Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear members,
I am the proud "mother" of a baby yellow anaconda. "Anna" is already a firm favorite in our house hold. I can not establish her age exactly, but she measures about 500 cm. According to the pet shop she is a few months old. We bought her two weeks ago, but Anna does not want to eat. (Hello, she sleeps next to her prey on the heat pad!!) She is docile, loves to be touched and spends about 9 hours a day outside her cage, in our hands / laps. Anna has started wheezing and I see that she has some "water" bubbles on her nose. Could she have a cold perhaps? We live in South Africa, in a moderate climate (av 24 degrees in the day.) Anna has a cage where she has a huge water bowl for swimming, a heat pad and some loose tree bark. Are we doing something wrong? Since it is Easter weekend, I don't think I could get to a vet. Anybody out there that could tell me anything. Also, is it normal for an anaconda to be so docile? She loves being touched and would often, even if we put her on the ground to explore, go straight back to my husband and crawl into his lap. Regards, Ingrid.

A couple things. Yes they can be docile, however, sounds like she is sick. She sounds like she has RI. So being sick, she comes back to your husband because he is warm 98 degrees or so, and she senses that. When they have RI they do not eat. You will need to see a vet and get her some shots. Also, crank the temp up in the cage to 88 degrees consistently, and raise the humidity up for the time being. Don't handle her so much. She will need to get back.

If it is no RI, and I would be shocked if it was not, you need to give her time to adjust to her new home. Snakes do not eat when they are nervous, they usually strike, however if they are sick they may not. My retic is a perfect example, he had RI and was the camlest I have ever seen him. Right there I knew there was a problem. I took him in and he did. I gave him shots and now he is back to being aggressive with his food.

Also when you are feeding are you feeding live, pre killed and just laying in there, or wiggling it in front of her. The prey should be warm to the touch but not hot.

If you caught this sooner, you may not need the shots, however from what I am told if you see it in the nose, you need the shots. A slight weeze is also a good sign.

Good Luck

Jeff
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

A slight weeze is a good sign it is sick. Just wanted to be clear.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa