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You definitely need to breed those beauties so you can share their strain with the rest of us! You will need to separate them, fatten them up, and then drop their temps some during the late fall to entice breeding activity. Yellows are already breeding this time of year so you’ll need to be looking to prime them for next year.

Also, are you positive you have a pair? Seems they would have engaged in some breeding type activity at some point if they have been together for as many years as you say. Check the spurs. The male should have large, very obvious spurs while the female will basically have an indentation where the smaller spurs have withdrawn.

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I just looked at your pics again. Boy that top pic (where the one is laying on the other one) sure is reminiscent of mating type activity. Males will "hug" the females this way to try and entice them to give it up. It might not be that hard to get them going. Has the mid section of the girl swollen up at all that might indicate ovulation?

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We’ll be happy to help.

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Hi DJD, your enthusiasm is infectious! I would really be grateful for help because I feel I have been entrusted with a special project and want to make most of it.

By the way, have just come across the picture of you and your gator - wow, lovely!!! You say s/he(?) was a complete baby, from the look of it it seems to mean - very friendly?? :) To have a croc is my dream which will probably always remain just a fantasy but I do adore them. So do they get tame?

Was wondering, about the mating season for yellows. I believe I read in various sources that that can last till spring. I thought that if I build the 2nd tank soon and separate them they might still get a chance this spring. Do you think its too late this year?

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Most of the yellows actively seem to breed November through January. You’ll always have some early or later takers though. If it were just plain ole’ yellows, I might still try them this year, but in your case I think I would focus on prepping for next year since you have such a special pair.

I am actually working on my own anaconda information website to be called AwesomeAnacondas.com. It is still in the research and desgin phase so it’s going to be a little while before it’s up and running.

To answer your other question...yes, my gator was completely trustworthy and not at all aggressive. I wouldn’t have wanted to make a stupid feeding error with him, but otherwise he was a total baby. This is really not that unheard of with american alligators born and raised in captivity when given the proper care and handling. Crocs on the other hand are notoriously untrustworthy and usually down right nasty. Caiman fall somewhere in between. I actually had a young Nile Crocodile for few years and no matter what I did or how much I worked with him he was a monster. I really do believe he wanted to kill me.

Anyway, my experience with crocodilians was mostly because of rescue situations and that definitely taught me something. These animals are not good pets and very few individuals can or will follow through with what is needed to maintain specimens into adulthood. I really do not advocate anyone but the most dedicated advanced herper owning crocodilians. It’s just unfair to the animals and I’ve seen it first hand way too much here in the States. Fantasizing about having one and admiring them for the magnificent creatures they are is quite alright however!

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Man I wish my site was ready because most of what you are asking will eventually be on there.

Anyway, I’ll try to give you some short answers...

-No DYI enclosure pages really come to mind. I’d try searching for different cage manufacturers and take a look at their construction techniques to see what you can do similar. The main thing is being escape proof and able to hold the heat and humidity levels correctly.

-If you are maintaining the snakes at the correct temps (about 78 to 80 deg. F, cool side - 86 to 90 deg. F, warm side), proper humidity (60-70%), and they are eating well, then I wouldn’t be too worried about them getting sick. Keeping cages clean, water fresh, and watching for and treating mites are standard preventative care. Water blisters can occur if allowed to soak for long periods of time, especially in soiled water. Signs are obvious - blisters or bumps. Respiratory infections can occur if proper temps and humidity are not kept. Usual signs are wheezing, bubbly mucous around mouth, and gaping of the mouth when breathing. Overall though, anacondas are actually pretty hardy captives as long as the basic requirements are met and maintained.

-Most snakes, including anacondas, will change color somewhat in response to temperatures, shed cycles, age, etc. My yellows and my greens are very sensitive to temperature as far as their color goes. My yellows will be a bright, light yellow in the enclosure when toasty warm, and within a few minutes of pulling them out of the cage and them cooling some, will turn almost brownish. The pink coloration you are seeing is very common on snakes with light colored bellies as they turn opaque and get ready to shed.

-Anacondas, especially if primed for breeding, can go on and off feed, sometimes for extended periods, so that would not be a real good indicator of health. This is also why it’s important for your snakes to have good weight when attempting to breed. My male has eaten nothing for almost three months. All he is interested in are my girls. He is a little skinny right now but healthy none the less. As a matter of fact, he is mating with one of my females at this very moment. Nothing like a little snake porno at six in the morning!

Here is a link to the yellow care sheet on Ben Renick’s website. The info is very good and very similar to what my caresheet would look like.

http://benrenick.com/care_yellow_anaconda.pdf

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Well, me being a "goldmine" might be a stretch, but I try to help out when I can. My degree in media journalism and past work as a teacher/presenter I think helps me relay information a little better than some others might. I am definitely an avid researcher of information on any species I choose to keep and one of those people who pays close attention to detail. Luckily, I also seem to retain facts pretty well. Really I am just a fellow herper who has had many years of general experience with many different reptiles species, including some with anacondas.

While I may not have as much hands on experience as some of the captive anaconda pioneers like Kelly, Jud, Pete, or Ben, I have waded through most of the available information, including theirs, and learned what is the trustworthy data. Believe it or not, when I chose to pursue my little anaconda project, I took the time to read every single post, on every single forum, and every single web page I could find that mentions the word anaconda. I have the book you mentioned and many other pieces of literature and videos I have found with anaconda info in them. In a nutshell, by combining the knowledge I have learned through other’s work with anacondas and my own personal experiences with anacondas and literally hundreds of other reptiles, I feel I do, in fact, have a firm grasp of proper anaconda husbandry. My current animals are all doing extremely well because of this.

What I hope to do with my website is to make all that I have learned about anacondas readily available to interested keepers in one online location. Like you say, while there are a couple good breeder websites, there really is no "all encompassing information center" on anacondas. You really have to wade through all the different info available and make your own evaluation as to what is right. A lot of people don’t want to do all that and in the end, the animals suffer for it. Essentially, I have done the information "footwork" for anyone interested in keeping anacondas. My goal is to bring all this information together and present it in such a way that anyone that chooses to keep an anaconda will have the correct info right at their fingertips. As my project continues, I will be able to add even further bits of personal experience into the mix. I also try to stay in contact with some of the above mentioned breeders as they are the true "gurus". They just might not have the time or the media skills to present the info like I do (they’re too busy breeding and raising their snakes!). In the end, it’s all about the well being of everyone’s animals and eventually the production of high quality captive bred young.

If you wish to contact me directly feel free to email me at "". I can give you my personal phone number from there if you wish to call.

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