Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My conda loves to eat. So right now I am feeding him XXL rats, he is 6ft, and I do this once a week, however he urates three times a week and poops twice a week. Just seems like an over active bladder, and everytime I clean him he poops again, or urates a ton. Could this be a sign that the rats are two big or that he is eating to much, or is this normal.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)
1.0 Ivory Ball Python (Hansel)
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python (Sissy)
0.0.2 Yellow Ackies (Ludmilla and Ivan Drago)

If you are feeding a six foot male anaconda several XXL rats at a time once a week than you are overfeeding it. The frequent urinating and defecating are not necessarily signs that it's being over fed, but obviously the more you feed it, the more it's going to go.

How much you feed it should be based on the overall appearance of the animal. The snake should be healthy and firm with good muscle tone, not big and flabby. A nice solid, round body where everything looks in proportion is what you want. Unfortunately, obesity is a very common problem in captive anacondas and power feeding one is definitely not good for it. Personally, I would back off to one XXL rat per week as that should be plenty for your snake at it's size.

As far as going right after you clean cages, well that's pretty typical. The snake is just sitting idle in it's cage and then suddenly you move it so you can clean. This moving it around is often all it takes to get the ole' bowels flowing.

Thanks,

I was worried about overfeeding and obesity, but I only feed it once a week. I will never powerfeed. I ready a book once for my burm and it said to feed it when it was a baby once every three days. I did that for a few months and well that burm died at 4, so it worries me.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)
1.0 Ivory Ball Python (Hansel)
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python (Sissy)
0.0.2 Yellow Ackies (Ludmilla and Ivan Drago)

Personally, I would not feed that much. And the rapid rate of pooping and eating more could be a sign that maybe the cage temps are a little on the high end. This rapid growth can lead to obesity and a much shorter life.

I know we want to give our animals food every time they appear hungry, but that just isn't the way nature has designed their body. They get to eat when the right meal ends up pratty much right in front of them and they are able to catch it...this could be weeks or months. It is fairly typical for large (not 6ft) anacondas to eat only a few meals a year, or less.

I can also tell you that if I ate every time I was hungry, I would be very fat...and I (and all humans) have a much much higher metabolism than an anaconda.

Keep a close eye and take weights every so often. There is no rush, and trust me...the snake will eventually get big.

I agree with everything you said. Temps go from about 90 to 75 on the cold end. Thanks, this week he did not poop after he ate.

Thanks again
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)
1.0 Ivory Ball Python (Hansel)
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python (Sissy)
0.0.2 Yellow Ackies (Ludmilla and Ivan Drago)