Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know what is the largest Green in captivity. I remember going to NERD about 10 years ago and seeing some of their anacondas. They were huge. Well only about 15ft but thicker then a 20ft burm, and weighing over 200lbs.

I can't reference a specific specimen as the largest, but I know there are a few in zoos and a couple in private collections that are in the 18 to 20 feet range. I don't know of any larger than this in captivity, however there could be, but there is also no shortage of exaggerated claims. Greens in the wild over 20 feet are rare, and those around 25 feet are probaly 1 out of 10,000 adult female specimens. While there may have been a few females in the wild in the last 100 years that approached 30 feet, I have serious doubts that there has ever been a female that actually broke the 30 feet mark.

Kelly

Serpent Safari in Gurnee Mills Mall claims to have a 27 footer that weighs over 325 lbs. There are several youtube videos of the snake, and without seeing it in person, I would say it may well be as big as is claimed. You may remember Serpent Safari as the place that had a 400 lb burm years ago. I have not read many reviews of Serpent Safari, and have never been myself, so I cannot recommend the place, but if anyone is interested in going (and hopefully taking video of the anaconda) I would be interested in hearing how the place looks. Of course I would also be interested in seeing video and pictures of their anaconda.

I have had a fair amount of experience estimating and measuring large constrictors in the 10 to 20 feet range over many years, and have reviewed 5 or 6 videos of the green anaconda at Gurnee Mills. I would estimate this individual’s length at around 19 or 20 feet. There are several objects that can be used for scale in the videos, the best being a woman's head and a man's hand next to the glass against which the anaconda is laying. The girth of the snake appears to be less than 12 inches at the largest point. In one video there is an adult gaboon in a neighboring cage that can also be used for scale. This is definitely a large green, but nowhere near the 27 feet claim. In one video, the tour guide even says that it was 22 feet.

This same company had a large anaconda at their Wisconsin Dells site about a decade ago. I saw that green in person, and it was slightly larger than this one. I estimated it at about 21 or 22 feet. It was very dark in color and was in very bad condition. It was quite thin and had obviously not been feeding for a long time. I believe it died not too long afterwards.

The most massive green that I have seen is the one in the National Zoo in Washington. It's probably about 18 or 19 feet, and would definitely outweigh the green at Gurnee Mills.

Kelly

I believe a 27' Anaconda would weight 500 lbs. or even more. There is no shortage of exaggerated claims even among experienced herpers that should know better. A snake going back and forth three times in a 4' cage does NOT make that snake 12'. People do not have any idea how to measure a snake. There are only two ways. With a string or small rope along the spine, which is still fraught with it's own problems. Or the best method, getting the snake to crawl along a straight wall and marking the head and tail position at the same time. This is really the only BEST way to do it. Methods that utilize any estimates whatsoever are always high.

I bought a ten foot Boa that weighed over 60 lbs. from a guy 20 years ago. After he shipped it he called to tell me the scale at Delta was messed up as they mistakenly thought that in the box, she weighed only ten lbs. Problem was there was nothing wrong with the scale and the Boa was only about 6'. A pathetic overestimate.
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