive period, as some of you may remember.
` Last week, I moved my snakes to my new house. She was the last to be moved. I made sure all of them were very well out of digestive stage, therefore very hungry. She's always been a little edgy, and has a Retic like feeding response, but she has never tried to bite anyone.
` I decided to leave her in the cage for moving. I just removed the water and stuffed in extra newspaper. We moved them in a hurry as there was a strong, ice cold wind blowing in off the North Pacific, out of the Gulf of Alaska.
` So, out of the house, into the bed of a pickemup truck, and two miles to the new place. Her cage was too wide to go through the door, so we tilted it onto its back, and she gently slid along with it. We got her in, tilted the cage back to the horizontal, and set it down. She was pissed !!
` She was roaming all over the cage, even standing up and pushing on the top, actually making the plastic bow. I decided she ought to have her water back to soak and cool off in.
` I opened the door, put in the 26" x 13", 25 pound water tub and as I put it down, she struck me in the left cheek, just below my eye. It surprised me but didn't hurt like is should have, so I backed out while looking at her and she hit me again.
` I backed out, closed the door and turned to my friend who was helping me move. He normally has a beefy complexion. His face looked like it had been painted white. He backed away and said, "Why aren't you bleeding?".
` Well she struck me all right, but she didn't open her mouth. It was like being hit by a very small fist, and it hurt like Hell, but there wasn't even a scratch. The second time she struck, I was able to see that she had her mouth closed coming and going.
` Sure enough, she got in the water, and stayed there for several days. I left her alone until she came out of the water, and now she acts as if nothing had happened.
` My conclusion is that my belief that they do not act only on instinct is reinforced. She certainly had to choose not to bite me, but to warn me just the same. Also, she has shown aggression towards other Boids in the past. That is why she lives alone.
` I think that she was just giving me a break. Like a reduced sentence for good behavior in the past. Still, even though my face is already fairly messed up, this was just too close to my eye. I've always been very comfortable handling her, and cleaning her cage while she's in it, for over 5 years. I wonder how I'll handle her in the future.

` She is a sweetie.

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The only time my green gets pissed is when you move her. that is the only time she will bite and you need to give her water back or she is a big baby about it and cries and bites. once you give that back she will instantly swim into your hands and there is never a problem...this is why i don;'t transprt in the tank anymore...too bumby on the glass and causes her to get mad...whenever my pythons travel this way their reaction is to go to the bathroom. gotta bag em..even though the anacondas hate that too...i have better luck with her temper that way

I hope the rest of the move goes better for you. Your yellow looks awesome.
I still wonder about the word 'choose' though. I think that the closed mouth striking that happened could still be instinctual. For example a lot of times rattlesnakes and other venomous snakes will 'dry bite' and not inject venom. If you're in the field and this happens it sure can't be because they chose to spare you. Instead it is more then likely an instinct to conserve venom and not waste it on a non-prey item. Of course sometimes they do envenomate and I wonder if the rate of dry bites and wet ones is in relation to something like adrenaline levels in the snake. If it is only mildly agitated, as compared to completely pissed, does this corespond to the percentage of dry bites.
To bring this theory to your anaconda strike(non strike), what if it was just mildly agitated and not completely pissed(i.e. flattened out,hissing, s shaped strike position, etc.) and had lower levels of adrenaline or something and it is instinctual for the snake to make a non-strike when reacting to aggitation of that level.
I just wanted to start a debate about this issue because I constantly get into arguments in chat when people try to attribute too much to the reptile psyche. I don't know for sure if what I think is right and would like to hear others input,including your's, on this subject.

Arik

` They have quite a bit of latitude in their behavior, and personalities. If they were totally instinct driven, they'd all act much more the same, and they sure don't.
` Hell, I used to keep Octopi. You ought to see all the emotions, and reasoning, they go through, and they're just slugs.
` Snakes in general, and Boids in particular, have a lot more consciousness than most people realize.

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Your female may do what mine did after a good hit, She will realy kiss up. She will act SO sweet.
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GOD,I LOVE ANACONDAS!!!!! Eric aka Mr.A

I have always been taught that reptiles are one step above fish and one step below birds as far as actual intelligence. You raise a good point about why sankes don't all act the same if they were instinct only driven.
Nature constantly alters instincts in animals and the ones that get altered in a favorable way survive and pass on there genes the ones that get altered in a unfavorable way don't. That could explain the differences in behavior.
Look at the emerging cicadas in the east this year. These are the 17 year ones but there are differen't cicadas that are genetically the same species but possess a differen't instinct.(i.e. some come out after 10 years and a number of other increments) Scientists have mathematically figured out why the 17 year brood is the largest and without going into the whole formula it basically says that there chances of survival are increased by having the 17 year interval.
All of the above just means that animals(snakes) can be instinct driven and still react differently to the same stimuli. Natural variances in there genetics could account for this.
A hypothetical test I have imagined would be to place 3 or 4 same size but differen't prey items (chick,rat,gerbil maybe) in front of a hungry snake and see which one it goes after first. Once that is determined would it then be a 'choice' the snake made or would it be that that certain prey item triggered more feeding instincts in the snake? It would be easy to see it from both sides of the argument but as you know I'm more inclined to go with the instinctual conclusion.
Nice pic by the way.
Arik

cicadas mmm good!
CrazyCody

Do what I do every time I give blood, Forgive and forget. I dont even need to give my 2cents why she bit you. Even dfr is not emune to a snake strike. I also was struck in the face and the camera got it. No mark was left just a hard blow, even with her mouth open. DFR... your lucky, she must realy love you.
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GOD,I LOVE ANACONDAS!!!!! Eric aka Mr.A