Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, first, my conda does this whistling noise when she exhales. Does anyone elses conda do this? It doesn't happen with every exhale. 2nd, just behind the eyes inbetween the eyes and mouth there is an indentation. Is this a feature that appears as they grow? I have never noticed it in the past 15-16 months since I've had her. She'll be 17 months on Nov. 11th. 3rd, whenever I get her out and she's crawling & sliding around in my hands and I have to gently restrain her(to keep her from going where she does not need to go) I hear and feel popping in her body. I guess I could compare it to popping knuckles or your back. Has anyone else experienced this? Now when I would catch snakes before they would get completely down a hole and I would have it by the tail I would hear & feel the same thing. I was told yrs ago that the popping was their vertebrae being dislocated. Could this be what is happening to my conda? 4th, she is now between 5 & 6 ft and about 3" thick at her widest point. Anymore when I feed her a large rat it does not even put a bulge in her. At this size could I try 2 large rats? Any advice & info from any & all conda keepers would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!!

-----
"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

Most large snakes will have a little whistle but it could be a piece of shed not coming off in her nose. I really have never seen a yellow anaconda with a bad shed...but i guess its possible. i doubt her vertibre is dislocating with handling. These are very powerful animals. I would imagine the popping is nothing but keep an eye on it. Feeding...go with jumbo rats. 2 jumbo rats a month would be more than enough and would probably make your snake get pretty large quickly. I have not seen your snake but I would probably feed it 2 jumbo's two months in a row and then cut back to one on the third month. Do this for a while and then 2 jumbos a month will be nothing for the snake. Just my thought. I would not do weekly feedings for an anaconda.

She sheds all in one piece everytime. I check the shed thoroughly to see if its all there. Well I could spend the money for jumbo rats but why when I have over 60 large rats left out of 100. I usually feed her every 10 to 21 days depending on when she craps out what I fed her previously. I haven't fed her on a weekly basis since she was around 3 months of age. Say for instance, I just fed her 1 large rat(like 10 mins ago) wait 48 hrs and offer another then don't feed her again til she has passed the 2 rats. Would that seem acceptable? I'd hate to waste over $60 worth of rats and go buy jumbos. I do plan on buying jumbos when the larges are gone. Or something bigger if she seems to have gotten too big for jumbos. Here's a pic of Nefertiti with me for scale. I'm 5'8" and 306

-----
"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

(1)whistle sounds are never a good thing.some larger snakes make sound but your conda ist that big.i would chech for swelling in the glottus and bright red or slimmy or foul smelling fluid would suggest infection.
(1)FEED YOUR SNAKE snakes need 10% of the cal.that a worm blooded animal of the same weight need to maintain organ and muscle function.
if it was mine i would feed it 2 large rats a week till your supple is gone thin i would feed it 1 jumbo every week for 2 to 3 weeks and then i would increase it to 2 jumbos every week.
Clint Herron DMV.

i forgot to address the popping sounds.
im not really concerned about this.as a young snake grows it is slightly compressed in the outer skin,so when you hold it, its old(outer)skin stretches and releases presure on a compacted spine. this should be less noticable right after a shed.

I agree, most whistling noises coming from the snake aren't a good sign... It could be multiple things though, such as shedding or upper respitory infection, those being the most common. Make sure your humidity and heat are good... But keep in mind everything else that was said about it also.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to agree with E4 on this one. Anacondas DO NOT need to be fed that much. I keep mine on a 7 day routine, mainly to make sure my male and female greens are a good breeding size. These snakes aren't like most other snakes, and they do not need to eat every week. I know that E4 has actually taken A LOT of time into the study of their feeding habits and what is needed. Anyways, good luck!
~Ben

I know I have looked into a lot of feeding habbits and adult anacondas (greens more) are only likely to eat 1-2 large meals a year. Granted his snake is not an adult and isnt eating as large of a meal...but 2 jumbos a month is 24 good size meals a year for a growing snake. But I cannot really put my words against a DVM title. Especially someone who has a DVM title and has kept anacondas on a long term basis. Go with the vet. He is also correct in saying the snake is a bit small for whistling. I am just going to shy away on this and do my own practices which say anacondas are prone to obesity and shortened life in captivity and have a much slower metabolism than most snakes.

conda are prone to getting fat! but instead ok looking at how many meals it gets a year look at the caloric value of those meals. there is alot more cals. in a medium goat than in a couple dozen rats.

I think I am missing some of the point here. His snake can not come even close to eating a medium goat. But a few dozen rats in a short amount of time can make a young snake fat. The number of meals does not matter, I agree. But the amount of food does. I think for right now, his snake eating about 1000 grams of rat (however he wants to do it) a month will be more than enough and he can adjust feeding accordingly as the snake grows. A weight on his snake would really make it a bit easier to advise feeding right now as well. Anacondas really could eat more food and not get fat if you increase their environment temps. but this is changing thousands of years of adaptation this snake has adjusted to. Who knows what long term affects there are. I am feeding my Drymarchon WAY more than my Eunectes because they are designed for it. They are also a snake with fairly low temps but their behavior and high activity allows for them to need more food. They also do not do well with extremely large meals like anacondas and other boids do. They are prone to regurge with big meals so they are fed more small meals frequently. I just think there are a lot more things to consider than a 10% average guidline. Mammals have a large variation from species to species as far as caloric intake to body mass goes. So what mammal are we comparing to? Or should we take an average?

I really thank you Clint for taking the time to contribute to this thread. I think it is some great stuff a lot of people need to know and consider. I want you to know I mean no disrespect when I bring these things up.

But these are things I like to consider for my animals and I will never say system my is better than anyone elses. I also think we are both giving good advise to consider and I would want people to be aware of all these things when designing their feeding schedules. I would love to see more publishings specific to this.

Also...when it comes down to it I am always going to tell people to take the word of a vet.

Wow!! First, I want to thank you all for the sound advice. It is much appreciated. Thank you Clint for the personal emails. The main reason I don't feed more often is I don't want to get into this powerfeeding thing and make her grow too fast. As far as weighing her, about the best way I can right now is by weighing myself with her on me, then weighing myself alone and subtract to get her weight. She should be around the 10-11 lb range. Right now I can't get exact weigh as I fed her yesterday. As far as checking her mouth for signs of RI this will be very tricky and trialsome. She does not like whatsoever anything going near her head. I know it can be done but she's gonna be a fighting me. I will have to do this alone as my parents will not help and my brother has been shacking up with some woman he met. Right now I have her belly heat set on the thermostat at 82 degrees. Now that only warms a small part of the floor(where she likes to stay). For heating the air inside right now I have a 75 watt infra red heat lamp. Which I can say is not doing the job well. Will be getting a 150 watt HE Tuesday to raise the air temp. With colder weather settling in this in itself is going to be a challenge to keep up and stable. With the cost going up on heating in the winter my parents may cut way back the furnace thus making my room cold. Right now the thermostat for upstairs(we have 2 furnaces, 1 up & 1 down) is at 68 and I can honestly say it will never get any higher only lower. I myself have bought a space heater to help with keeping the room warm. How well this works remains to be seen. Also this time of year it gets bone dry in this house(8%-10% humidity). Only gets 30% humidity in the spring and summer so this house basicly all year round stays dry. Any and all water not sealed tight will evaporate quickly. I would know, this time of year I'm filling up my fish tanks on a daily basis. And no my parents will not allow me to get a humidifier. She does have a 28"Lx18"Wx6"H "pool" that is about 1/2 full of water and then her drinking bowl. Current readings in her cage as of 9:25 pm EST on 10-29-05 are: Belly heat: 84 degrees; air temp: 80 degrees; humidity:85%. Any more advice is welcomed from you guys. Thanks!!
-----
"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

Sorry about that. I was very tired when I posted the above post. Hope it makes sense. I'll see any reply this evening.
-----
"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