Yellow Anaconda

[dturner05]

I've have been seriously considering getting a male yellow anaconda, but am very apprehensive about it. I think I have settled on getting one in the next year. But I am still a little unsure about the setup I should have, especially since I really enjoy a good looking snake enclosure, and I know just by the nature of the anaconda I need something with a significant amount of water. Would it be ok to have something like a slider turtle setup to start off with? Any advice will be helpful, I just want to be as prepared as possible for my first anaconda.

 

[Gary O]

Yellows do not need as much water as some think. Humidity is more important.

I keep a larger water bowl in the cage but Yellows will not sit in water aslong as say a green would.

 

[dturner05]

So just how big of an enclosure am I looking at in the long run? I'll start it out in about a 20 gallon but what is good for an adult male?

 

[hhmoore]

That kind of depends on how big he ultimately gets, lol...and the type of setup you want. Male yellows (in my experience) tend to average in the 6-7 ft range...but I have seen a few that were close to 9. The 2 ft difference in length doesn't seem like all that much, but there is a considerable increase in girth once they start getting past 7 ft. A 3x2 cage is a decent & workable basic enclosure for a male yellow anaconda; but the more floor space you utilize for other things, the less the snake has available. For example, if you choose to use something along the lines of a 28qt Sterilite for water, a good chunk of the floor space is gone...you would want a bigger cage, whether you increase floor space or increase useable height.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

WOW, I literally had no idea those guys stayed so small. I knew they didn't reach the proportions of their green cousins, but really had no idea.

 

[hhmoore]

I'm pretty sure the male greens stay fairly small, too (at least in the wild). I used to know a guy that was involved with a research study on them - I'm sorry I don't recall the specifics of where/when, but it was back in the early 90's. They didn't find any truly large females (20ft, or more) but they found a decent number in the 15-17 ft range. One of the things that stood out was the pictures of the mating balls ==> groups of 6 or more males, all in the 6-8 ft range entwined/copulating with a single female.
I suspect there are some larger captive specimens, due, if nothing else, to the propensity of many keepers to want them to grow

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Now that's interesting. I thought only Garters were known for that.