This makes it so difficult to determine their actual size.

Normally, anacondas can never be seen completely when moving through shallow waters and constricting their prey. The largest anaconda is said to have been 17 feet (5.21 meters) in length and weighed 214 lb (97.5 kg). On average, the males are about 3 m long and females about 13-16 feet (4-5 meters) long. “992 lb (450 kg) anaconda discovered!” “Anaconda with a record length of 98 feet (30 meters) found!” The news feature headlines like this all the time. There are several rumors related to the size and the weight of the water boa.

Anatomy and Appearance The Longest Snake in the World? Their lifespan in the wild is about ten years.The biggest anaconda is one of the biggest snakes worldwide and primarily lives in bigger waters. Baby snakes are about 2 feet long when they are born and are almost immediately able to swim and hunt. Jaws attached by stretchy ligaments allow them to swallow their prey whole, no matter the size, and they can go weeks or months without food after a big meal.įemale anacondas retain their eggs and give birth to two to three dozen live young. Anacondas are nonvenomous constrictors, coiling their muscular bodies around captured prey and squeezing until the animal asphyxiates. They reach their monumental size on a diet of wild pigs, deer, birds, turtles, capybara, caimans, and even jaguars. Their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their heads, allowing them to lay in wait for prey while remaining nearly completely submerged.

They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water. Other anaconda species, all from South America and all smaller than the green anaconda, are the yellow, dark-spotted, and Bolivian varieties.Īnacondas live in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams, mainly in the tropical rain forests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Females are significantly larger than males. Green anacondas can grow to more than 29 feet, weigh more than 550 pounds, and measure more than 12 inches in diameter. Its cousin, the reticulated python, can reach slightly greater lengths, but the enormous girth of the anaconda makes it almost twice as heavy. International Conference on Indigenous Responses to Climate Change, September 28-30, 2023Īmerican Society for Ethnohistory ConferenceĬentering Your Students: How to Sustain Inclusion and Equity as an EducatorĪ member of the boa family, South America’s green anaconda is, pound for pound, the largest snake in the world.

Largest anaconda snake ever caught