Handling question

I am about to be helping clean the cage of a pretty big (id say over 15 feet) burm. No one much wants to mess with it because it has a tendency to be pretty mean. The cage has been rather nasty for some time now. I found someone who has dealt with it before that is willing to help do it. It is in a wall mount display case sorta thing that is accessed from a sliding door in the room behind it. The floor of the case is between waist and chest high. The question i have is what is the best way to get the snake out, with out getting tagged. They say once the door comes open it usually gets crazy almost instantly. Would we be better of to try to put a bag over its head or something like that, or just try to find a good shot to grab it behind the head and transfer it that way?

Hm.. that is tricky. Careful if you bag him you're going to piss him off, which may make him try to coil around you. Do you have access to a heavy duty python hook? If so you can try to guide him (keep a good watch on his head) into a holding container while you clean the cage.

thats one of the problems... no hook. If we can get him to be calm i would say we should still have no problem guiding it into a container even with a broom handle or something, but i really dont expect calm to be in the picture here. From what i hear once that door opens it gets pretty ugly pretty quickly most the time. That's why its been so long since the cage has been cleaned.

If he's really as bad as you say he is you can find a good sized food item to keep him busy till you have him moved for the size of snake I would say a small pig or lamb should keep his mouth full for 20-30 min.

I've never personally dealt with it, so im just goin by what I've heard. I hope the stories were exagerated, but we shall soon see. That would probably work, but I thought handling during/right after a feeding could cause a regurg, which would be very stressful for the snake.

There's always a chance of a regurge. I've seen the method used a couple of times during short medical exams on large snakes. Just keep a good eye on him once he has it past the jaw your fair game again.

Good incentive to work fast. Id say getting it out of the temp container after its through eating would really be fun. Besides being all pissed off from the move, feeding mode on top of that :P I dont even wanna think about that happening.

I would keep food out of the equation. They have a tendency to have an even stronger feeding response after eating. Best thing to do is get him into a big trash can and he should calm down quick. Clean the cage and put the trash can up to the cage. He should slither right out into the cage and go curl up. Good luck

Piranhaking... Where are you at in TN. I have a large hook you can borrow, if you live close enough. Heck I might even help you out too. I have a 12' burm myself, but it's a real sweetheart.

Cookeville, so a little to far to worry about. Thanks for the offer though. I guess ill try the trashcan idea and try to guide it in, and if it gets nasty go for the head and hope it doesnt get me.

Be careful dude they can knock you off your feet in a instant , i used to help out with my mates 20 footer her strength was awesome , but she was soft as a lamb never any aggression with her at all so it was pretty easy

Finally got it taken care of today. Turns out its more like 11feet or so (hard to judge something that big when its coiled up) and not nearly as bad as it was made out to be. Soon as the door opened it came out at us (not so much a strike as just anxious to come out of the cage and looking for food i guess, since more or less the only time it's opened is to feed it), but we had a broom inbetween us that it focused on instead of us just incase. Once it realized there wasnt any food comming in it calmed down alot, and we were able to just reach in and get a good hold on it right behind the head and had no trouble at all. Put it in a large cooler that we use to soak snakes with stuck sheds, and when it came time to put it back in the cage i was able to reach right in the cooler and pick it up no problem at all. Apparently some people take a little hissing and moving around to be alot more of a threat than it really is. I was also able to get a red tail boa that hasnt been to cooperative lately out using about the same method. It was pretty uneasy at first so i started rubbing its side with the broom, then once it settled down rubbed it with my hand. It still hissed when i started to pick it up, so i just kept rubbing it for a while, then i tried again and it was fine. Got it out and let one of the other guys clean the cage. Most of the other workeres that were cleaning cages and feeding were pretty suprized i had that one out because the last few times they knew of it being tried the people hadnt been patient enough and when it hissed and starting getting into a decient striking pose they shut the cage and gave up. Just goes to show a little patience goes along way. I also got permission to get those guys out on a regular basis to get them used to being handled again and hopefully get them a little more laid back about having their cage opened. It seems that i have more or less volunteered my self to handle all the rotten ones no one else wants to mess with to try to get them settled down a little. Maybe im crazy, but i dont see much point in having all those beautiful snakes if no one can get them out to show them, or take then to the school shows they do.

what a great story! thanks so much for sharing it with us!!!

Cool story.

Congrats! Great job! :rockon: