Just one week after a nearly 9-foot anaconda was found in a Brevard County neighborhood, Florida wildlife officials are asking for the public's help in reporting who might be breeding or buying these nonnative pets.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the stomach contents of the green anaconda indicated it had recently eaten a domestic rat, suggesting that the snake was recently a pet.
In early December, another green anaconda was found off the St. Johns River in Brevard County. Green anacondas are nonvenomous but considered the largest snake in the world, according to FWC.
Both snakes were euthanized, but only the most recent one underwent a necropsy. However, neither that snake nor the one found along the St. Johns were microchipped, which is a FWC requirement for green anacondas because they are illegal to have unless properly permitted.
Now, the FWC is asking for the public’s help finding who owned or owns these snakes.
"Anacondas can get up to 26 feet, but they are nonvenomous. We just don't want them to be here populating," FWC spokesman Lenny Salberg said. "So we want to take them out as quickly as we can."
Typically, anacondas don't do well this far north, because it gets too cold for them. So it's unclear whether they would survive or be able to breed in the wild. However, the FWC doesn't want to take the chance. They are asking for anyone who knows of the possible illegal breeding, possession or release of anacondas or other nonnative snakes to call their wildlife alert hotline at 1-888-404-3922 or email tip@myfwc.com.