New Baby Burm. Could use some advice.

[Valentine Pirate]

Just a note on the rabbits if you do decide to breed them, they're STRICTLY herbivores. I don't keep them myself but used to live in a house with a woman who always had two (would adopt another when the older one passed). I know they'll eat their own pellets afterward and digest them twice, so that's pretty weird. But I do remember that the woman was very adamant about only feeding timothy hay and a mix of leafy greens/veggies. Their digestive tract is built to handle grasses and other plant material.

Beautiful burm! Just figured I'd chime in on the rabbits bit. Don't have experience with any of the other concerns, haha

[Jason Bowden]

Great looking burm!
Good to see that you're already planning on big enclosures. They grow quick!

[Riv]

Right now im using a home Depot Temp Gun to measure my temps. I dont use thermometers, but I do have Hygrometers, and give my snakes regular soaks.

The only Reason im planning on building the little one first is because I have a somewhat narrow stairway, and a 6x2.5x2.5 would fit easily. I would have one hell of a time getting a 8x4x4 up or down that set of stairs, and im not quite sure where her enclosure is going to be yet. I keep all of my snakes in what would have been my dining room(but its become more of just a snake room than anything), but if my room mates want to put a table and chair in there will be very little for for a huge cage. In my bedroom, I sould easily fit it against a wall or something, but getting it up and down the stairs is the issue there. I figure Ill probably be living somehwere different, or at least in a different room 2-3 years from now, so I might as well make something I can definitely fit for the time being.

Yeah, I did some research on rabbits, and the more I read the less I want to deal with them. Im probably going to stick to rats.

But yes, I did as much research on burms as I could before actually getting one, and I while I did grab one spontaniously becaUse she was beautiful and a great deal, I was mostly prepared already.

Im so pumped to get this enclosure built XDD its all I can seem to think about right now. Im worried about my craftsmanship. But melamine should warp or bend because of moisture, its fire retardent and with braces is should be more than strong enough to hold her. I think the hard part will be making the sliding door. I dont trust hinges honestly. If I can rip them out of the wood so can she right?

[laughingtree369]

We don't have him any longer, but we fed ours rabbits. Handle him regularly and watch for scale rot because they spend so much time on the ground due to weight. They grow FAST. Bernie (the snake) is now 16' and only 2-3 years old. Ours was and still is very docile. We is a very calm snake. He now has an albino gf and the new owner hopes to have babies one day.

I agree, don't use glass, they are very strong and can and probably will break the glass. Ours did. Plexi glass works well, but you'll need to put a vent on the cage to keep the air circulating. I'm not sure, because I am new, how much you know, so if I am condescending, I apologize. You'll can buy a bathroom vent at a Lowes for about $14.00.

Peggy

[laughingtree369]

You'll be feeding your girl a LOT of rats if you do. If you feed it rabbits and they are not from a pet store, freeze them first to kill any potential bugs. Your snake can also eat piglets and geese (although, gosslings imprint on you and it is heartbreaking to have to feed them to another pet) which are not as expensive as you'd think if you go to an animal auction. Bernie is eating 2-3 enormous rabbits at a time (again, he's 16'ish). There are also vitamin supplements you can buy at pet stores to put in the water that I recommend. It is better to be safe than sorry.

I've had a rabbit tear up one of my pythons when it was fed live. I have also had my first and last live feed mistake with a rat and a brazilian rainbow boa. The rat ate a hole in my snake in about 5 minutes while I was distracted. She died.

[cowbully]

I had an albino burm 10 years ago.. I loved her.. I wasnt home enough (traveling profession) so i sold her to my buddies wife. she was 12ft when i sold her at 3 years old. She is around 19 ft now..

Defenitely get a locking lid.. she was an escape artist, weighted top or not.. they are strong even as babies..and your right no fear at all..

Good luck with your breeding for food project..luckily my friend was a chicken farmer at the time so i was feeding her 5 lb. chickens every 10 to 14 days. Ole Frank Purdue wouldnt be too happy . if i didnt get them for free, they would have cost me a fortune trying to fill her endless apetite..

[Riv]

To laughingtree369: Wow! Adding a vent sounds way more spophisitcated than I had orignally intended. Frankyl I hadnt even thought about it. Thats a great idea. How would I adhere it though? Apoxy? I feel like that would hold well enough.

Yeah it really would take a lot of Rts to make that Happen. But if I do Bimonthly feedings, with several rats each time I think i'd be able to grow them fast enough and consistantly enough to make it work. After all, Im Breeding rats for 3 ball pythons, and 1 burmese. Thats not a ton of snakes. And there will be lots of extras I'd wager. Its a good thing I do frozen thawed. No danger to the snakes whatsever, I can stockpile the extra rats, and if I have THAT much of a surplus I can sell off the leftovers.(Trusting there ARE any with this little girls slithering around)

To Cowbully:Yeah, I beleive it! Feeding entire pigs as a meal sounds so excessive, but then you see it happen and it almost looks necessary haha!

[pigfat]

Very beautiful snake, goodluck with her.


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[Becs080]

On Feeding. I feed mine large to jumbo rats, I never feed rabbits, only rats. Many years ago I tried feeding rabbits to one of my larger girls but she wouldn't have anything to do with them. I actually sewed a rat onto the head of a rabbit one time to try to force her to eat the rabbit, it was the weirdest thing I've ever seen a snake do. She swallowed the rat up to where the rabbit was, then she paused for a few minutes trying to figure out what was going on. Then she put a coil around the rabbit and pulled. She kept pulling until the stitches tore out and then she finished swallowing the rat and left the rabbit lay there. I'm sure a lot of people won't believe me, but I swear it's true. Since then I've only fed rats. I feed 2-3 large/jumbo rats at a time, but I only feed about every 3-4 weeks or so, and a lot of times I just won't feed them for a month or more. My snakes maintain a very HEALTHY weight. A lot (maybe most?) people feed larger meals more often, but then again I've seen a LOT of very obese burms. Obesity is no healthier for your snake then it is for you. Burms often have a reputation for being prone to respiratory diseases, personally I believe that being over weight has a lot to do with it

Thats one of the funniest things I've read in some time. Sewing a rat to a bunnies head! Lmao :-)

Congrats on the new burm Also - I know what you mean about them being more confident and less defensive than new ball pythons. They're a great snake to keep and I just adore my male. There's something about the normal
Burms too that I just love - even more so than all the morphs out there. Good luck!

[MarkS]

Thats one of the funniest things I've read in some time. Sewing a rat to a bunnies head! Lmao :-)

Congrats on the new burm Also - I know what you mean about them being more confident and less defensive than new ball pythons. They're a great snake to keep and I just adore my male. There's something about the normal
Burms too that I just love - even more so than all the morphs out there. Good luck!

Yeah it was really bizarre, this was actually recommended to me by someone else who had done the same thing to get her burm started on rabbits. Didn't work out so well for me though.

And yes, sewing the butt end of a dead rat onto the head of a dead rabbit is every bit as gross as it sounds.