Difference Between Anaconda vs Python

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you come across the term “reptiles”? More often than not, people associate that term with vertebrate animals characterized by their means of movement – crawling. Some of them have legs while some others do not.

In this post, we will be talking about a class of legless reptiles: snakes. We narrowed down our focus to the difference between python and anaconda, we have defined and stated their unique features below.

Definition of Anaconda

An anaconda is a heavy snake with a thick neck, narrow head with nostrils and eyes on it, and is known to be a great swimmer. It belongs to the eunectes genus family, and like most other snakes, it is covered in scales, and can only regulate its body temperature externally.

Aside from the features described above, these crawling animals come in different forms with distinct qualities that fall into four different specie categories. They include the following.

Yellow anaconda, also known as eunectes notaeus
Green anaconda, also known as eunectes murinus
Bolivian anaconda, also known as eunectes beniensis
Darkly spotted anaconda, also known as eunectes deschauenseei

Judging from their names, it is obvious that they are named according to their colors, but there is more to these species than that. According to expert opinion, they are unique in their genetics, geographical range, and size. The largest and most common of them is the green one. It is also the heaviest and longest snake in the world.

Definition of Python

A python is a bulky non-venomous constricting snake that belongs to the Pythonidae family. They are bulky in the sense that they are some of the largest in the world. One of the most interesting things about them is that they come in a number of species, about 41 different recognized species to be exact, and the most common difference in these species can be seen in their sizes.

A profound difference between anaconda and python is that the latter does not have venom like some of the former, and as such, they cannot attack their prey by poisonous biting. To make up for the lack of this feature, they have the natural tendency to constrict around their prey long enough to squeeze breath and life out of it.

These crawling animals are mostly found in Asia, Africa, and Australia, or in any habitat that is predominantly wet and relatively warm. They shelter in abandoned burrows, tree branches, hollows, or under the rock depending on the species.

Main Differences Between Anaconda vs Python

Now that you have a fair idea of the definition of these animals, let us take a look at how they are different from each other. To do that, we will compare anaconda vs python in the table below.

Basis of Comparison	Anaconda	Python
Definition	A heavy snake with a thick neck, narrow head with nostrils and eyes on it, and is known to be a great swimmer	A bulky non-venomous constricting snake that belongs to the Pythonidae family
Number of specie	Four	Forty-one
Habitat	Aquatic	Terrestrial and arboreal
Lifespan	10 years in the wild and about 30 years when captured	25 years in the wild and an additional ten years when domesticated
Food	Eats just about anything it can subdue regardless of size	Eats mostly small mammals and birds
How they kill their preys	By constricting and drowning	By continuous constriction
Movement	Moves in a smoothly rising and falling form – undulating motion	Moves by scooting in a straight line – rectilinear progression

Difference Between Anaconda and Python: Conclusion

In conclusion, the python vs anaconda comparison shows how these animals vary from each other. Noting how they differ in size is quite helpful in differentiating them seeing as they are the longest and largest snakes in existence respectively.

They are quite similar when it comes to their methods of attack, except that the former kills its prey by continuous constriction, a little at a time, until it suffocates the prey. The latter, on the other hand, does the same, in addition to drowning.