My hiding baby burmese

[WILDBILL245]

I Got A Male Baby Burmese Four Weeks Ago From A Good Breeder At My Local Repticon Show. He Is Healthly And Eats Like A Pig LoL But The Problem Is That Ever Since I Got Him He Either Stays In His hiding Box Or Stays Burried In The Coco Bark Bedding. At The Repticon Show Where I Bought Him I Had Him Out And Holding Him For A Few Minutes And He Was Just As Sweet And Gentle As Can Be. Here At Home In His Aquarium I've Had him Out Twice When He By Chance Does Come Out, Both Times Getting Him Out With A Snake Hook And With Gloves On. The First Time He Calmed Down After A Couple Of Minutes And I Took Off The Gloves. He Was Good But I Guess I Made A Sudden Move And He Bit My Hand. The Second Time I Completely Left On The Gloves And He Was Ok. Any Good Advice From All You Burmese Python Owners.

[KevinK]

Baby Burms are usually very hissy and sometimes nippy to begin with, many will also musk you. Still....absolutely no reason to glove up for a baby. If you're this polarized of a hatchling, then a 10ft adult with an attitude will be a huge issue for you man.Do not glove up. It's a hatchling, not a Gila Monster.

Did you let him settle in when you put him in his new enclosure?.....because that is an absolute MUST. I'm talking leave him alone for a full two weeks without handling....only changing his water and spot cleaning.

Most will calm down with time and enough handling however after the rest period... still they need to feel secure as hatchlings and failure to do so can result in a mean adult.

Advice:

Put your gloves away
Leave him alone for two weeks if you haven't already
Give him plenty of fake plants and hides especially if his tank is large
Don't pick him up from over the top, rather slide your hand under him

[WILDBILL245]

Well The GLOVES ARE OFF But He Has Been Still Hiding Down Deep In The Bedding. Only Came Out Once The Other Night Very Late In The Night And Only When The Lights To The Aquarium Were Off. I Don't Understand Why He Won't Come out More Especially Since It's Been About Five Weeks Ago When I Got Him. Don't Know Weather He Might Be In The Shedding Mode Or Not. Should I Use The Snake Hook Still To Get Him Out When He Does Come Out Or The Hands Underneath His Body ???

[CALM Pythons]

What Kevin says is correct, except I have used gloves. After 50 nips from a Hatchling your hand will be sore like you used them as a Pin Cushion.
Handling : First, always Tap train with a hook. This will be used for the next 20 years when you are taking him out to play or clean. This will also differentiate between play time and feed time which is one of the most important things you will teach him. Open the enclosure, Remover Hide if you have one. Rub their body and head with it, slide the hook under their Neck area behind the head so that he can not turn around and tag you as you use your other hand scootching it under his body about 3/4 length down... always make sure he is facing away from you, you can also use the hook to manipulate the direction he is facing, once you have his mid section up drop the hook and replace it with your other hand 1/4 way down his body and lift with both hands. Move slowly but confidently. While your holding him Turn/Pivot him if he starts to “S” up and acts as of he is going to strike so that he doesn’t strike in the direction of your face. I suggest you use a Shower Curtain on the floor with a couple towels on top of it (in case it pisses or musks) and sit down with him. Let him crawl on your lap and smell around but keep the one hand 3/4 down to guide him like holding a leash. This will also allow him to identify you and trust you as “Home Base”. I do not let them take off solely on there own at this early stage because sometimes they feel like they’ve escaped and when you go to pick them up again your right back at the beginning with defensive behavior. He is afraid, your Huge to him. My youngest is 8 months and still to this day with Every Other Day handling I can not stand over him, reach over him, go directly at his face, over his head or walk by him without him jumping back into a Strike position....it will always be necessary to approach them slowly & properly. They are a wild animal no matter how docile or use to you they become. Its easy for them to get themselves into a position where they feel threatened or cornered resulting in defensive behavior.

Housing/Husbandry/Behavior : There are a couple different opinions on Hides. Some people feel Burms with Hides become more defensive and Huffy. I do not believe this to be true as most Burms are already Huffy when it comes to their Home (enclosure). Some people refer to this as cage aggressive. I don’t agree with that term.
This is why Ive Tap Trained for 30 years. In 1992 i was not as bright being a teen so I used whatever was laying around to do this instead of buying a proper tool. Most of the time Id use my Pillow. Id open his 125 gallon Tank back then, he would Hiss, and id Bop him on the head with my pillow then grab him by his lower section and pull him out....
I use 2 hides, one is on the Cool Side (81-83) degrees) and one is on the Hot Side (90-93 degrees)
For Substrate I use Craft/Butcher Paper. I get it in Rolls 1000’ x 24” for around $60. That lasts years. I have always found Burms piss to much for a wood Chip Substrate. The smell is terrible to me even after all the time Ive owned them so paper is replaced just about every week or when they piss in all my enclosures. Most people spot clean their wood chips and I don’t care what they say you will always have a smell of urine while using them.
For a Enclosure I use PVC. Animal Plastics. If you have a Male id use what you have for the next few months then go right for a T25 so that you dont waste money buying 2 diff enclosures within a couple years. This will be fine for a males lifetime.
Burms are not like Ball Pythons and they do not need all the Clutter or small spaces to Hide like nervous Balls do. My enclosures have 2 Hides and a Water Bowl. Easy to clean and keeps bacteria down. They are much more confident animal.
As far as Heating, I myself use (RHP’s) Radiant Heat Panels with Herpstats Thermostats.
This is the most expensive, but precise and safest route IMO.
I use 150 watt Pro Panels by Pro Products. They have a 15 yr warranty and will heat a 6’ enclosure by themselves. A 8’ enclosure would need 2 panels. 150 watt and a 120 watt.
You can also use Heat Tape (UTH) and a small RHP. The Heat Mat/Heat Tape will be used on the outside of the tank under the area the Hot Spot will be and the RHP can be a small 80 watt over the cool side to give a Ambient temp of 80-82.
The last route of heating in which I never use is CHE’s or Heat Lamps. This not only dries the heck out of a enclosure but it also isnt good for use with PVC enclosures unless you order them with Screen Cutouts ontop. Again bad Humidity.
You dont want a snake with shedding problems. With Heat Tape or RHP’s its easy to keep Humidity above 50% with a Large Full water bowl during the Dry cold months. During the summer I fill the Bowls 1/2 way to lower the humidity. Best is 50%-60%. Less or higher can cause health issues.
During the 1-2 wk shedding cycle 65% -70% is ok.
At first the Hatchling will start the shedding process about every 4-5 weeks because they grown quickly. . The entire cycle last about 2-2.5 weeks. 1st their color will dull and you will notice his eyes dulling, then eyes will become Milky (we call it BLUE). You will not be able to see their Pupil during this time and they also can not see making them defensive. This blue lasts about 4-5 days. The skin will then start to sag over the next few days and become wrinkled and the eyes will now Clear up.... this is when they will soon start to Rub their nose on the inside of their Hide or enclosure. As long as your Humidity is above 50% and they have fed on schedule they should have no problems. In the event part of the shed gets stuck you will have to run some warm water in a plastic Tote and let him soak for 15 min. Water should be 90 down to 80. A cheap walmart Tote about 18”x 28” works great for a hatchling while your cleaning the enclosure or need to soak him. They’re only a few bucks. Once older you can get the next size up. When soaking him water should be 1/2 of body thickness. In other words don’t completely submerge his body. Sometimes they will start to rub stuck shed off themselves in the Tote but most of the time you have to use your hands. I allow them to go through my hands over and over and i just squeeze a little while the shed rolls up and off. Always make sure the tip of the tail is clean of shed, this can cause a circulation problem.
Their are many Youtube video to help you watch someone doing this. Just never take advice from youtube without asking others first on a Forum dedicated to snakes like this. To much Dangerous & Bad Info on youtube.
I feed hatchling once a week until 6 months. 6 months to a 1-1.5 years i go to every other week. Once they are over that age 3 weeks to a month of proper size is good. You dont want to over feed or under feed. The prey size should be the same size as the thickest part of their body. Some people like to feed slightly larger leaving a lump, I do not. Leave your Burm for 48 hours after feeding. If the enclosure needs to be cleaned then after 24 hrs is fine with minimal handling.
As far as Prey. Stay away from Mice. Rats are best. I suggest you start him on Fresh Kill or Frozen. Feeding live is a bad habit and the longer you allow it the harder it is to break. When Burms are young they’re hungry enough to take a fresh killed/Frozen Rat without second-guessing. I use a CO2 chamber to put them down. There are threads on how to make one on this forum. The best is Frozen. They sell Online for cheap. Local store prices are outrageous for frozen.
Feeding like this not only helps you break Striking behavior but its also healthier and safer for the snake.
After months of feeding frozen most Burms start eating like Dogs without striking. I think that lowers the striking mentality after time and Id rather not have a 12 foot snake striking as first nature...
There are Threads on how to thaw and feed frozen.
I take out frozen rats the morning of feeding. I feed between 7-9pm. Once thawed i use a Blow Drier to heat the head of the Rat to 95 degrees. About 2-3 min. I use 24”-36” feeder tongs and dangle the Rat in front of the snake. Bam, Game over.

There are several questions you will have a long the way and also you will question techniques even though you may read about them or see them. Feel free to ask questions. This is a great forum with great people. Also use the Search function on here. You will find several questions have been answered in threads a numbers times.
Check out Husbandry Stickies, Cage Stickies etc... they will be at the top of the Sub Forums with great info on how to Set up Heating, Thermostats probes, Tanks, PVC Enclosures etc...

PS: in case it hasn’t come to mind. Do not put tape in any Enclosure. Use Silicone to secure a wire if needed.
I will share a few links below on good products we use.

Thermometer that has it all. Cool side, Hot side & Humidity. https://www.acurite.com/digital-indo...r-00891a2.html

Heat RHP- you have to call Bob for pricing. http://pro-products.com/pro-heat/

Thermostat- runs 2 heat sources. https://www.spyderrobotics.com/index...products_id=26

Enclosure- https://apcages.com/products/t25-72l-x-30w-x-18h-1

Water Bowl 5qt- https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...uart-camo-bowl

Substrate paper Example. You need to find the Width Size best for your enclosure- https://www.amazon.com/Boardwalk-B18.../dp/B004NG8OZ0







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[CALM Pythons]

Here is a Phone App several of us use thats free and lets you use your phone Camera Roll to post pics etc....makes posting easy.
Check out Tapatalk Messenger for your smartphone. Download it today from http://tapatalk.com/m


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[WILDBILL245]

Thanks For The Great Tips. Let Me Ask You WHY After Five Weeks He Still Keeps Himself Hidden Deep Down In His Coco Bark Bedding??? Is He Still SHY Or Could He Be In The SHED MODE???

[Jellybeans]

Not to worry he'll be plenty big soon enough and won't be able to hide

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[Zincubus]

I Got A Male Baby Burmese Four Weeks Ago From A Good Breeder At My Local Repticon Show. He Is Healthly And Eats Like A Pig LoL But The Problem Is That Ever Since I Got Him He Either Stays In His hiding Box Or Stays Burried In The Coco Bark Bedding. At The Repticon Show Where I Bought Him I Had Him Out And Holding Him For A Few Minutes And He Was Just As Sweet And Gentle As Can Be. Here At Home In His Aquarium I've Had him Out Twice When He By Chance Does Come Out, Both Times Getting Him Out With A Snake Hook And With Gloves On. The First Time He Calmed Down After A Couple Of Minutes And I Took Off The Gloves. He Was Good But I Guess I Made A Sudden Move And He Bit My Hand. The Second Time I Completely Left On The Gloves And He Was Ok. Any Good Advice From All You Burmese Python Owners.

Yikes I find your writing very hard to decipher .... are all those capitals intentional ??

When I bought my two hatchling Burns ( one was a half dwarf ) the breeders both said not to give them hides as it can make them nervous and snappy .. plus one said you don’t want a 13’ Burm shooting out of a hide at you

Anyways I never provided either with hides and both were always puppy tame and very calm ...from the first day onwards ..

Maybe I got lucky ..


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[bcr229]

Not to worry he'll be plenty big soon enough and won't be able to hide

I have a two year old female burm that still uses a hide, especially when she is in shed.

[paulh]

Hmm. Good advice wanted.

1. Do not capitalize the first letter in every word in your posts. Your posts are hard to read.

2. Tame that Burmese. Handle him at least 5 minutes every day except for a couple of days after feeding. Consider tap training.

3. Never, never, NEVER allow that snake to wrap around your neck. And I mean starting the day you got him.

4. By the time that snake is 6 feet long, he will go after anything that smells like food and moves. He should be in a cage with a feeding box attachment. In other words, at feeding time, there should be a solid barrier between you and the snake every second. You do not want to be another stupid feeding accident.

5. Hiding is normal. Anything that is big and moves is a potential predator.

Good luck.