Anaconda snake size how to#

Anaconda snake size how to#

Newborn anacondas are smaller versions of the adults and instinctively know how to survive on their own without any help from their mother.These snakes have dark brown or greenish-yellow scales, with black or brown patches. Then they are on their own to start protecting themselves (usually by hiding at first) and to find food. They are still surrounded by the protective membrane and must break it open. When the young are ready to be born, they are pushed out an opening called the cloaca. This ensures they are kept at a fairly constant temperature and are protected from predators. The young are attached to a yolk sac and surrounded by a clear membrane, not a shell, as they develop in their mother’s body. Courtship frequently takes place in water.īaby boas. Like all boas, anacondas do not lay eggs instead, they give birth to live young. Does the strongest male win? Not necessarily! Adult females are much larger and stronger and may choose which male (or males) they prefer. Surprisingly, anacondas sometimes cluster in a breeding ball that may have 2 to 12 males coiled around one female-and they may stay like this for up to 4 weeks! This breeding ball appears to be a slow-motion wrestling match among the males for an opportunity to mate. The males constantly taste the air with their tongue to pick up a female’s scent messages. Biologists have observed that adult female anacondas do not move around much during the breeding season, yet males seem to flock to them from all directions. The female is thought to leave a scent trail to attract a male, but she may also produce some sort of airborne chemical signal.

Having a ball! Anaconda courtship often lasts several weeks during the spring season. Anacondas can go weeks or months without eating following a big meal.Īt the San Diego Zoo, anacondas eat pre-killed rodents and rabbits. The anaconda often takes its meal into the water, where perhaps the buoyancy helps maneuver the food to the proper position for swallowing. Jaws attached by stretchy ligaments allow the snake to swallow its prey whole. Like its boa brethren, the anaconda kills its prey by coiling its muscular body around the creature and squeezing until the prey can no longer breathe. They are not very active hunters but instead use a “watch and wait” approach as their prey swims by or comes to the water to drink. The diet consists of wild pigs, deer, birds, turtles, capybaras, caimans, and even jaguars. Anacondas rest and sun themselves along the bank of a river or in tree branches that hang over water along riverbanks so the snakes can quickly drop into the water if needed. Their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their head, so the snakes can wait for prey while remaining nearly hidden by the water. The anaconda likes to be in or near water and spends a large part of its time in the murky waters that help to hide, as well as support, its tremendous body.Īnacondas are excellent swimmers and divers. This hot, humid region with its dense foliage offers excellent habitat for such a large snake, which fits well into this world. The anaconda lives over a vast area of tropical river systems and swamps in South America, east of the Andes.