Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My BF wants to get an anaconda, but i'm a bit worried about the immense size. from what i see in photos they seem to hit like 20 feet and are just FAT snakes. I'm just wondering if theres a specific breed that stays more the size of say, a burmese, or even *smaller* that i can persuade him to get. I just hate the idea of a snake that large, seems like it would be hard to handle to keep tame, and i hate to have a pet that seems like it could eat me.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

Is he looking to get a female green? Females are the largest of all condas and other python and boas. Male greens get about 14 ft but are nowhere near as massive as females. I myself would have liked to have a female green but I definately knew that that would be TOO much of a challenge for me being that I have no one to help me when she would attain her large size. After doing some homework and talking with other conda keepers I opted for a female yellow conda. On average they get about 10-12 ft but can reach up to 16 ft. Male yellows about 7-9 ft I believe. My girl, named Nefertiti was born 6-11-04, I got her on 7-09-04 through kingsnake.com's ads from Arkansas Valley Reptiles owned and operated by Dr. Chris Thorgenson. I was weary at first but I just can't say enough of how pleased I am with my snake. After letting her acclimate to her new home I have seen nothing short of excellent feeding responses, full clean sheds, perfect fecal droppings with no signs of parasites, a calm disposition. She has only bit me once and that was when I went to feed her for the first time. It was a quick nip so I say it was because I startled her. After that she has bluffed striked 4 other times and not landing a bite and ever since then has not attempted to strike. Yellows can be a nice snake to have if you provide them with everything they need and spend adequate time with them so they do not become aggressive or defensive. Talk with others who have yellows like Ben Renick, DFR, Mr. Anaconda28, CrazyCody. These ppl have given me excellent information and advice. If maybe he wants to go with a male green then Arik, CrazyCody, Kelly Haller are nice ppl to get your questions answered. Hope this helps. Good luck.

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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII

while he wants "one at first" i think he wants to get both.
It's always been our goal to eventually start breeding reptiles, he just seems to want to start with all the things that are either large, poisonous, or man eaters, lol. (i'm trying to show him are awesome cornsnakes and BP's are, but so far all i have him interested in are the uber expensive piebalds.) Still, its good to know they dont actually get as insanely long as they look in random photos you see of like 14 tribe members holding up one massive snake. I'll just have to force him to start off with a male!
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

A male yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) is deffinitely the smallest anaconda you can get. These snakes will only grow 6-8 ft and will be much much slimmer than what you have seen with the large greens. If he wants an anaconda just to say he has a pet anaconda I would not recommend it. This animal can be a pain to clean up after and can be a bit quick tempered. Every snake is its own individual and you have just as good of a chance of getting one that is calm as a shy little kitten as one that will make you bleed all day. ALL of them will have smelly poop though. If he just simply has a love for anacondas and wants to start out with a smaller species then the yellow male is perfect for him as long as he has lots of experience with snakes (especially the larger and more "advanced" constrictors). Good luck

from the looks of your list it appears that Petco loves you.

I deffidently agree with eunectes4. Anacondas (both yellow and green) are very difficult to care for, so make sure you know what you are getting into and make sure to find a good source of the snake, ask a lot of questions But yeah, if he is dying to get a green, MALE is deffidently what you want, and realize that even a male can reach lengths past 14'. But deffidently be patient for a male green as they are not as common and females. But I would still recommend a male yellow along with eunectes4, and trust me, pictures can never do a yellow justice, in person they are stunningly beautiful. Just keep in mind that every snake is different, and even a male yellow could (not as likely) but it could pass 8'. Physignathus made a very good point also, just be prepared to spend an adequate amount of time with it, because if neglected they will lose their "nice" temperments. If you have more q's, everyone in here is very nice and would deffidently help you out! Good luck!

~Ben

1.1 Green Anacondas
0.1 Yellow Anaconda
1.1 Tiger Reticulated Pythons

im guna have to agree with gavin. Anacondas are a very hard snake to keep and u really need years of experiance with large aggressive boids before even thinking of getting one. yellows are smaller then greens but are still a large snake. u really need to know what ur doing before getting an anaconda. we can all argue on size of male yellows but when the truth hits snakes are one of the only animals that never stop growing they just slow down so male yellows will get over 10 feet someday. also size is not a big thing when u get in to feeding and cleaning them. condas poo everyday and 2 times a day after they feed and after they do u can smell it. i change mines water 3 times a day. there a very demanding snake and really need lots of attention.

CrazyCody
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I'm CrazyCody KadunkKadunk!!! I'm a herp god!!!

Kadunk was here

CrazyCody

As usual, very good advice from the others. Moving up to the giants-anacondas, burms, retics, is a big step with a lot to consider. The expense for feeding, large cages, room, and more time devoted to the snake. The handling and clear understanding of large constrictor behavior is a must. Along with having an emergency plan if things go bad. The small, cute baby will get big some day and even 8 foot of yellow anaconda is a lot of snake. Anacondas are very powerful. I suggest finding some one with an anaconda or one of the other large constrictors and spend some time handling it. A nice Brazilian Rainbow Boa would be a nice addition to your collection. They don't get large, are a relative to the anaconda, and are beautiful snakes that would give you experience in taking care of a snake with high humidity requirements. Bill.

sigh, i jsut typed out the longest freaking message, and i guess i took too long b/c i was logged out when i was done. go figure. the one time i didnt copy my message before hitting send too.

so, heres hte abbreiviated version.

no, my pets do not come from petco, most of them are either from shows, reptile specialty (ie, glades herp) or simply "handed" to me by people who know i have the space, cages, time and love for the animals. petco is one of the last places i would consider buying anything from, the onyl reason i even GO to petco is because one of the women who worked at glades herp before they moved,(and from my last exp. with them, good riddance!) who is HIGHLY intelligent about snakes, works there now. - amusingly, i have seen the quality of cages and food fed to their tiny reptile shelf inprove since glades left - infact i will probably be stopping by to quiz her about anacondas, since i know she keeps at least one, but i THINK she mentioned breeding then.
he doesnt want the snake just to say "OMGZORS look at the cool thing!" he loves large snakes, and we've had some exp. with burmese, nad will probably be getting one of those soon as well. in general, we've both had alot of exp with reptiles since we were kids, me more in hte lizards part (my mom was terrified of snakes) and him more in the snake department.

we are considering getting an older juvenile from a rescue, something in the 2-4 foot range.

I'm working on designing a 4 ft tall, 5x3 cage for him if we get it, as well as using the design, if it works out, for the boa we have atm, and hte burmese we will probably be getting.
now the pooping thing mentioned, wont even be the slightest problem. i have ferrets, i am used to cleaning up uber stinky poo, and i am used to doing it often.

and a handful of questions,
how heavy can i expect a 8ft male yellow to be? ive been looking at some sites, but it seems anaconda care sheets are fewer and less detailed than most.
regaurding water, every sheet ive read so far reccomends from a large bowl to 2/3 of the cage being underwater, but ive seen reccomendations here against it, they blsiter or something? i'm not quite understanding this, so any clarification would be awesome.
will aspen work well as a substrate for them? i have a fairly easy time maintaining 70% humidity in aspen (i keep typing cedar and having to fix it, so from here on in, any time i type cedar, i mean aspen) and thats on screen topped cages, and the cage i'm planning is going o be more enclosed, i'm aiming to find 1/4 inch plastic pegboard for the 3 sides and top, have plexi-glass doors for the front, and a half a foot deep of non-porous easy-to-clean material (i have a few options i need to check out) on the bottom.i figure this will be a good combination of holding humidity in yet allowing high air circulation.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

I don't know a good approx. weight for an adult male yellow, dfr would be a good person to ask about that.
Water tubs are not needed for anacondas. The blister issue you've read about does not seem to be a problem with my greens. The female soaks all the time without any problems. If you have access to old issues of reptiles magazine then check out the Jan. '04 issue. Kelly has a great article about green anacondas in that issue. He explains the water tub issue in more detail there.
I do not use aspen for a number of reasons. I use a rubber mat cut to fit the inside of my cage. Its easy to clean and does not promote bacterial growth when kept clean.
The cage you described should be fine for a male yellow. Its probably taller then what is needed but extra height isn't going to cause any harm.
Good luck
Arik

the height is really more for display, and the fact i can fit easily into a cage that tall to do any cleaning/remodeling. plus if the design works well i can build others, the size makes it suitable for a number of snakes and other reptiles. since i'm planning on using plastic pegboard (i REALLY hope i can locate this at one of the hardware/building/etc stores) and a double-door design, i can even design a divider.
of course, the hard part is going to be BUILDING it, im much better at the design stage of things, lol. But i've allowed myself plenty of time for a few trial and errors, we'll probably be getting the snake in feb at the earliest, if we get a older juvinile, otherwise we'd be starting with a baby which can go into a smaller cage for awile until the larger cage is done!
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...