Breeding yellow anacondas

[Shrp Blunt]

Hi there,

I recently thought of getting myself a breeding pair of yellow anacondas. I found a pair that are 18 months old and about 1 meter long at the moment. But I first wanted to just find out a few things before I go collect them. Can someone tell me how they breed? What are the costs involved? What age can they start? and just in general how is the temerament of yellow anacondas?

any additional help would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Sharp Blunt

[Lankyrob]

To match your name i will be sharp and blunt :)

If you are asking those sorts of questions you are a long way form being ready to breed snakes. Especially something as big as an annie. Spend a few months reading every book and internet record about breeding and the requirements that are specific to annies and then think about whether you are rreally prepared for the massive commitment.

Hope it all works out for you :)

[SSSSnakes]

To match your name i will be sharp and blunt :)

If you are asking those sorts of questions you are a long way form being ready to breed snakes. Especially something as big as an annie. Spend a few months reading every book and internet record about breeding and the requirements that are specific to annies and then think about whether you are rreally prepared for the massive commitment.

Hope it all works out for you :)

I agree 100% with what you said. Plus keep in mind you better have a place to sell the babies off fast, or it will cost you a lot of money to feed all the babies.

[CDN_Blood]

I concur. These are not things you think about *after* you've jumped in, so you're clearly in over your head.

Let it be a lesson to people who make foolish moves like this - serious keepers don't look kindly on such things, so think before you act and don't breed animals that you won't even be able to get rid of. It's not about money, you know - live animals require planning, a means to support them and knowledge about their husbandry. Think, people...think-think-THINK.

[Gungirl]

Hi there,

I recently thought of getting myself a breeding pair of yellow anacondas. I found a pair that are 18 months old and about 1 meter long at the moment. But I first wanted to just find out a few things before I go collect them. Can someone tell me how they breed? What are the costs involved? What age can they start? and just in general how is the temerament of yellow anacondas?

any additional help would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Sharp Blunt



I concur. These are not things you think about *after* you've jumped in, so you're clearly in over your head.

Let it be a lesson to people who make foolish moves like this - serious keepers don't look kindly on such things, so think before you act and don't breed animals that you won't even be able to get rid of. It's not about money, you know - live animals require planning, a means to support them and knowledge about their husbandry. Think, people...think-think-THINK.


If you read what is in bold you will see that the OP is asking BEFORE not AFTER.

[marvelfreak]

First you would want to get this book.
Anacondas - Professional Breeders Series (http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-books-and-magazines/snake-books/-/anacondas--professional-breeders-series/)

What kind of experience do you have with snakes? Have you ever worked with big constrictors?

[KORBIN5895]

What kind of "keeper" would look at buying an animal to breed without know the temperament of said species.

Honestly you don't know enough about yellow anacondas to own one let alone to breed.

[marvelfreak]

Hi there,

I recently thought of getting myself a breeding pair of yellow anacondas. I found a pair that are 18 months old and about 1 meter long at the moment. But I first wanted to just find out a few things before I go collect them. Can someone tell me how they breed? What are the costs involved? What age can they start? and just in general how is the temerament of yellow anacondas?

any additional help would be much appreciated.
Many Thanks
Sharp Blunt
They can have upwards of 40 to 60 babies. Even if you had homes for half that would still leave you with the rest to feed and care for. Say it takes a couple years to sell them all it's going to cost a lot of money to feed them. What if you can't sell them then your stuck with a bunch of snake that the females can get up to 16 feet. Do you have people that are willing to help you take care of them or clean up after them?

Not good they are a insure and easily spook snakes which makes them seem aggressive when in truth they are very defensive. With Yellow you either get a mellow snake are a chainsaw with teeth. They don't just bite once but repetitively. They can true their heads 90 degrees, so if even holding one right behind the head it can turn and nail you if your not super careful.



Any other questions you have feel free to ask and welcome to our site.:)

[Shrp Blunt]

Hi there,

You guys seem to have misunderstood. The pair I enquired on buying are only 18 months old. And I know that it's recommended to only breed after they are 4 years of age. That leaves me with 2 and a half years to learn and find out, that's why I came to this forum. I have had plenty of experience with snakes in the past, I've bred red tail boas twice. I currently have a Baby res tail boa and 2 large empty tanks. So I am not rushing in to it I was simply enquiring about it.

[KORBIN5895]

I actually caught the age and size of them and knew they weren't ready to breed.

I don't know what you qualify as "plenty of experience " with snakes but I am interested in hearing more about it( We love good snake stories! ). From what I gather an anaconda ie quite different from a red tail though.

The biggest issue I see with your situation is you are looking to purchase a snake which by your first post sounds like you have already decided and were just asking a few last minute questions. The questions you're asking lead me personally to believe you don't have the foggiest idea about yellow anacondas.... let alone a breeding pair. I worry you will by these 3ft long beasts and and not be able to care for them properly then make the stupid decision to try and breed anyway.

To me buying a giant and saying you will learn as you go is just as bad as buying a hot and learning as you go.

Sorry to be so negative but I see this ending terribly. The longer I am on this forum (and others) the more cynical I become. Or maybe I just see people making really stupid and ignorant decisions quite often( read as daily). Regardless I no longer believe that anyone should just give it a shot if they want to try.

[Shrp Blunt]

I actually caught the age and size of them and knew they weren't ready to breed.

I don't know what you qualify as "plenty of experience " with snakes but I am interested in hearing more about it( We love good snake stories! ). From what I gather an anaconda ie quite different from a red tail though.

The biggest issue I see with your situation is you are looking to purchase a snake which by your first post sounds like you have already decided and were just asking a few last minute questions. The questions you're asking lead me personally to believe you don't have the foggiest idea about yellow anacondas.... let alone a breeding pair. I worry you will by these 3ft long beasts and and not be able to care for them properly then make the stupid decision to try and breed anyway.

To me buying a giant and saying you will learn as you go is just as bad as buying a hot and learning as you go.

Sorry to be so negative but I see this ending terribly. The longer I am on this forum (and others) the more cynical I become. Or maybe I just see people making really stupid and ignorant decisions quite often( read as daily). Regardless I no longer believe that anyone should just give it a shot if they want to try.


So you're telling me people are born with a knowledge of them? I am wanting to buy them as pets, and one day may have the intention of breeding, that is why I was asking. I wanted to try a new breed as a pet because I had my boas for 6 years and then I had to move so I left them with a family member in Cape Town. I came here to this forum to ask questions to learn and get help so that I know what to expect if I get them, and all I've gotten is you jumping down my throat, you don't know me from a bar of soap buddy so get of your high horse and maybe actually help people who seek help instead of putting them off.

[Lankyrob]

The way i read your initial post was that you are lokoing to buy and breed yellow annies with no experience of them whatsoever - that sort of post will get many snake keepers backs up and results in post that sound snippy.

If you explained the whole situation in your initial post like you just did then the responses would be a lot different. :)

[Norm66]

Welcome to Ssnakess.com. ;)

[marvelfreak]

If you want you can read my thread on my yellow anaconda.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-boa-forum/84065-my-yellow-anaconda.html

We a few people on here that own them. I am the only one that on here regular. Any questions just ask. I got to get back to work, but will answer them later.

[MoreliAddict]

Imo people were a bit hard on the op here. As Gungirl pointed out (before he explained his experience with breeding snakes) that he his here on the forum before acquiring the snakes, because he realizes he'll need to learn before he's ready to breed them. Still my opinion, but I don't see why after 6 years of breeding boas this keeper should be shunned off from keeping a couple yellow annies (they're big, but not THAT big) if that's what he want's to do.

As for breeding and taking care of hatchies, the fact that yellow annies could lay 60 eggs at a time was a good thing to point out, but that's the exact type of reason the op was here, hopefully he comes back...

and if so, http://www.lilwaynehq.com/forums/images/smilies/welcome.gif

[KORBIN5895]

You guys can be as nice as you want and appease him but I answered straight forward to his questions and intents.


Hi there,

I recently thought of getting myself a breeding pair of yellow anacondas. I found a pair that are 18 months old and about 1 meter long at the moment. But I first wanted to just find out a few things before I go collect them. Can someone tell me how they breed? What are the costs involved? What age can they start? and just in general how is the temerament of yellow anacondas?

any additional help would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Sharp Blunt

Now if you will take noe that his original post showed two things. A) his total lack of knowledge of yellow anacondas and B) his intent go breed.

If you guys want to be nice and sugar coat I am a-okay with that and that is normally my approach also. My problem is his stories are changing with each post. His original post says nothing about them being a pet.

@Op

I am not on a high horse at all. I just answered you with a very straight forward and honest answer. You can judge it from there.

[<3Cupcake<3]

You all are so busy telling him he shouldn't be breeding these snake because he doesn't know enough about them...why don't you stop telling him why he shouldn't and start feeding him info so that he CAN!! He obviously wants to, so help him out! This IS a forum about gaining knowlege about keeping snakes PROPERLY so help him do it and stop wasting time telling him not to!! He doesn't have them yet and he's asking for info on them. GIVE IT TO HIM!!!

[<3Cupcake<3]

Everyone has to learn somewhere. Gabby did terrible when we first got her. She didn't have good temps or humidity. She threw up food all the time and hardly grew at all!! In fact she just started growing since you started this site and learned a few things about snakes. She survived and you eventually learned to care for her properly.

[Trent]

Go cupcake!!!!

[lady_bug87]

Everyone has to learn somewhere. Gabby did terrible when we first got her. She didn't have good temps or humidity. She threw up food all the time and hardly grew at all!! In fact she just started growing since you started this site and learned a few things about snakes. She survived and you eventually learned to care for her properly.

First off I disagree with you completely. There is a difference between buying ONE of the species and learning from your mistakes and buying TWO with the intention of breeding witout ever owning the species. Many snake keepers and hobbyists cringe when they see posts like yours because they're irresponsible. You're encouraging this person (the OP) to just go out and get whatever he wants then learn when he has the time.

Many hobbyists see animals get mistreated, euthanized, or abandoned because the keeper cannot take care of them properly. I also don't think (from past threads about your husband's collection) that Gabby's issues were a result of poor care under his supervision. As far as I remember she had some other issues when she was acquired which through education he has resolved.

These members are not being hard on the OP they are expressing frustration which I can understand.

To the OP I am glad you are asking these questions. Please consider that whatever you breed you have to be responsible for. Meaning if your female produces 50 babies and you only sell 10 the costs of feeding, housing, and other maintenance is completely your responsibility for the other 40 plus the original 2 and any other clutch she drops in that season. I would personally start with one snake. Raise it to adulthood and learn all you can about he species then if you can see yourself having 60 of them at once for an unknown period of time then continue with your breeding plan. I personally don't believe that starting with a pair is the best way. Whatever you decide.. Good luck.

[KORBIN5895]

Actually I treated Gabby the same way I did my cornsnake. Gabby did regurge three meals and I assumed it was because of the hair. I now believe she regurged because of the terrible setup I had going on. She was only one of two that survived out of her litter.

[<3Cupcake<3]

Lady bug, I'm glad you know my husband so well and what goes on in our home. I didn't realize you were so in touch with our personal lives. Lol. I don't mean to be rude but my husband has told me Gabby didn't grow and threw up her food because of temps and humidity. He just didn't know what to do at first yet he still got her, and because he has continued to learn WHILE having her, she has been thriving WONDERFULLY. He's a great snake keeper if I do say so myself...but he had to learn it here. I didn't tell him to go out and get it before he learned...I said for all you "seasoned snake owners to stop wasting time telling him not to do him and start telling him how to do it. I would encourage buddy to read up on what he can, but having three kids has taught me one thing...you can read whatever the heck you want but in the end experience is the best teacher.

[lady_bug87]

I know enough to know I am glad I'm not the one married to you considering I don't spend my days trolling after my husband on the Internet... You know, not to be rude.

These seasoned snake keepers are responding to the idea that someone who has never dealt with a species wants to start raising them not to the information he requested. Just in case in your haste to correct everyone you forgot how to read.

And Kevin my mistake I read so many threads I can't keep them straight. I wasn't sure if she had some issues before hand. I have heard boas going on hunger strikes because of poor set ups but not regurge

[KORBIN5895]

Well this is going to be epic.

I had terrible heat gradients going on. So unless gabby spent all of her time at the top of the enclosure she didn't have proper temps to digest. She would regurge the whole decomposed mouse 5-7 days later.

[lady_bug87]

... Why epic? This isn't about you and gabby. She's fine. No need to explain yourself.

[<3Cupcake<3]

Lol...I wouldn't have went for you anyway. I don't swing that way. I can do whatever I want. I did marry him. He asked me to marry him so I suppose he must like me.I don't see it being your concern, Princess. We both log onto each others things. He reads my texts I read his. Does that bother you? Its called marriage hunny bunny. Its the way we roll. Last time I checked the marriage certificate you weren't on it, so I guess its not your concern how we work our marriage.
Aaaanyway..I say learn abit about the snakes you want to buy and get them. They are young you have tons of time to learn. Like I said that's what my husband did and Gabby is great. Good luck to ya!!!

[Bradyloach]

Baha this thread turned into Jerry springer show! The op just wants info :) let's give it to him! I bought a sav and kept her in a fish tank for 2 weeks with 15% humitdy! People encouraged me to get an enclosure made out of wood and high humitdy. I only did this because they shared there experience and knowledge. If someone tells me to do it, screw that but they encouraged me to the right path and now I'm on my way to becoming a great sav keeper! Who knows maybe this guy will be the next best anaconda breeder in the world! :)

[<3Cupcake<3]

Bradyloach- *LIKE*

[CK SandBoas]

Honestly, if i was the OP of this thread, and saw the responses of a few of the more seasoned keepers here, i would abandon this thread, and honestly this site, and look elsewhere for constructive, informative information and advice. Being blunt and honest is fine, but what does all the personal information being slung about here have anything to do with breeding yellow anacondas?????


So i am going to be blunt and honest with a few of you, and say i am disgusted at the behavior being shown here, you are adults, and this thread should be locked, or at least all the mudslinging comments be deleted from this thread. Wayne, feel free to delete this comment if you need to.

[lady_bug87]

Baha this thread turned into Jerry springer show! The op just wants info :) let's give it to him! I bought a sav and kept her in a fish tank for 2 weeks with 15% humitdy! People encouraged me to get an enclosure made out of wood and high humitdy. I only did this because they shared there experience and knowledge. If someone tells me to do it, screw that but they encouraged me to the right path and now I'm on my way to becoming a great sav keeper! Who knows maybe this guy will be the next best anaconda breeder in the world! :)

Ha I wouldn't call it Jerry Springer

And yes but again that was NOT the reason people were telling The OP to hold off breeding. As I said initially its ok to get ONE and learn from your mistakes but to get TWO and breed them only to find out you need to deal with upwards of 60 animals who weren't even sure how to take care of is doing wrong by the animal. Kevin got ONE boa you got ONE sav you guys didnt buy a breeding group and start experimenting. THAT is what I initially responded to. Unless you know exactly what you're getting into you shouldn't be breeding end of story.

The fact that I find her rude, inconsiderate, and misinformed to the point of negligence is beyond the reach of this topic that has now been horribly derailed.

[lady_bug87]

Honestly, if i was the OP of this thread, and saw the responses of a few of the more seasoned keepers here, i would abandon this thread, and honestly this site, and look elsewhere for constructive, informative information and advice. Being blunt and honest is fine, but what does all the personal information being slung about here have anything to do with breeding yellow anacondas?????


So i am going to be blunt and honest with a few of you, and say i am disgusted at the behavior being shown here, you are adults, and this thread should be locked, or at least all the mudslinging comments be deleted from this thread. Wayne, feel free to delete this comment if you need to.


You're totally right. I apologize. These hormones get the better of me some days

[Terranaut]

Funny I read this a couple days ago and thought the op was a joke. But now I see it went to 3 pages and half of it is off topic drama. The op is serious and I see where they are coming from. My $.02 is to buy them and raise them an decide 2 yrs from now if your going to breed them. Taking eggs from a tired 7.5ft JCP was a hair raising experience. Trying to remove young from a full grown annie sounds a little out of my league at this time. Maybe the same for you. So yeah. Buy em. Raise em. Then make your decision based on your knowledge, not ours.

[marvelfreak]

Funny I read this a couple days ago and thought the op was a joke. But now I see it went to 3 pages and half of it is off topic drama. The op is serious and I see where they are coming from. My $.02 is to buy them and raise them an decide 2 yrs from now if your going to breed them. Taking eggs from a tired 7.5ft JCP was a hair raising experience. Trying to remove young from a full grown annie sounds a little out of my league at this time. Maybe the same for you. So yeah. Buy em. Raise em. Then make your decision based on your knowledge, not ours.
I so agree. Being he has experience with Boas all he wanting to do is work with a different kind of boas. Yellows would be the next step up. I know i had a one time thought about breeding them, but as i study and ask question i decided against doing it.

OP if you don't want to post on this thread anymore , but have question feel free to PM me. I will do my best to answer them.

I also like to say i so agree with KKgal.

[Shrp Blunt]

Hey guys,

I see the point you have about 2. So I am not getting them. I will get 1 at a later stage. Thanks to those of you that were supportive.

[Caylan]

Pretty cool result from a very odd thread. Good luck with your future annie. Post pictures when you get her!

[Gungirl]

Hey guys,

I see the point you have about 2. So I am not getting them. I will get 1 at a later stage. Thanks to those of you that were supportive.

I am happy that you could read through the crap and get the right info. I think waiting it out until you know more is a great idea.

[marvelfreak]

And please don't let this scare you off. We do actually have some very helpful people here. I am sure your just as passionate about animals as we all are, and don't want to see some poor animal suffer. Their hearts are in the right place, but some lack bedside manners. Plus i am sure with your experience with boa you could be helpful to others. So please hang around.

As for this thread it has left a bad taste in my mouth. I have a question for you all if he (op) had made the first post, but say he was asked about king snakes or ball pythons would you have be so gun ho to tell he not to?
All he came here for was to learn about them before deciding to get them or not. Maybe some need to slow down when reading or read somethings twice before responding. I think most of you were against because he asked about Yellow Anacondas.

Has for the second page of these thread i think you all need to go put your nose in the corner and take a 15 minute time out.

[Lankyrob]

My response would have been the same whatever snakes he was talking about - mainly because we have no previous knowledge of his experience. As i said later in the thread (which may have got lost in the pathetic nonsense) if more info was given about his history then i would have responded differently.

[millertime89]

To the OP. Start with one, get a female, they take longer to sexually mature. Then in a year, if you STILL want to breed and you've gained TONS of knowledge and a year's experience with the species go buy yourself a male. Breeding is a HUGE commitment, not only do you have to provide for the safety and well being for the breeding pair, you've got to know what to do with the babies when they hatch. But I'm sure you know that since you've already bred red tails. I really don't see why everyone jumped on you other than the fact you didn't really provide a whole lot of info in your first post.

I do think learning as they grow with big snakes is the way to go. Better that way then to just go out and buy a 15 foot snake.

I completely agree with Chuck, this thread got out of hand. The Jerry Springer stuff needs to be deleted and confined to the privacy of your homes or PMs.

[marvelfreak]

Well by some of the PM i got i must have pissed a few of you off. My post was not directed at any one person i was talking in general.

People come here for help and advice. But as soon as a newbie mentions one of the big boys (Retic, Burmese, Scrubs, or Anaconda) everyone want to cram their opinion down their throat. If we scare people off with how we respond to a question, then they are more likely to go and make dumb misinform decision. Which just means some poor animal will suffer. The last thing any of us want is for some poor animal to be mistreated and not care for properly. So let's try giving helpful inform advice, and lets ask question to make sure we have all the facts first.

[Terranaut]

You got pmed for having common sense. Funny!
This thread went way off right away and yes it is because the masses care a lot about both snakes and their handlers safety but then "off topic drama" crept in to where it had no place. That IMHO will scare people off faster than strong worded advice. I just hope another future yellow anaconda owner doesn't read this from a google search and get turned off our forum.

To the op. glad you now have a game plan. Don't be discouraged. This is a great forum.

[millertime89]

To the op. glad you now have a game plan. Don't be discouraged. This is a great forum.

Yup yup yup

[exwizard]

Well by some of the PM i got i must have pissed a few of you off. My post was not directed at any one person i was talking in general.

People come here for help and advice. But as soon as a newbie mentions one of the big boys (Retic, Burmese, Scrubs, or Anaconda) everyone want to cram their opinion down their throat. If we scare people off with how we respond to a question, then they are more likely to go and make dumb misinform decision. Which just means some poor animal will suffer. The last thing any of us want is for some poor animal to be mistreated and not care for properly. So let's try giving helpful inform advice, and lets ask question to make sure we have all the facts first.

You got pmed for having common sense. Funny!
This thread went way off right away and yes it is because the masses care a lot about both snakes and their handlers safety but then "off topic drama" crept in to where it had no place. That IMHO will scare people off faster than strong worded advice. I just hope another future yellow anaconda owner doesn't read this from a google search and get turned off our forum.

To the op. glad you now have a game plan. Don't be discouraged. This is a great forum.

This is what Ive said repeatedly when other threads turned ugly like this. How are we going to help people who have questions when we scare them off by judgement and jumping to conclusions?

[moshirimon]

Having just boas is quite different from caring for anacondas. Although they are closely related they have completely different personalities. yelllows do get big but not that big, probably the same size as a big female boa ( a bit bigger ). There is a chance you will get an animal that will go off feed for long periods of time, and have a crazy attitude. either way do alot of research, i don't know about breeding but care is definitely alot more to maintain than a boa. i got mine this year and i love having her. i was lucky enough to get one with a good temperment andd awesome feeding response. the only downside i'd say is their stench. they reek, if you don't clean the tank and defacate small amounts all around their enclosure almost every other day. also i'd recommend keeping a waterdish they can fit in, which means they wil spend most of their time in there. would you be comfortable taking a soaking wet 9-12 foot snake out for handling. it's up to you just know what youre doing and if you get one, post some pics!!!

[jaleely]

Lankyrob had the best posts.
Straightforward.
I would suggest not getting any species of snake, at all, for the purpose of breeding and selling.
The pet trade is flooded with a lot of popular snakes. It's not needed, and it is certainly not a great means to make money.
For this particular snake asked about...they are large, fiesty, advanced snakes. Two at 18 months old seems fine now...until they are 10...12...16 feet long.
A quick google search will show you they can have a *lot* of eggs.
It's good to ask questions...great to show an interest, honestly. But it's always hard when it comes to animals because many people see them as more than pets, more than just breeding stock.

I encourage anyone looking into owning any pet, to do tons of research on their needs, housing, lifespan, etc. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Anyway, to the origional poster....the way you asked, it seemed like you were set on getting a pair, and breeding them as soon as you could, like it was no big deal.
Sorry people got defensive of the snakes.
There are many, many people who do this exact thing then end up rehoming the snakes later. And with this breed, it is highly likely because they are so much work.

Anyway again...you did get some good basic info for thoughts on the long run. I see that you didn't get the snakes, too.
That may have worked out for the best. If you do decide at a later date to start a breeding project I hope it goes well for you. In the meantime, maybe you can come back here and start some threads on what you've learned about the snakes, and get discussion and feedback on other keepers methods. That would be more effective than asking for a crash course in breeding : )
Peace!

[Charlie64]

Hmm... I wonder what a whole clutch of musking anacondas smells like :(

[marvelfreak]

the only downside i'd say is their stench. they reek, if you don't clean the tank and defacate small amounts all around their enclosure almost every other day. also i'd recommend keeping a waterdish they can fit in, which means they wil spend most of their time in there.

Have you try using Reptile Bark? I found it helps some with the odor.
Mine only gets in the water dish when in shed. I keep two water bowls one small one for him to drink from and a bigger one for soaking. He knows which is for drinking, because the little one is the only one he will drink out of.


A quick google search will show you they can have a *lot* of eggs.

Anacondas are boas so the have live born not eggs. Just want to corrected you on that. I totally agree with everything else you said.:)

Hmm... I wonder what a whole clutch of musking anacondas smells like :(
Like when cats mark their territory, just not as strong.