Burm vs Yellow Anaconda? First BIG snake.

[Neal]

If you want something bigger than your peruvian then it would have to be a female yellow annie. Males get around 6-8 feet. I was looking at getting a yellow annie but I was looking for something that is calm most of the time. If you get a yellow annie make sure you get a CBB hatchling. Mistreated annies can become the spawns of satan and same with WC individuals. Also ive heard that they have a weird way or striking. It most like lashing, the strike side to side and can leave a nasty mark.

On the other hand with the burm, if i was to choose, i would deffinetly choose the burm. I love the look of the normals burms and some of the morphs are amazing. A burm will get much larger than your peruvian. Im going to be getting a half dwarf burm soon and i can't wait. I always wanted a burm, but couldnt deal with a 12+ foot individual.

Your knowledge on Yellow's are way off.
Males 7-9 feet
Females 9-12 feet.

If you do not know for sure, then please keep your input to yourself.

If you're going to get a Burmese or a Yellow, I would highly recommending you getting one as a baby, that way you feel more comfortable with the snake as you and the snake get older, as well as while the snake grows.

The only way I would really get a larger snake, is it would have to be from a highly valued breeder, and it would have to be in person, so you can see first hand the temper of the snake as well as the condition.

If you are looking to get a Yellow, please place the peoples information that have dealings with them, and currently own them on top of people that "just hear".

[mommanessy247]

i thought burms got over 15 + ft & anacondas over 20 ft....am i wrong?

[mumps]

i thought burms got over 15 + ft & anacondas over 20 ft....am i wrong?

You're thinking green anacondas and a female over 17 feet is VERY rare. I challenge anyone to post a pic of one.

Burms (both male and female) can get over 15 feet. I've seen monsters of both sexes.

I currently own a male burm AND a female yellow anaconda. They are both extremely tame, and the yellow, when in the mood, takes her food gentler than a dog taking treats. Other times it's so fast you never see it coming.

Both are great animals. The burm (he's around 13 feet and 4 yrs. old) is more of a handful, but easier to handle as the yellow likes to move a lot, similar to retics.

I can't say anything bad about either, the choice is up to you. Pick your favorite, or like me, pick both!

Chris

[shescountry89]

Your knowledge on Yellow's are way off.
Males 7-9 feet
Females 9-12 feet.

If you do not know for sure, then please keep your input to yourself.

If you're going to get a Burmese or a Yellow, I would highly recommending you getting one as a baby, that way you feel more comfortable with the snake as you and the snake get older, as well as while the snake grows.

The only way I would really get a larger snake, is it would have to be from a highly valued breeder, and it would have to be in person, so you can see first hand the temper of the snake as well as the condition.

If you are looking to get a Yellow, please place the peoples information that have dealings with them, and currently own them on top of people that "just hear".

That size does sound more about right, what I really thought but I've seen on different forums people stating their females got up to 14. But who knows. I'd definatly probably stick with a male Yellow if that was my choice. I do have a friend, from Electric Chair Reptiles who works my local show that has new babies this season. So I am planning on taking a look at them this weekend.

You're thinking green anacondas and a female over 17 feet is VERY rare. I challenge anyone to post a pic of one.

Burms (both male and female) can get over 15 feet. I've seen monsters of both sexes.

I currently own a male burm AND a female yellow anaconda. They are both extremely tame, and the yellow, when in the mood, takes her food gentler than a dog taking treats. Other times it's so fast you never see it coming.

Both are great animals. The burm (he's around 13 feet and 4 yrs. old) is more of a handful, but easier to handle as the yellow likes to move a lot, similar to retics.

I can't say anything bad about either, the choice is up to you. Pick your favorite, or like me, pick both!

Chris

I'd love to have both, I just need to find more friends or get people at the show to come help me when they get to a size that might be a bit large for me. Considering it's going to be just me taking care of them, but I've done pretty well handling a 11ft Argentine boa before. That is awesome that your anaconda takes food like that, very unique and something i'd like to see.

[Neal]

Yea, my anaconda doesn't even strike at her food, she just wraps her head around it and strangles it. Doesn't even bite sometimes.

I believe that Matt has a 11 ft female, but I have yet to see one in the 12 foot range, so 13 & 14 would seem an almost rare occasion to me.

[shescountry89]

Yea, my anaconda doesn't even strike at her food, she just wraps her head around it and strangles it. Doesn't even bite sometimes.

I believe that Matt has a 11 ft female, but I have yet to see one in the 12 foot range, so 13 & 14 would seem an almost rare occasion to me.

That sounds so neat, I am really excited Sunday needs to get here already! Either way, I'll probably get a male.

[Neal]

I know you said your friend has babies, but how long has he been breeding, and does he know the history of the snakes?

[SERPENT_MASTERS]

Mm yeah, either way it's a large animal. Hopefully by the time it get's that large i'll have someone who can come over and help me with it when needed. I work the reptile shows here, so I am sure I could grab a guy to come help me out.

I shall be careful, haha.

trust me that shall not be a problem. A beautiful lady who loves bigggg snakes. I'll be your helper lol!

[shescountry89]

I know you said your friend has babies, but how long has he been breeding, and does he know the history of the snakes?

He has over 10 years of experience with burmese pythons, and has been breeding them for about 8 years I believe. He's one of the well known burmese python breeders at my show. Been doing it for awhile, I know quite a few people who have purchased some nice burms from him, he's also very nice and good to work with.

trust me that shall not be a problem. A beautiful lady who loves bigggg snakes. I'll be your helper lol!

Haha, thanks !

[Baran]

Hi,

I know this is my first post here, but I thought maybe I could chime in a little from experience with anacondas.

I'm all for anacondas (I really like them!) and I've kept both yellow and greens. Female and male. They are a bit different than pythons in my experience, so hopefully this helps you. I would say you can reasonably expect a yellow CBB male anaconda to get to 7-9 ft if you feed him well and consistently and he has a good environment.

I would say a 6ft cage would do for a male if he doesn't get extra large. What is the width of your cage? It's important with anacondas so you can have a pool set up for them. I would say a minimum size for a cage for an anaconda would be half it's size by half it's size. IE 5 ft x 5 ft for a 10 foot guy. They don't need to be that tall ~ 2.5 feet, but low tops make them hard to clean if you can't remove the top.

They spend a lot of time in the water and often go to the bathroom there. I would use a low plastic tub or concrete mixer as a pool if you can find one about the right size and then put it in the cage and use it as a pool. You don't want a lot of stuff in the cage since annies will knock stuff all over! Like plants and the like.

I would also suggest that you start with a little guy and then you can use rubbermaid containers as it grows. That would give the snake a little more confidence (a huge cage for a little snake can be stressful) and it would give you time to setup a proper cage when he's an adult.

Many of the anacondas I've dealt with have had strong feeding responses. Be aware that any furry or feathered animal can easily set it off. Cats for sure (I don't know if you have any mammal pets, but I love cats...). I have had 1/2 inch lexan broken by a very excited green annie when a dog was in the room. We grabbed the dog, because no way we could have gotten it away from her if she got him. These snakes are unbelievably strong and it's hard to make a cage that will hold one if it is determined to get out. I would use 1/2" to 3/4" plexiglass/lexan if you make on yourself. I have heard custom one piece cages work well too.

To minimize the feeding response thing (with you as the feeder) I would recommend you wash your hands before you feed the little guy right from the start, and use tongs to feed him. That way he will hopefully not associate you with food, and if fed regularly, become a little less feeding aggressive.

I have met anacondas that weren't aggressive, but I think that is not the norm. Also, in my experience, some anacondas will get "nicer" with handling, and some won't. Even if you do everything right, you might get an annie that isn't docile, while I here a Burmese can become more easily used to the keeper if handled. If you end up with a non-docile annie, I recommend you treat it more as a "watching" snake and not so much for handling.

If he gets over 6ft or so you will almost definitely need someone else there to help you every time you clean the cage or have to move him. I don't have a lot of experience with pythons, but I will say that anacondas pound for pound are about as strong as caimans (crocodilians are my favorites...) and surpass most other snakes I've dealt with. I'm not trying to discourage you, but a full grown "little" yellow annie could most definitely kill you if you were alone and it got you right. Not saying it's likely, but you should always have someone else there to help with handling.

That's all that's coming to mind right this second. Sorry to go on so long. If you can honestly say "okay, I can handle that, that's fine. etc" knowing this, I suggest an anaconda. They can be very rewarding and they are absolutely amazing (in my opinion). Just make sure you are ready!

Just to reiterate the strength of these animals (sorry, it fascinates me) we had a 14ft female green who had a small deer. She decided not to eating it, after constricting it. On a whim, we decided to cut it open (because we wanted to see if the bones were crushed). While the bones were not visibly broken, all of the major blood vessels were ruptured. So, these guys don't need to asphyxiate you to kill you!

Good luck! feel free to ask any annie questions and I'll try to help out. If I have something wrong here let me know, this is just from my personal experiences.

Edit: You probably will get bit. If they don't let go, don't pull. That can cause some pretty bad muscle damage to your hand or whatever is bitten. They often let go if you wait them out, then put betadine on the bite if not go to the dr. They can get infected easily. Also, they're not dumb. If you let them go when they bite you, they'll learn to bite you when they want to be let go!