Should I get a burm?

[ericswan_1]

Rusty
I have a freind that has 2 redtails and the temperment on the 2 are good. thats the only thing I was geting at. I guess I should have said My freind's instead. He takes very good care of his snakes and is a great and responsable owner.

Eric

[Muze]

I have never owned a Burm but I did use to work with them at a wildlife rescue years ago. There were 3 there. Out of the three, only one was used for presentations, etc. because the other two were very unpredictable. 'Scooter' was an awesome snake. Very calm. I cried when I found out he passed away a few years ago. That being said, he was 14 feet long and very heavy. There used to have to be 3 of us in the room to get his cage properly cleaned out. This is not a BP that you can hold in one hand while you change the paper in the tub.

So, If I had children that young and that many other snakes, I (personally) would wait. I don't think I would have the amount of time or energy necessary to properly care for a large snake, take the proper safety precautions, etc. However, there are some members on this forum (Denial, for example) that have sizeable collections of large constrictors-and a family- and seem to be doing a great job maintaining their collections.

Definitely ask away. I think that, and researching websites and books (& please do a lot of this before you make your decision) will at least give you a better idea if this is a step that you want to take.

Good luck!

[Denial]

Burms are great snakes. Having children and reptiles is not hard to accomplish. You just have to make sure you are a responsible parent. Locked enclsoures and locked doors. Keep keys with you at all times. I would never forgive myself if one of my snakes harmed one of my children. So I take saftey precautions to make sure that never happens.

[rynpckrd]

rynpckrd

how is the temperment of your red tail. ive been told they are great and my buddies seem good.

Thanks for your reply also, I appriciate the respectfull reply of someone on these forums such as yours.

Eric

I've only had him for a short time (roughly three weeks) but thus far, I have had no problems whatsoever. If anything, his curiosity is the equivalent of a young child; he just wants to be held and wants to look around at everything.

To put it simply, his temperament is wonderful; he hasn't attempted to strike at me or at anyone else that has been around him.

[mainbutter]

On the subject of kids:

You can have firearms and very small children in the same home, and keep the kids safe from the dangers inherent to bullets and gunpowder.

You keep the guns locked and inaccessable. You can do the same with a large snake.

[ericswan_1]

mainbutter

thats a great way to describe it. we are avid shooters and gun collectors and dont think twice on bringing a new gun home. now i realize the gun doesnt grow, eat and get huge.

Thanks

Eric

[Neal]

Sounds like you know about the dangers and such, and are pretty aware of the care and stuff. Just do a little more researching to make sure that the burm suits you. Don't just jump into something and do it. Also I would make sure you put it under lock & key, I wouldn't recommend the screwing the because a screwdriver can undo it. Unless you screw like a latch, then strip out the screws, and always keep it locked when you aren't in the room.

[CTReptileRescue]

Rusty
I have a freind that has 2 redtails and the temperment on the 2 are good. thats the only thing I was geting at. I guess I should have said My freind's instead. He takes very good care of his snakes and is a great and responsable owner.

Eric

Hi sorry, was way tired when I read that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
It all boils down to responsible ownership (I cannot stress that enough).
The weapon analogy is a great way to look at it in my opinion.
Rusty

[ericswan_1]

ya i think thats a great way to look at it also. We Just bought Nice big male Burm for the friend of ours, we found out when we picked it up it was het for albino. his female is albino, and when she gets big enough to breed (might be a year or two) he told us we could have one of the albinos when she lays. so we have a while to make sure its what we want to do. Thank for all the replys and the help once again its greatly appriciated.

Eric

[tbowman]

I think you are ready for a burm. Just make sure you do your research, get a proper sized enclosure and everything. I don't have small children(I'm 17) so I dont have to worry about that. I don't think that age has much to do with owning a snake as long as you know what you're in for. Just make sure you have a secure, locking enclosure, I don't have one on my vision as of yet and my burm can't escape, but the fact that you have small children I would definately lock it and keep the keys hidden/out of reach.

I think a lot of people make owning a burm sound like one of the most difficult things in the world, it may be just me, but I don't think it's very difficult. You're married so you'll always have an extra person around to handle/clean cage.

IMO it's best to go in with the mentality that you're going to get bit, I would think that the people who get bit are the ones who don't know the power of the animal/aren't expecting it at all. Don't be paranoid though.