Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was sent over here by a gentleman on BP.net, were I had made a post about my green anaconda.

Here is the post from other there:

So I recently aquired a green anaconda from my friend. It is about 7foot right now and I am a little confused about whether it is male or female.

It is rather long and slender rather than being more plump like most of the females i have seen. It has no spurs that I can see so spur sexing is a no go. I see no spurs what so ever. I heard females are recessed in? On this anaconda there are no spur that I have found, its like they broke off.

And the other day I was letting it swim in the tub and after a while I saw what I think is white stuff floating around. Sperm maybe??

So in closing does anyone have any options on sexing anacondas when spur sexing in not a option?? I have heard probing can be difficult.Thanks in advance

A gentleman replied and said that Kelly from kingsnakes.com could help me, so hear I am.

With regards to probing, any anaconda 6 feet or larger can be easily spur sexed and probing is not necessary. Also, you are correct in that green anacondas are difficult to probe as the penetration angles involved are much different than with other species of boids. If this specimen is showing no evidence of an external spur structure then it is most definitely a female. Not only do males have exposed spur structures, the spur is also attached to a short external appendage that is also quite apparent.

See the photos below that I took some years ago of greens in my collection. The top photo is a young female at about 10 feet that shows the very small short spur that is directly attached to the body with no appendage. It can usually only be seen by pulling back on the surrounding scales as I am doing in the photo. The second photo is the same female, you can see the cavity in which the small female spurs are recessed and is now not visible as I am no longer pulling back on the area around it. The third photo shows a male spur on a specimen about the same size as the female above. The spur is completely external and the short appendage that the spur is connected too is also easily visible as well.

Do not put to much stock in the fact that this specimen looks too thin to be a female. The weight differences do not show up very prominently between the sexes until they get 8 to 10 feet and above and / or get more age on them. Also, underfed females can easily have the same appearance as a well fed male when the females are young and in the adult male size range.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Kelly

Thank you for the photo's Kelly, they help explain a lot. After your message it is apparent that my Green is in fact female. I see no visible signs of spurs or any indication that exposed spurs used to be there.

And I believe I know why the this female is not as heavy as most I have seen are. You are right she is not a good eater. In fact, she has not eaten at all in the 2 months I have had her. My friend I got her from said she was eating jumbo rats or rabbits. I went and bought a live jumbo rat after her 1 month strike and she wanted nothing to do with it. I dispatched it and tried to offer it again 2 weeks F/T but still she refused. Come to think of it I never seen her bite anything. She doesn't like to be messed with, but shows no aggression whatsoever. She is approx 7 ft currently, and seems to be very docile. Do you have any tips on getting her to eat? I will upload a pic older pic of her for now. I have not been feeling very hot the past couple days, once I back in good health I will remove her from her enclosure and get you some better pics. Thanks for all the advice Kelly, it is greatly appriciated.

have any green anaconda's for sale? if so how much, and do u have a buisness website i can visit?