Reptile & Amphibian Forums

she poops on me!!!! i took her out today the first time since she shed i have bin feeding her everyday to fatter her up. she thinned a lot from the shed. i had her out for about 10 mintues she was very active and looking around when she stopped and pooped on me. it is the biggest so far from her and it ran down my leg and in to my shoe and after she did this she looked at me like "What" i put her back in her cage then took a shower. other than that she is perfectly tame.

CrazyCody

cody, are you aware that all snakes have glands that emit this awesome odor that says hey, get the heck away from me? anacondas are extremely difficlut to probe because these glands are in the way and they can make it much worse than other snakes...besdies garters...this is why this happens to you...they do not want to be held. deal with it or you might want to get away from murinus

Not to be rude, but "deal with it or you might want to get away from murinus" doesn't seem like a very helpful or insightful reply. I have a juvenile green that will also tend to musk when he doesn't want to be handled. I have been working with him on this, but not exactly sure if I'm going about it the right way, or, if his behavior is potentially indicative of inadequacies with his housing. In light of this, I was a little interested in the responses that Crazy-Cody would get from the group.
Therefore, if anybody has some has some other insights to musking behavior and anacondas I would greatly appreciate it. If there is absolutely nothing that can be done to help prevent it while handling him, then I will be most happy to just "deal with it". I am not ready to resign myself to that just yet, however.

first off, nice snake. Second, I don't want this to get like other forums where people just argue back and forth and jump all over people. It was a joke saying that it is a tricky part to anacondas. I have no clue how you can prevent musking...more handling and no forcefull acts i guess?

First off, thanks. Secondly, I'm sorry if I misinterpreted the tone of your last post and that my post came off a little blunt. I was probably a little more sensitive to this issue than I would have been normally because I have been dealing with a musking anaconda myself.
Regarding my anaconda's musking behavior, it has been a fairly recent occurrence, and I'm a little at a loss for how I should approach things. I don't handle him forcefully, I mostly just guide him when he is heading somewhere that he shouldn't... he is my little guy after all. Incidentally thats when he mostly does it. He's very active when I'm holding him, and if I guide him away from where he shouldn't go, he musks me. A couple of instances he struck me a few times (very rapidly I might add... very different from what I'm used to with my bloods). Because he's still a little guy, it is no big deal... but, I'd rather that he not behave this way when he gets bigger. Like I said, I'm a little at a loss for how to approach things. Should I handle him more frequently for shorter intervals? Should I handle less frequently for longer intervals? Could there be potential problems with housing, light/dark cycle, or other environmental cues that are stressing him? I guess I just want to figure out the best way to have him habituate to me without causing undue stress on him. Perhaps I'm just putting a little too much thought into a very simple thing... Thought?

I don't know if you are still around. I miss your posts and your pics. Do you have any thoughts on how I should approach things?

Last I heard he was in the process of a move and had just gotten bit by his conda. Hope things are going better dfr.
Arik

I don't know your setup so I can't say if your snake is stressed because of it. You should have an 80-90 degree variation throughout the tank and humidity should be above 70 percent. You need to have hides in both warmer and cooler locations in the tank and should be tight so the snake feels secure. Bloods are nothing like anacondas. It honestly sounds like you have normal young green anaconda behavior. I would handle more for longer times unless there are problems with eating...then handle none. If the snake is eating good, its all going to be in the amount of time you put into it and haw patient you are and tolerant to bites and bad smells. I personally did have not gotten the pleasure to deal with a snake musking all the time but i have had a few bites and you must be tougher than me because those teeth hurt like heack for a little snake. Good luck

I don't know about "tougher" but the couple of times that he has nailed me I didn't really feel it. He's really quick. The last time, before I knew what had happened, I was bleeding from three different spots on my arms. I had just set him down on the carpet for a second, and he decided that he didn't want to be picked back up.
I think his environment is fine (based on what I know and what you described), I didn't know if there might be subtle things I could be doing differently. I guess I'll just be toughing it out.

Your best bet is to continue to hold her. DO NOT put her away after she musks you. That only teaches her that when she does it she gets what she wants. If you teach her that it wont work she will stop.

E

It is just a normal juvenile response. with handling it'll quit. It just takes patience. With a lot of handling he/she will come to be more relaxed by your handling and subsequently quit musking. Think of it like a garter. When you first catch them they musk freely but after a short while they quit.
Arik

i handel water snakes everyday and they musk like crazy im ok with musk. but annie is pooping. its not musk its full of mice hair and bones. i no putting her back teaches her that if she poops she will go back in her cage but this was one really big poop. in the state i was in i had to put her back. i am going to handel her now and i hope she is a lil better.
CrazyCody

its the same response though...I watched a huge retic do it a few days ago.