Hat's off to Giant Python Keepers!

I met Sunny, an adult Albino Burmese Python, today (pictures below).

WOW! He's "only" about 14-15FT and 80-100 pounds (best guess). He is a gentle giant and awesome. However, a HANDFUL and then some!

My BCI will be about 6-8 FT when full grown (female ivory ghost het moonglow who is only 1 1/2 now) and around 12-17 pounds. That's all the handful I need!

My ball is about 4ft and 3.7 pounds! I was amazed that Sunny was as gentle as my BCI and BP!

Must hit hard when he eats though!

He lives at a (fairly) local reptile pet shop/breeder in my area. About 40 minutes away. Worth the trip to get supplies and not support big chains, but this place instead.

Sunny's "job" is to perform at educational shows, birthday parties, etc.

I might have seen a Burmese in the zoo, or at shows, but never sat with one and/or picked one up. I helped get him back in his enclosure - meaning I got about 1/2 of him! That was a lot!

OMG! So heavy! So big! That's a lot of snake! Way more than I could ever handle, even if they all were as gentle as Sunny.

Hat's off to all you Giant Snake keepers! I have a lot more respect for you after today.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/img_7212.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/img_6017.jpg

You forgot the most important part, the poops!! Caesar is only about 7-8 ft and he poops like a small child. Rosey my 6.5 ft BCI is a close second though as her poops are nothing to sneeze at either haha.

Burms from what i have seen are pretty laid back. Try holding a retic. My god, they are like a kid on a king size Snickers bar. When Caesar wants to go, its everything to try and keep up with him. I'm switching hands and trying to reel him in as fast as i can. He is awesome though and has never bit me or tried. Recently though, he has been anti social and last night, he was out and when i opened the cage to say hi, he looked at me and went inside his hide lol. I wonder if he's getting ready to look for a girlfriend. Hopefully if so, then maybe I lucked out with just having an anti social boy when he wants a girl over an aggressive boy.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

You forgot the most important part, the poops!! Caesar is only about 7-8 ft and he poops like a small child. Rosey my 6.5 ft BCI is a close second though as her poops are nothing to sneeze at either haha.

Burms from what i have seen are pretty laid back. Try holding a retic. My god, they are like a kid on a king size Snickers bar. When Caesar wants to go, its everything to try and keep up with him. I'm switching hands and trying to reel him in as fast as i can. He is awesome though and has never bit me or tried. Recently though, he has been anti social and last night, he was out and when i opened the cage to say hi, he looked at me and went inside his hide lol. I wonder if he's getting ready to look for a girlfriend. Hopefully if so, then maybe I lucked out with just having an anti social boy when he wants a girl over an aggressive boy.

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Sunny was totally chill. Like a big BP or BCI.

LOL! Not looking forward to Behira's (my BCI) poop when she is as big as Rosey! I am actually sensitive to smells and have a weak stomach due to meds I have to take because of my kidney transplant!

Having said that, in my experience with Behira and my BP, Shayna, boid poop, especially rat poop, isn't even as bad as Figment's (my adult corn) mouse poo! Ugh. I can smell that across the room!

Either way, I will get used to it, and do what needs to be done! I love Behira and am excited to see her as a gentle giant, well small giant compared to Sunny!

Not anxious to hold a big retic like Caesar if he's all over the place. Very cool he's got personality though! That's one of the things I love about Behira - inquisitive and active, but super tame. Although I think I might be a BCI whisperer. Half the time I hold Behira, and support her, she just relaxes and rests on me. My BP too. Shayna (my BP) will literally fall asleep while I hold her. Behira will stay still for a long time after doing her initial exploring. Of course then I hand her to my fiancé, and she's all over the place! Trying to get into the couch, won't sit still, etc!

I use this: http://www.reptilebasics.com/healthy-habitat-24oz when I clean out stinky reptile cages. I spray before and after clean up. Works really well.

How big will Caesar get? Is he a dwarf?

Either way, hat's off Sauzo!

Thanks. Yes Caesar is a 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf white albino tiger het snow male. He is a giant lush. Loves attention most of the time. This is the first time he actually didnt come to me when i opened his door. Usually he is all over me when I'm trying to clean poop, either trying to climb out onto me or trying to sit on my hand lol. Caesar will be 2 years old this coming May. I got a progression thread on him from when i got him back in Oct 2016 as a little 5 month old worm. But here is a pic of him awhile ago after a guinea pig or jumbo rat...dont remember now lol.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7cb73a52_h.jpg

The poop I could care less about.. Its the Gallon of piss that follows a couple Uraites. MR drank like a Camel then shot water across the 8' enclosure like a Super Soaker... Hope everyone buying these Hatchlings (I've seen several lately) has a Tile Floor in their snake room because theres no containing a dripping Giant Snake when you take them out to clean the enclosure hahahahahaha

Sounds awesome!

Love the super soaker analogy.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Burms from what i have seen are pretty laid back. Try holding a retic. My god, they are like a kid on a king size Snickers bar.

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Oh Sauzo, always a way with words, hahahaha! :rofl:


I also admire the giant keepers out there. I have decided though, that my limit is simple. If i can't easily handle the snake on my own for its entire life or my entire life, it's too much snake for me to have in my house.
I would love a retic or a yellow anaconda. But I would also love a tiger and polar bear. It's just simply not an option. And with so many other amazing snake species to choose from I'm fine admiring the giants when I get the chance.

Hats off to you as well guys! Your level of experience, commitment, and courage to keep one of these majestic animals is impressive. :gj:

i agree! many thanks and all the accolades to those who work with the giants and share them with us!!! i enjoy all the giants posts and admire from afar. nobody can just buy a burm or a retic (okay you know what i mean); it takes a huge amount of dedication, money and work, and those of you on here with these giants do a friggin' excellent job IMO. it's really fun to read through your threads and see your comparisons on behavior, appetite and food, weights and lengths and general anecdotes; very informative!

thank you for sharing these giant joys with us. :)

I can't decide if being able to handle over 100 pounds of muscle or tolerating a small child sized poop and pee constantly is more impressive. For example, I adore black and white tegus but the bathtub filling defecation they do is more than I can tolerate.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Thanks. Yes Caesar is a 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf white albino tiger het snow male. He is a giant lush. Loves attention most of the time. This is the first time he actually didnt come to me when i opened his door. Usually he is all over me when I'm trying to clean poop, either trying to climb out onto me or trying to sit on my hand lol. Caesar will be 2 years old this coming May. I got a progression thread on him from when i got him back in Oct 2016 as a little 5 month old worm. But here is a pic of him awhile ago after a guinea pig or jumbo rat...dont remember now lol.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7cb73a52_h.jpg

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Sauzo, so how big will Caesar get? Is he full size, or close to it?

Just curious, a big BCI will be plenty for me!

Beautiful animal!

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

The poop I could care less about.. Its the Gallon of piss that follows a couple Uraites. MR drank like a Camel then shot water across the 8' enclosure like a Super Soaker... Hope everyone buying these Hatchlings (I've seen several lately) has a Tile Floor in their snake room because theres no containing a dripping Giant Snake when you take them out to clean the enclosure hahahahahaha

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Hardwood floors under a layer of epoxy resin in the snake room, thats what I had planned. Completely waterproof and practically indestructable.....or a guy could go with vinyl tile if he really wanted, I just dread installing the real stuff.

I had thought about this when I had my boas, carpet in the snake room should be a no-no.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

i agree! many thanks and all the accolades to those who work with the giants and share them with us!!! i enjoy all the giants posts and admire from afar. nobody can just buy a burm or a retic (okay you know what i mean); it takes a huge amount of dedication, money and work, and those of you on here with these giants do a friggin' excellent job IMO. it's really fun to read through your threads and see your comparisons on behavior, appetite and food, weights and lengths and general anecdotes; very informative!

thank you for sharing these giant joys with us. :)

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Lol you aint kidding about the money involved. Caesar is hands down my most expensive one. He eats a guinea pig or jumbo rat every 10 days and they cost me anywhere from $12-15. It's partially my fault too though for not buying a small chest freezer yet lol. But it's all worth it. Caesar is such a character most of the time until he sheds, then he becomes antisocial and gives me stink eye when i bug him lol. Never tries to bite or hiss though, just tries to outrun me pulling him out of his cage.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Oh Sauzo, always a way with words, hahahaha! :rofl:


I also admire the giant keepers out there. I have decided though, that my limit is simple. If i can't easily handle the snake on my own for its entire life or my entire life, it's too much snake for me to have in my house.
I would love a retic or a yellow anaconda. But I would also love a tiger and polar bear. It's just simply not an option. And with so many other amazing snake species to choose from I'm fine admiring the giants when I get the chance.

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Haha thanks. It's true though, Caesar sometimes is just a spazz and wants to go go go and doesnt take no for an answer. And if he wants something, he wants it. He really didnt want to be put in his tub when i was cleaning his cage so what did he do, he pushed on the lid so hard he popped the snap locks off it and then pushed the lid back and sat there on the rim looking at me.

I bet you would do fine with a super dwarf cross. Caesar is big but with his giant lush attitude and mellow temperment, he is easily to manage. Now if he had a bad attitude combined with the size, that would really suck. And i handle Caesar by my self all the time. He loves to sit outside an open cage door and slide down the cage stack and play on the floor. Not a huge fan of being carried around but usually tolerates it pretty good. Sometimes though he will go crazy and use me like a jungle gym which isnt much fun having a 7-8 foot snakes crawling on your head and shoulders lol.

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Originally Posted by dakski

Sauzo, so how big will Caesar get? Is he full size, or close to it?

Just curious, a big BCI will be plenty for me!

Beautiful animal!

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Thanks. Well, Kris at Vital Exotics where i got Caesar said the mom was 8-9 ft and dad was 6 ft. He figured with normal feedings, Caesar should top out around 7 ft. He is close to that at around 7-8 ft right now. He is probably close to full size. He isnt putting on much length as quick as when he was younger but he has put on a lot more girth. He will be 2 years old this May. I personally am planning for him to top out at 10 ft. If he stays smaller, great. If not, at least i wont be surprised. I always wanted a retic but all the bad temper stories i heard plus the sizes kind made me step back as i dont want a 14-18 ft snake that needs goats and pigs. But when i found super dwarf crosses, i was sold.

I will say though, I love my boas and all my snakes but when it comes to pure personality, Caesar stands above. The boas interact with me and stuff but Caesar is seems to be on another level. He will look you in the face, come to the front of the cage and sit there by my arm for pettings, sit on my hand while i spot clean. Caesar is the only snake who seems to actually like the attention which is weird as snakes arent built like that. Here is an example of Caesar enjoying his petting time. He sat there for as long as i would rub him down. Once i quit he would try to slide down the cage stack to the floor lol.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...d45f2aff_h.jpg


This will help with size. The cage he is next to is almost half of a 6 foot AP cage. And this was an older summer pic i think.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...30d697b8_h.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...8838c141_h.jpg

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Originally Posted by KevinK

Hardwood floors under a layer of epoxy resin in the snake room, thats what I had planned. Completely waterproof and practically indestructable.....or a guy could go with vinyl tile if he really wanted, I just dread installing the real stuff.

I had thought about this when I had my boas, carpet in the snake room should be a no-no.

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I got sweet red carpet in my finished basement where all my snakes are!! Only part that sucks is aspen and reptichips usually get all over :( Only had Caesar poop and piss once on the floor. Luckily the poop was just a giant king size tootsie roll which was easy to just pick up with a paper towel. The piss though required soaking it up and then spraying down cleaner and febreeze lol.

Sounds like a great experience with a lovely calm burm!

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I wonder if he's getting ready to look for a girlfriend. Hopefully if so, then maybe I lucked out with just having an anti social boy when he wants a girl over an aggressive boy.

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Yeah, lucky is right! Maybe because you don't have a female he won't go into breed mode at all which would be lovely. My bf's dad's hand got shredded recently by their mainland tiger boy who was 'in the mood'. First time that guy has bitten. Big boys that wanna breed are not fun. (that sounds funny said on its own) And you nailed it, when a retic wants to go somewhere, they are on a one-track mind and very persistent! Deff an interesting species to keep that's for sure.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I got sweet red carpet in my finished basement where all my snakes are!! Only part that sucks is aspen and reptichips usually get all over :( Only had Caesar poop and piss once on the floor. Luckily the poop was just a giant king size tootsie roll which was easy to just pick up with a paper towel. The piss though required soaking it up and then spraying down cleaner and febreeze lol.

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I guess it wouldnt be that bad if a guy had a Rug Doctor or something of that nature. The house Im renovating has old hardwood floors that will need to be refinished either way so I figured a heavy waterproofing lacquer or epoxy is the way to go because I dont want to get rid of them considering the price of hardwood nowdays.

Sauzo, glad you are loving Caesar. He's remarkable. LOL - Dwarf at 10FT!

Yeah, and again, fine with a BCI (I say now at 700G and 3+FT). I think it will work out great, especially since we are growing together.

But big difference between a 15FT burmese or retic and a BCI! I'll take good personality and approachable size over too much snake and wonderful personality.

Either way, thank you for sharing your pics and passion and knowledge with the rest of us.