Burmese python rescue help.

[skatefastdieyoung]

18 feet long. It should be PERFECT for him and is only going to cost around 150 for it to be fabricated as my step mother is a carpenter and said she would absolutely do it for me. 18 long 8 wide and 3 high

[skatefastdieyoung]

Once again thanks for all of the attention this thread is getting everybody. all this information is EXTREMELY useful. Heres some answers to questions and thoughts and etc etc replies... i was asked. :::: for the humidity i went ahead and purchased the Zilla 11577 (as ive had it for my bp and worked like a charm) It constantly reads between 50%-70%. i keep his temps at a nice 75-80 degree cool side 85-90 degree hot side. as for the food i took some advice and went on craigslist. MULTIPLE bunnies for sale 5-15 dollars for a 5-10 pounder. mostly new zealands but they look VERY fat. I have no intention on letting the breeders know what i'm buying them for as snakes have a HUGE stigma surrounding them in this state which is another reason i'm glad this guy showed up, i cant wait to have him around for a few shows at schools when the time comes to relieve some of this hatred against such amazing animals like snakes. As for the RI it doesn't necessarily sound like wheezing but more like breathing sort of if you breathed slightly hard.

[Reinz]

I can here my big coastal girl breath all the time gets worse the more frustrated she is.

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Same here with my Coastal which is of similar size as yours. At first I thought that she was hissing, but then came to realize since it was all the time that theses bigger girls must huff and puff a lot.

[frostysBP]

I honestly would not build the cage nearly that big......18x8x3 is wayyyyy to big......ur for one going to hate moving it and 2 be pissed when he doesn't use half I would go no bigger than 10.... My retic and burm cages are going to be 8x3x1.5)

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[skatefastdieyoung]

Thanks, and yes i will try to downside a bit if that's what the forums tell me to do. As this snake is a rescue, i'm actually quite novice at the larger snakes but am willing to learn for this guy. The only thing is i have NO issue moving a larger cage and i thought males get any where from 12-15 feet. so 3 extra would give him room to move around a bit. BUT if you are in fact knowledgeable on larger animals i should probably take your word over my assumptions.

[distaff]

I just have trouble imagining an indoor enclosure that size, that is all. There isn't a single room in our house that is 18feet long - never mind wall space that wouldn't block a door, esp. with an 8 foot width.

Even the largest my outdoor walk-in rabbit pens only have a footprint of 16'X7'. Our goat barn is a tarped over 10x10 dog kennel. I couldn't come in any where near just $150 in materials for any of them, and I'm using cattle panel, wire fencing, pvc pipe (roof support), and tarps. I love building the outdoor enclosures, and would really like to see what your step-mother makes for you. Pics please?

The lady who makes the 1Softkiss Youtube videos built something in a similar size, but it was an outdoor enclosure - sort of a sun portch for good weather. I'm not sure what size she has inside for her pair of huge Argentine (IIRC?) boas.

I have NO experience with these big snakes, but my only concern would be the ability to keep the ambient temp up in such a large space.

Glad to hear you found a good rabbit source.

[frostysBP]

Most of all the retic And burm keepers use 8x3 with 10x4 for there 20+ foot animals

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[JoshSloane]

I very much agree an 18 foot cage is major overkill. 15 foot males are super rare. You're looking 10-12 feet on average.

Also, I'm sure others will disagree, but I never liked lying to breeders about what I was going to do with their rabbits. I could never pretend to be giving a loving home to an animal and then feed it to a snake. Seems like that also plays into the negative stigma surrounding our hobby as snake keepers.

[distaff]

ETA on the rabbits. My understanding is that the food source should not be too fat, as in obese. I have heard keepers objecting to the jumbo rats as just being overfed, and FAT.

The NZ, as a meat breed is built to be round, and have a high meat to bone ratio. Of course I can't see the rabbits you obtained, and they should be just fine. They SHOULD look round and not be fat.

If these look like they could work as a long term source, you can always cut one open and check inside. You should find lots and lots of guts - like cows, bunnies are just a big veggi fermentation vat, and that takes up the majority of space it their bodies. The liver should be dark, and the lungs and heart should be of good color and firm. "Firm" is relative - but the usual organ meats that show up on meat counters are pallid in color and mushy. A healthy bunny has beautiful organs, and there will some fat around the organs and on the shoulders, but not a lot of fat any where.

[bcr229]

Thanks, and yes i will try to downside a bit if that's what the forums tell me to do. As this snake is a rescue, i'm actually quite novice at the larger snakes but am willing to learn for this guy. The only thing is i have NO issue moving a larger cage and i thought males get any where from 12-15 feet. so 3 extra would give him room to move around a bit. BUT if you are in fact knowledgeable on larger animals i should probably take your word over my assumptions.

Typically you'd want a square foot of floor space per foot of snake, though with a thicker snake like a burm another foot or two of length wouldn't hurt.