Burmese aggression

[M&H]

Now I know it varies snake by snake, however usually there is a general rule.

Are male Burmese pythons more prone to be aggressive during breeding season like the retics?
Also would a male retic see a male burm as competition or vice versa?
Anything besides breeding that would make a male or female more suitable?

I would like to own a burm as a pet however I want to make sure it wouldn't disturb the balance I have set up with my other larger snakes.
Maybe this is a silly question however I like to err on the side of caution while I am gaining experience with these larger constrictors.

Thanks

[TheSnakeGeek]

Now I know it varies snake by snake, however usually there is a general rule.

Are male Burmese pythons more prone to be aggressive during breeding season like the retics?
Also would a male retic see a male burm as competition or vice versa?
Anything besides breeding that would make a male or female more suitable?

I would like to own a burm as a pet however I want to make sure it wouldn't disturb the balance I have set up with my other larger snakes.
Maybe this is a silly question however I like to err on the side of caution while I am gaining experience with these larger constrictors.

Thanks

i know with retics, the male aggression during breeding season is USUALLY attributed to them smelling other male retics. it's good practice to wash up real good in between handling males during breeding season so they don't smell another male on you. as far as burms being in the same room as retics, i'm not sure, but i asked ReptileExperts a very similar question in regards to my retic "smelling" my other male ball pythons and it triggering an aggressive "competition" behavior. he said he didn't think it was likely, but made the point that he has a breeding size male retic in a completely different area of the house away from his other animals, and he still shows signs of breeding aggression. as far as a retic being able to "smell" the difference between a burm or other male snake and whether that would set them off, i'm not sure. i'm inclined to think a retic smelling another retic would be more likely to set it off than a retic smelling another kind of snake, but keep in mind, there have been ball x retic hybrids and burm x retic hybrids, so in order for that to happen, the snakes must have shown some kind of sexual interest in each other, which could also mean they'd show breeding aggression.

i'd like to think if you've had your retic for a while and are pretty good at reading him, you'll be fine. you might just wanna be a little more on your toes when getting him out during breeding season, but i'm always at least a little on my toes when getting my retic out every time. better safe than sorry. lol

not sure if that helped at all, and i don't own any burms, just a retic, but thought i would throw in a couple cents.

[danthesnakeman]

I can't say much about the breeding of these snakes, but the above post sounds right. As for male or female suitability, I have never heard anything saying one made for better pets than the other.

[M&H]

Thanks! I never thought of the non retic males in the room getting him wound up. I guess a male burm probably would be any different than the other males in the room. I only have one male retic on purpose in the hopes that he would be less likely to be aggressive. He is an '12 so I haven't had to deal with the breeding aggression yet.

[OctagonGecko729]

It could just be triggered by the seasons too and not the presence of other animals. They could just turn into a more aggressive snake because every queue (humidity, temperatures, barometric pressure, light cycles) feels like its the season to breed. Those alone may trigger hormonal changes which lead to more aggression.

[M&H]

It could just be triggered by the seasons too and not the presence of other animals. They could just turn into a more aggressive snake because every queue (humidity, temperatures, barometric pressure, light cycles) feels like its the season to breed. Those alone may trigger hormonal changes which lead to more aggression.

Oh I do get that completely. I expect him to be a bit aggressive regardless of the presence of other males.

Originally my question is if a male burm also becomes more aggressive during breeding season. Then as another thought if it would cause my male retic to become more aggressive.

I have heard others recommend to people who want a pet to buy a female retic since they do not (typically) have breeding season aggression. I was wondering if that was the same with burms.

[mumps]

My male Burm is 7 years old and has 3 times exhibited "courting" behavior. He arches, flips his water tub (which contains 8 buckets of water; weighs a ton!) as if it were nothing, and pushes and tail wraps me if I have him out; and never has tried to bite. Could be other snakes setting him off, not sure. He is a real handful to get back in the enclosure when he's doing this, at 13' you get his head and half his body in and by the time you get the rest his head is on the way out...

But like I said, he has never bitten or tried to bite when in this mood.

Chris