Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So my gf and I just got a baby male yellow anaconda which we named Goliath. Just about every time somebody finds out what he is they freak out...less than half being amazed. Then we get the whole thing about them being such a mean snake and don't wanna go near em. My lil guy is so sweet and has only struck at me the 1st day we got em and that was when I was taking em out the box he came in.

I blame the anaconda movies for helping give these snakes a bad rep and the people who go around saying every negative thing they can think of about anacondas just because they dont like em or know that much about them. Any snake can be mean and vicious as well as calm and sweet. That also goes with the treatment of the snake.

My gfs coworker was telling us how we shouldn't have gotten a yellow anaconda cause of how mean they are. She said she has a 3ft one that will not let her or her bf touch it. So I asked did she handle it a lot or if at all when it was a baby and she said barely. Hmmmm I wonder why it doesn't like to be handled. Just because you have a bad experience with one snake doesn't mean that all snakes of that type wants to rip your neck out.

I love my lil Goliath..he doesn't get nervous when being held...he doesn't freak out and death grip your hand...he acts just like my ball python which is the nicest snake we own.

I'm at work bored so thought I'd get on here and share what's on my mind. ^_^

Yeah I'm always amazed by the people who watch one show and think it makes them an expert on snakes. I work at a small zoo and all day I hear people look at our west and east african green mambas and say "They only have the greens 'cause the blacks are to mean" or they look at our male king cobra who is pushing 14 foot and ask why we don't have any big snakes like an anaconda they figure they are too mean for us.
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"We don't inherate the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children"

I worked with greens up until a couple of years ago when they became rocs here in fl. I had some that were docile and some that were aggressive but I have yet to find a snake that can compare to an angry water monitor. I have one right now who needs to eat and when I open the cage he will most likely come after me. In fact I have had 3 waters that would make an average nile monitor look downright docile and I owned a nile for 15yrs that was nasty until the day it died.
Obviously the constriction factor of a large green anaconda that could come from a feeding response is something to contend with and should be taken seriously, however I have yet to have any non-venomous snake bite compare to even a relatively minor bite from a monitor or a tegu (or a handful of other large lizards.) it is amazing how when you tell people that lizards are way worse than snakes they just don't believe you. I always find it funny how a lot of us herpers out there have forgotten more about herps in 5 minutes than most people are even capable of learning in 10 lifetimes and yet they are experts because they watched a show on animal planet once.
We are getting to an age where you probably shouldn't tell too many people what you are keeping anyway as it can be used against you later on. As for the people who already know don't worry about their uneducated opinions. If your yellows do end up aggressive later on just learn to accept it as part of dealing with anacondas but if they stay docile for you enjoy it and don't worry about what other people think it really doesn't matter in the end anyway.

After reading that last reply to your post(to me, a ramble about wild caught animals that aren`t acclimated to human contact..most water monitors and green anacondas are not captive bred and those that are and are properly assosiated with people are generally excellent captives) I think I will let the picture do the talking.
Mike

My point was actually that snakes get a bad rap, Lizards are far worse attitude wise. As far as captive bred vs. wild caught for temeperement it holds somewhat true when you compare some captive breds (which are raised from birth) to adult wild caught animals. But the fact is there is very little difference between wild caught hatchlings and captive bred ones as far as temperament goes other than individual personalities of the animals involved.
You are right most waters are wild caught they also come in as hatchlings over the 29 years I have worked with water monitors I managed to get one hatchling that was captive bred (hatched) it almost took of my right thumb once. It's temperament was fine until it wasn't. If have had docile waters and I have had (and still have) some very aggressive water monitors it boils down to the temperament of the individual animal a lot of times. The same holds true for anacondas I have gotten several captive born green hatchlings that were fiesty the first green I ever got however was in the early '90's and was for the most part very docile I got it when it was 7ft and it was most certainly wild caught.
The most aggressive snake I ever owned was a female burmese/ceylonese python cross the was given to me as a 10' adult. It was most certainly captive bred and worse than just about anything I ever owned temperament wise. Not that it bothered me, (I actually liked that snake it was a great garbage disposal it ALWAYS ate ANYTHING) but it was in fact a captive born animal.

I see what both of y'all are saying but what I meant was people who had a bad experience with a snake..anaconda, burmese,or whatever type it is doest mean that all the snakes like that one are bad. I understand if the incident happened at an early age and the person is afraid of snakes in general but to dislike one type just of one bad run in doesn't add up to me.
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