New Half Dwarf Burmese Father!

Hi all. New here, but not New to reptiles. Have carpet pythons, a b&w twgu and a BTS...Picked this guy up from a breeder at a Maryland reptile show who I really thought was genuine, older guy who'd been in hobby for a long time, showed me pics of the parents, so I felt comfortable about the purchase and expectation of the size he "should" get. I understand nothing is guaranteed and am comfortable with large reptiles. Anyhow, a big but simple question I had was this...

I set him up in a PVC 4x2x2 with a VE RHP on one side (was not putting out as much heat as I wanted as it's being run off the same 95* probe I have a jungle carpet on...and the other side is a caged halogen flood lamp. Basking spot is 95* with a flat rock as the heat collector. Humidity is about 71* and he has the XL corner water bowl to soak if he so wishes...some glazed flower pots and cork bark, mopani wood around to keep simple...please lmk if I missed anything.

My BIG question is, can the hot spot go away at night if the RHP is providing a warm area in the 80s? My reptiles are in the basement and it's probably 74 down there, but just want to make sure that night drop is okay since the RHP is always on with a VE-300.

Sorry I know that's a lot, and this siE enclosure is all I had, I fear it's a bit too big, but I read they grow fast and am hoping it's fine. He seems about 3ish ft already, Thanks!

CJ

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Welcome- on your first post here. I'm a long-time snake keeper with many species but not these- so hopefully it won't be too long before those who have experience with these drop by to answer your very good question. Off-hand, I would tend to think that would be fine (if the hot spot went away @ night with the remaining temperature still remains in the 80's) since that's pretty much what happens in the wild anyway- but do wait for those with experience with these to give input. Good question.

Basking spot of 95*F is a bit high for a burm, I would see what I could do to cut it back to 90-92*F during the day. Swap out the flood light for a CHE or DHP which puts out more heat than light so they're more efficient, and put it on its own thermostat.

Hey and congrats! I've always wanted a dwarf burm, kind of my dream snake, but I can't risk how big one might get. I'll stick with my boas and carpet python as my "large" snakes and I do love all of them.

People differ on night drops. I imagine if the tanks ambient is staying in the 80's, you don't need the hot spots at night. Having said that, I choose to keep temps constant in all my tanks, except my BTS, who has a 95-97F basking spot. When the lights go out, he loses the basking spot, but still has a 90F warm spot if he needs to digest.

As mentioned, night drops are natural, but from view, keeping temps constant probably allows for better digestion. Assuming you are feeding appropriate sized meals, it probably doesn't matter either way.

Good luck and keep us posted.

EDIT: Just saw bcr229's post. I cannot comment on burm temps, as I do not have one and haven't researched. However, I am glad bcr chimed in.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Basking spot of 95*F is a bit high for a burm, I would see what I could do to cut it back to 90-92*F during the day. Swap out the flood light for a CHE or DHP which puts out more heat than light so they're more efficient, and put it on its own thermostat.

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I definitely know that is the too end but thought maybe he'd find where he like the most...I can knock it down a hair. The thing about CHEs is that I was told the ceramic bulb holders I use don't work well with PVC so I'd have to find a different way. The floor is actual the only day light source, bit I have a 3ft UV strip I'm planning on tossing in and can even run a simple LED I guess...put this cage together sort of on the fly (not ideal) so it's pretty bare bones to let him acclimate.

Thanks for your input...also, what is DHP?

Cj

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Hey and congrats! I've always wanted a dwarf burm, kind of my dream snake, but I can't risk how big one might get. I'll stick with my boas and carpet python as my "large" snakes and I do love all of them.

People differ on night drops. I imagine if the tanks ambient is staying in the 80's, you don't need the hot spots at night. Having said that, I choose to keep temps constant in all my tanks, except my BTS, who has a 95-97F basking spot. When the lights go out, he loses the basking spot, but still has a 90F warm spot if he needs to digest.

As mentioned, night drops are natural, but from view, keeping temps constant probably allows for better digestion. Assuming you are feeding appropriate sized meals, it probably doesn't matter either way.

Good luck and keep us posted.

EDIT: Just saw bcr229's post. I cannot comment on burm temps, as I do not have one and haven't researched. However, I am glad bcr chimed in.

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Thanks! Yeah it will be an interesting test of time I'll try and keep posted. I've always been a man of excess, so this is just a normal progression of how my life works haha. Interesting my BTS has no heat at night, just a fogger that runs on a timer. He's a halmahera and doing great! About 90% humidity for him consistently.. cheers

Cj

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Thanks! Yeah it will be an interesting test of time I'll try and keep posted. I've always been a man of excess, so this is just a normal progression of how my life works haha. Interesting my BTS has no heat at night, just a fogger that runs on a timer. He's a halmahera and doing great! About 90% humidity for him consistently.. cheers

Cj

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My BTS is a northern Australian. So different requirements.

Yeah, please keep us posted if possible. Would love to see your guy grow.

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Thanks for your input...also, what is DHP?

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DHP = deep heat projector. They work like CHE's but in a smaller unit and they work in standard heat lamp fixtures.

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Originally Posted by dakski

My BTS is a northern Australian. So different requirements.

Yeah, please keep us posted if possible. Would love to see your guy grow.

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Here's a pic of him in his new pad..https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f33c7a5f3e.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

DHP = deep heat projector. They work like CHE's but in a smaller unit and they work in standard heat lamp fixtures.

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Oh I saw one of those from Arcadia today, will grab one at PSmart as they apparently now supply Arcadia....thanks!

Cj

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Oh I saw one of those from Arcadia today, will grab one at PSmart as they apparently now supply Arcadia....thanks!

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No problem. They're powerful for their size though, so make sure you regulate it.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

No problem. They're powerful for their size though, so make sure you regulate it.

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Got the DHP and as I've seen others wrote there is a weird smell. I have it on full so far but am expecting it to get hotter. Since that is replacing the flood lamp, what do you recommend for ambient lighting to save on electric?....LED? Now there is no true light from a bulb...did you gave a smell from THE dHP?
.cj

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I don't remember mine having a weird smell but it's been quite a while since I started using them.

UPDATE FOR THE GIANT PYTHON FORUM. Harry ate his second meal today after two weeks, and shedded about an hour before, perfect shed. Meal was a small rat/weaned rat and a small hamster, both frozen thawed. All I do for this guy is warm his food and lay it on cork bark and a basking rock [a real rock under a DHP] and he gobbles it up after a small hunt.

Hoping to never make him attack food for no reason to keep him as friendly as possible. He enjoys sleeping and telaxing in a number of ceramic glazed flower pots i have laid on their sides in the different heat zones. Cheers.

Cj

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Sounds like it's going well-:gj:

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

UPDATE FOR THE GIANT PYTHON FORUM. Harry ate his second meal today after two weeks, and shedded about an hour before, perfect shed. Meal was a small rat/weaned rat and a small hamster, both frozen thawed. All I do for this guy is warm his food and lay it on cork bark and a basking rock [a real rock under a DHP] and he gobbles it up after a small hunt.

Hoping to never make him attack food for no reason to keep him as friendly as possible. He enjoys sleeping and telaxing in a number of ceramic glazed flower pots i have laid on their sides in the different heat zones. Cheers.

Cj

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Sounds like things are off to a great start. I hope Harry continues to thrive in your care. He’s a very handsome fellow. That’s a very interesting point you made about drop feeding to reduce food aggressiveness. I never thought of it that way but the idea seems to have merit. I feed all but one of my snakes from tongs. They’re all hard hitters when I offer them food but they’re pretty mellow outside of feeding time especially if I tap them with a snake hook.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Sounds like things are off to a great start. I hope Harry continues to thrive in your care. He’s a very handsome fellow. That’s a very interesting point you made about drop feeding to reduce food aggressiveness. I never thought of it that way but the idea seems to have merit. I feed all but one of my snakes from tongs. They’re all hard hitters when I offer them food but they’re pretty mellow outside of feeding time especially if I tap them with a snake hook.

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Yeah if not needed it seems like we are doing it for our entertainment. I don't think that instinctual reaction is a must, especially with giants who can mistake us for food and create quite the scene haha. However, no knocks to anybody who feeds this way! Cheers!

Cj

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He didn't want to move, but looks like about 3.5ft at about a year, according to the breeder on age. He's a chill man so far! Will document the frequency of shedding throughout to help others.

Cjhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e1ca0b3e63.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

He didn't want to move, but looks like about 3.5ft at about a year, according to the breeder on age. He's a chill man so far! Will document the frequency of shedding throughout to help others.

Cjhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e1ca0b3e63.jpg

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Shot of his freshness up close. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...133e8e91ca.jpg

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Out and about. Ok, past one haha. Cheers all.

Cjhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ec57b5f4a7.jpg

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i have a dwarf baby myself - truly an amazing, beautiful and hyper-intelligent animal, the best of luck to you on this new journey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Hey and congrats! I've always wanted a dwarf burm, kind of my dream snake, but I can't risk how big one might get. I'll stick with my boas and carpet python as my "large" snakes and I do love all of them.

People differ on night drops. I imagine if the tanks ambient is staying in the 80's, you don't need the hot spots at night. Having said that, I choose to keep temps constant in all my tanks, except my BTS, who has a 95-97F basking spot. When the lights go out, he loses the basking spot, but still has a 90F warm spot if he needs to digest.

As mentioned, night drops are natural, but from view, keeping temps constant probably allows for better digestion. Assuming you are feeding appropriate sized meals, it probably doesn't matter either way.

Good luck and keep us posted.

EDIT: Just saw bcr229's post. I cannot comment on burm temps, as I do not have one and haven't researched. However, I am glad bcr chimed in.

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the key thing to consider is the size of the parents, which the breeder should provide for you, as well as the percentage of dwarf DNA, feeding regiments, etc - this is what will ultimately determine the ultimate size of the specimen but i would also say, in my research, dwarf DNA has a more significant impact on the size of Burms than what you would see in dwarf retics eg: my dwarf Burm is 75M/25D, his mother was 9 feet and his father 7 feet, so irrespective of only being 25% dwarf he is likely to be only 7-9 feet, probably 7-8 feet given also sexual dimorphism in Burms but still - this is primarily due to the fact that the max size of dwarf Burms is 8.2 feet with most localities maxing out at 6 feet

Wasn't too cooperative, but seems to have grown about 8 or so inches in 20 days? For anybody looking into the half dwarfs...we'll see if the genes prove out haha.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...24959dd875.jpg

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Originally Posted by YungRasputin

i have a dwarf baby myself - truly an amazing, beautiful and hyper-intelligent animal, the best of luck to you on this new journey

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He's been awesome so far, very calm and interested, growing more confident as the days go on. Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your noodle.

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Wasn't too cooperative, but seems to have grown about 8 or so inches in 20 days? For anybody looking into the half dwarfs...we'll see if the genes prove out haha.

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A foot per month. You're dealing with a different snake every time you handle him. That's gotta be amazing.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

A foot per month. You're dealing with a different snake every time you handle him. That's gotta be amazing.

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Yeah it's really cool, I have him out just about every day and have continued to just put his food thawed around the enclosure and he just hurts it and ears it, no striking. So far so good [emoji106]

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Looking amazing. Keep the pics and updates coming. Remember, I living vicariously through you. I don't see a burm in my future.

This was through the glass as he was actively eating...anybody feed multiple smaller items at once, rather than one large? I have small baby Rats I'm going through before ordering more, so he's getting 3 at a time. Just placing them around enclosure and he happily hunts and gobbles them up. Trying to cancel that food response, still no bites, nips or anything weird whatsoever with the young guy. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...738004605e.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

This was through the glass as he was actively eating...anybody feed multiple smaller items at once, rather than one large? I have small baby Rats I'm going through before ordering more, so he's getting 3 at a time. Just placing them around enclosure and he happily hunts and gobbles them up. Trying to cancel that food response, still no bites, nips or anything weird whatsoever with the young guy. https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...738004605e.jpg

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I’ve done that with my scrub before - my usual source ran out of large rats so i got 2 smaller ones instead and i fed him one, then by the time he finished with that one he was already bobbing around looking for another one, so i put the other one in his face and he slammed that too - was happy as a clam - i haven’t done it for a prolonged period of time however just the once

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Originally Posted by YungRasputin

I’ve done that with my scrub before - my usual source ran out of large rats so i got 2 smaller ones instead and i fed him one, then by the time he finished with that one he was already bobbing around looking for another one, so i put the other one in his face and he slammed that too - was happy as a clam - i haven’t done it for a prolonged period of time however just the once

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Seems like it might make digestion a little less intense...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Seems like it might make digestion a little less intense...

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tbh i hadn’t really thought of that given their size and the time elapsed between the 2 - didn’t seem to create an issue but i haven’t repeated it since either - he definitely “passed” them ok that’s for sure ��

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YungRasputin

the key thing to consider is the size of the parents, which the breeder should provide for you, as well as the percentage of dwarf DNA, feeding regiments, etc - this is what will ultimately determine the ultimate size of the specimen but i would also say, in my research, dwarf DNA has a more significant impact on the size of Burms than what you would see in dwarf retics eg: my dwarf Burm is 75M/25D, his mother was 9 feet and his father 7 feet, so irrespective of only being 25% dwarf he is likely to be only 7-9 feet, probably 7-8 feet given also sexual dimorphism in Burms but still - this is primarily due to the fact that the max size of dwarf Burms is 8.2 feet with most localities maxing out at 6 feet

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Sorry I didn't respond to this, great input. I don't think he's going to be very huge, and I'm okay with that. A beefy 8ft would be very nice!

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Hard to get these photos, clearly 4ft, eating large/xl hamsters from Rodent Pro. Gentle giant this guy! He's getting girth too, only eating every 14 days. Cheers, all! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b2a20dc5a0.jpg

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Very pretty snek! :cool:

Little over four months passed this guy is a bit over 5ft. Still polite and as interested as can be. [emoji3577] https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...14cd446a46.jpg

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Still polite and as interested as can be.

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And so well trained.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

And so well trained.

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You may or may not understand what went into this...[emoji854]

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

You may or may not understand what went into this...[emoji854]

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Since I've never successfully done it, I'll have to use my imagination. I use Serpwigets instead.

Set this dude up with a paver stone basking platform under his RHP for good belly heat...loving it!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...eb52aae1d2.jpg

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

Set this dude up with a paver stone basking platform under his RHP for good belly heat...loving it!

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Looks real nice too.

Update on this guy, been a while. He's as friendly as ever, been upgraded to an 8x2x2, and eats about every 10-14 days, usually 14. He's eating 3XL Rats from Rodent Pro, but i have some huge quail he will get next feeding for variety. Wasn't cooperating with measuring today, but that tape is at 6 ft., so I imagine he's pushing 7ft. Love him to death, just a great animal to enjoy. Hope to get him out in the grass for the first time this year soon, preferably during a rain!

Last pic I showed how he's not obese, which is crucial with giant snakes, IMHO.

Hope your snakes are happy and healthy [emoji846] https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...38d068da97.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5e24dc8fe0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e341d8686f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d1bda559c9.jpg

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He's a beautiful serpent! :love:

Been a while, figured I share a pic of this beautiful gentle giant. He's about ~9 feet, haven't measured in a bit, but that's close. He's pretty lean, only eats chickens and Quail, absolutely refuses Rats, very weird, but all good. Cheers, giant python nerds! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...01bbb4419f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c2009241ca.jpg

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Great looking snake! :gj: