2 year old male burm, acting aggressive, what to do?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slyther83

I am taking it easy... ? I just said it because the poster above me made no sense entirely and was talking about the freezer.

---

The OP was also talking about a trip to the vet..................

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

wilomn,
so what experience do you have to tell anyone what to do? no sarcasm. you seem to like to put everyone and anyone down who asks questions that we all should already know the answers to. so enlighten us poor pathetic souls in the only way, YOUR way, to keep any animal that ever existed.

you know why people get irritated by you? because you are so high up on that soap box giving proclamations of inferiority that you obviously have ZERO time for any actual husbandry.

its amazing to me. such a perfect God of herps among us all. praise be.....

just dont know why you cant be productive. oh....wait. i remember. you dont have time. so shut up and go away. :)

---

Speaking of irritating posts, you just produced a dilly of one.

Now that it is plain to the rest of the forum that you have some sort of fascination with Wilomn, I must ask you what you plan on doing about?

Are you going to gaily pursue him from thread to thread, inviting him to frolic? Or are you going to continue to post theories on what he does in his free time? Your posts on him are getting progressively more regressive - I am expecting nothing but bad things for you from here.

Since your infatuation is based solely on his posts, and seeing as you are having a hard with the dual concepts of irony and sarcasm, maybe you should put him on "ignore" and make life less agonizing for you.

Or you could take your own advice and:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

shut up and go away. :)

---

I would strongly recommend the latter.



To the OP:

The snake was originally in a glass aquarium - correct? If that is the case, it is doubtful that the move from a glass aquarium to an enclosed 4x2 cage is making him feel insecure. To the pea-brained snake, lizard (or turtle) , there is no understanding of complex spatial relationships - an open on four sides glass enclosure would simply seem spatially larger than 4x2 closed in cage.

As some have suggested, it could be related to not feeding him enough. It could also be that your burm is just an jerk. If that's the case, the decision is simple:

Do you, as a potential future parent want a giant aggressive snake in your house? While I appreciate that you have experience with boas, a burm is, pardon the expression, a whole 'nother animal. Much longer, much heavier and much more than capable of hurting you or someone else.

If the answer is "no"? Are you willing to take the time to ensure that it goes to an experienced keeper who wants to and more importantly CAN deal with a giant, aggressive snake?

If again, the answer is "no" - then I would recommend a one way flight to (Youth-In) Asia.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sammy412

I would feed the snake more frequently.....start with every 7 days. Also, he probably IS freaking about being in a "huge" place now. Balled up newspapers, fakes vines, something to give him some cover. And 2 hides.

Another tip....I don't usually do this, but I recommend feeding outside the cage. Just from experience....I rescued a 13 ft female burm, who was SO not nice. Every time the c age door opened she was in your face striking. Not something I wanted to deal with. So on the advice of a long time breeder, I began using a hook to touch her before I picked her up....that was her cue it was NOT food time, it was out time. I also got a huge tote at Lowe's to feed her in. Took a few times, but she knew if she went in the tote, food was coming. After just a couple of months, I could open the cage and just reach in and get her. Just for the record, she was not rescued starving, she was rescued because they had no more room for her. I put her in a cage we built that was 6x4x2.5 and filled it up with hides and fake vines. Don't give up on your boy yet:)

---

Is it safe to move a big burm that just ate? Is it easy? Are they aggressive after they eat, or not if they are full? I guess you could just put the tub next to his cage and tip it, letting him crawl back in himself.

Not meaning to thread-jack, but I just bought a hatchling burm, and this is interesting to me.

Moving from a feeding container to the home container is not a problem, even a few hours after the snake has eaten. Don't dangle it by the tail, be smooth and quick and you'll have no problems. This is true for babies up to snakes over 200 lbs. in my experience. Of course, you need to be sure the snake has been fed an adequate amount. Feeding a bigger snake a smaller meal, not satiating it, may lead to a hungry snake looking for more food.

The first time or two that you move the snake will be learning experiences for you both, but be patient and remember who's in charge (you're supposed to be).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wilomn

Moving from a feeding container to the home container is not a problem, even a few hours after the snake has eaten. Don't dangle it by the tail, be smooth and quick and you'll have no problems. This is true for babies up to snakes over 200 lbs. in my experience. Of course, you need to be sure the snake has been fed an adequate amount. Feeding a bigger snake a smaller meal, not satiating it, may lead to a hungry snake looking for more food.

The first time or two that you move the snake will be learning experiences for you both, but be patient and remember who's in charge (you're supposed to be).

---

Thanks! He's just a little guy now, about 200 or so g's. I've never thought about this with my balls. But, would probably be a good idea for the big guy.

:colbert: Don't want a hungy snake. Especially a burm.

I would usually let her stay in the tub for at least an hour.......so she would know the food was over. She had such a strong feed response, if you weren't careful when lifting the tote lid, she was out and trying to hit whatever was closest. EVERY time. The feed response never let up in all the time I had her. However, if I left her alone for a little bit after, I'd open the lid, touch her with the hook, then she'd know it was over and I could pick her up and move her back to her cage. Usually 2 of us, as she weighed about 120.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Skiploder

The OP was also talking about a trip to the vet..................



Speaking of irritating posts, you just produced a dilly of one.

Now that it is plain to the rest of the forum that you have some sort of fascination with Wilomn, I must ask you what you plan on doing about?

Are you going to gaily pursue him from thread to thread, inviting him to frolic? Or are you going to continue to post theories on what he does in his free time? Your posts on him are getting progressively more regressive - I am expecting nothing but bad things for you from here.

Since your infatuation is based solely on his posts, and seeing as you are having a hard with the dual concepts of irony and sarcasm, maybe you should put him on "ignore" and make life less agonizing for you.

Or you could take your own advice and:



I would strongly recommend the latter.



To the OP:

The snake was originally in a glass aquarium - correct? If that is the case, it is doubtful that the move from a glass aquarium to an enclosed 4x2 cage is making him feel insecure. To the pea-brained snake, lizard (or turtle) , there is no understanding of complex spatial relationships - an open on four sides glass enclosure would simply seem spatially larger than 4x2 closed in cage.

As some have suggested, it could be related to not feeding him enough. It could also be that your burm is just an jerk. If that's the case, the decision is simple:

Do you, as a potential future parent want a giant aggressive snake in your house? While I appreciate that you have experience with boas, a burm is, pardon the expression, a whole 'nother animal. Much longer, much heavier and much more than capable of hurting you or someone else.

If the answer is "no"? Are you willing to take the time to ensure that it goes to an experienced keeper who wants to and more importantly CAN deal with a giant, aggressive snake?

If again, the answer is "no" - then I would recommend a one way flight to (Youth-In) Asia.

---

:)

Yes, he was in a glass aquarium for quarantine. On the floor of our bird room, which was the only room in the house with NO reptiles. This was important to us because of the sorry state he was in and the fact that he was, quite literally, crawling with mites.

I am not sure about feeding him outside his viv. That is counter to everything I have ever read about feeding them. I truly didn't just rush into this half assed. I did a lot of reading and felt like this was a good burm for me because it was coming from someone I, at the time, trusted and considered to be a fairly good friend. I was told he was super nice, but could no longer be kept because of the change in Florida's laws. I had no reason to believe otherwise up until I actually saw this fellows place and his "collection" at which time it became apparent that this would be a rescue from a very bad situation.

I did feed him last night, which was 7 days from his last feeding. I will continue to feed him every 7 days and see how he does. If that helps, great.

I am more than willing to try various things to help this guy, but I am inclined to agree with Wes in that the world does not need more aggressive snakes, and it's certainly not easy to find a home, even for free, for a large and aggressive normal male burm. He's not really worth anything as a breeder, so his sole value will be as a pet. Right now he's a piss poor pet, but he's only about 4' long. He's not going to hurt anyone seriously at that size. I have time to try some things and see if he can be tamed, but if he can't be, I am not going to shirk the responsibility of humanely euthanizing a potentially deadly animal because it makes me uncomfortable and is a difficult decision. I made an informed decision to take him in, allowing him to become my responsibility, and I'll do what I need to do to ensure that he is kept in a responsible manner. If that means allowing a vet to end his life should he stay very aggressive, then that's what I'll do.

In the mean time, though, I am getting a lot of good suggestions to try. I don't want to overwhelm him with insanity, but I added an additional hide yesterday and I am going to look around at the herp show this weekend and see what they have that could help him to feel more secure.

I do have one question, though. In my readings on burm aggression (most of which deals with juvenile and baby burms, not older adults) there was mention on one page that feathers from chickens carry an enzyme that has been shown to increase aggression. I did a little additional research and found some zoo and animal husbandry sites that had the same conclusion, but only in birds and mammals... no others related to snakes. Anyone else heard this?? He was being fed exclusively chicks for months and months....

To give you all an idea of size, here are a few photos.

Week we brought him home:
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90173/4...47key37hdF.jpg

About a month later:
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90173/4...8CB1qPADzM.jpg

His viv:
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90173/4...LZVS87EThj.jpg

He has a second hide on the opposite side now. No recent weights, but in November or early December he weighed in around 1300 grams.

High end breeders Ive spoken with recommend papertowel or hook training over exteriorviv feeding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slyther83

High end breeders Ive spoken with recommend papertowel or hook training over exteriorviv feeding.

---

Who are these high end breeders?