Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is about the 8 - 9 ft Green x Yellow anaconda. I'm trying to get him to calm down, and it seems like all he wants to do is just get a hold of me. That pic is his "i'm about to bite the next thing that comes near me" pose. I've fed him, there is a picture of it in the photo gallery. I was wondering if there would be any reason he would be acting like this, or something I could do to calm him down. The place I got him from said he was usually pretty calm (unless he was hungry), and they did hold him, and he is a c/b (obviously) so he was held a lot. I fed him, 2 days later I tried to get him out, he crawled around on me for a minute, and then out of nowhere he just snapped at me, for no reason. He might also be getting ready to shed, I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice to why he is acting this way, or what I could do about it maybe?

~Ben

Well anaconda's generally are NOT the most docile species available. Usually through careful breeding and whatnot you can get some babies that are pretty calm. Anacondas carry after the traits of their parents. So if the parents were docile and manageable then so will the babies. However the reverse also applies. The fact that you have a cross between yellow and green conda's also complicates matters as far as temperament. I have had very bad luck with yellows generally, however there seems to be a gentleman in this forum that seems to have some very docile yellows. Greens I have seen both sides. I have seen some of the most gentle greens around. I would say just give it some time. If he bites, don't put him back up. Keep holding him. If he bites and you put him back down, he will learn that he gets his way when he bites. That's about as much info as I can offer. He's absolutely gorgeous. I understand that there are quite a few people in here that don't like crossing species. I however don't have a problem with crossing species for captivity. However, I never want to catch someone release a cross into the wild. As long as the animal remains in captivity there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with crosses. In fact he is an absolutely beautiful specimen. Good luck with him.

Chris

Ben,
The older greens are, the more difficult it is for them to deal with the stress of a big change in their environment. A male this size would probably be approaching 3 years of age. I would give him a month or so to acclimate to the new surroundings before you handle him. This should help considerably, but it is impossible to tell at this point how much his behavior will level out. It would take a really even tempered young adult green to remain calm right after an environmental change like this. Good luck.

Kelly