Have you ever wondered about anacondas? It is a very interesting snake. Well, let me tell you about it. Anaconda also means water boa. In Spanish means “bull killer”.

All anacondas belong to the boidae family. They can weigh up to 450 pounds. They could grow 20 to 30 feet in length. Females are bigger than males. Did you know that the anaconda is the thickest snake?

The anaconda is called the water boa because it is a great swimmer. It swims very fast. This is how it swims; it curves its body side to side pushing the water behind it. An anaconda’s eyes and nostrils are on top of its head.

This helps it see while it is swimming or floating in the water. They spend most of their time in water. Water helps support their massive weight. Skin could be dark green or a yellow pattern with black spots. It helps them with camouflage.

They live in rain forest in South America. It is wet and warm in the rain forest all year long. An anaconda rarely has enemies because it’s huge size, but when it is a baby, it will have lots of enemies. Here are some enemies for babies; foxes, lizards, and other natural predators. Caimans and larger anacondas also pose a risk.

At night anacondas hunt for food. They lie still in the water and wait for prey. It gets its prey by grabbing it with its jaws, and then it coils its body around the prey and squeezes it to death. It eats fish, birds, frogs, mammals, and reptiles. The largest rodent, the capybara is a common meal for anacondas, its gets its prey by waiting patiently at water’s edge for prey to wander by. Its coloring keeps it hidden. When an animal stops for a drink it grabs it and squeezes it to death. It could stay under water for ten minutes while its prey drowns. You are probably wondering that it could eat so big prey. Well; its jaw is held together by stretchy bands, so it could open its mouth wide!

After feeding it lies on a river bank or in the water hardly moving at all. It takes a long time for anaconda to digest. After a huge meal it will not have to eat for several weeks or even months! Then it goes hunting again.

A lot of snakes lay eggs, but an anaconda has babies that look like small adults. A female has up to 40 babies at a time. Babies are born in the water at night then the mother swims away and leaves them alone. When babies are just born they learn how to swim. At birth they are about 24 inches.

Here are some other fun facts. During the day it spends time resting and sleeping, but it can’t close its eyes because it doesn’t have eyelids. Like all snakes it is a vertebrate.

I hope you learned a lot!