Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how's it goin...

I have a question: I've handled Burms and Retics before and I've kept both species. Burms being more laid back and retics being alert and curious. I've been very interested by the Green Anaconda. I like the large girth they put on almost dwarfing retics. My question is-- What is there "typical" temperament as compared to the two big python species I've mentioned above? Are they laid back (the kind that sits on your lap) or do they move around alot? Also, all the research I've been doing on Anaconda's on google or yahoo give me results about their temperament saying they're "nasty" and "picky-eaters". What's your input on this? Thanks and sorry for all the questions. Have a great weekend.

-Darryl

They don't "almost" dwarf retics, they do dwarf retics. They weigh a lot more then a retic of the same size.
Burms and retics are captive bred a lot more than green condas are. I remember years ago when people would say the same thing about retics that they say about condas now. Just shows you how important good captive breeding is for temperment. A conda will be a lot more work than the retic as far as getting it to settle down. There are exceptions but you should expect to have a large snake that isn't too fond of being held rather than get your hopes up on a "lap" snake. Also, spend the extra money and get a good captive bred one. You can find neonate condas all over for real cheap but most of them arent even worth the cheap price you will pay. Not to mention tons of them are captive borns from wild caught adults. Those are the ones that give the conda the reputation of the super aggressive animals you have been reading about. Wild caught retics arent much different but you dont see them as often now that the retic morph craze is in full swing.
You're doing the right thing by researching first and buying later. I hope some of this helps. Read past posts on here because your questions get asked a lot in here and you will see different posts from other people.

Arik

thanks