what kind if snake is this??

[flamekitty84]

just so you know, I wouldn't consider myself 'young and inexperienced'.
I've kept snakes for years now and have had several species kept correctly in my care. I was simply confirming the species in the photo so I could give accurate info to my mother

[JoshSloane]

Josh, using your own post please point out "disinformation." I did not say it would kill, I said it can and it certainly can. There are many responsible and veteran huge constrictor keepers but the irresponsible, negligent, and inexperienced owners of large constrictors are the exact reason for the bias toward those snakes. We as responsible reptile owners should always dissuade inexperienced owners from keeping them unless they are being mentored by an experienced keeper. The same logic applies to dogs, guns, teens and ultrafast cars, etc. A speed demon is not a good first car and I would not hand an inexperienced shooter a firearm that I didn't think they could handle. The op seems to be young and or inexperienced and certainly unprepared for a Burmese python. Being a dog owner and a reptile owner you should know better than to equate the two in terms of behavior. A dog can be reliably trained and socialized by a responsible owner. A snake can be kept properly and be somewhat conditioned to handling through proper husbandry but I personally would never believe that they can be trained in any meaningful way to where I would trust a 100lb snake with a child like I would trust a well trained and socialized 100lb dog.

The disinformation was in your tone. The way in which you stated your post sounded to me as if "can kill you" was assuming at the least a moderate possibility if you have one minor slip up.

I think a better way to approach this would be...'Burmese pythons are wonderful snakes, but absolutely not for beginners. They require an immense amount of respect, reptile knowledge, as well as attention to husbandry in order to safely cage, feed and handle. Although most specimens become very docile with regular interactions, due to their large size, caution must be taken when handling adults, with preferably multiple individuals present. As with any animal, children should never be allowed to handle unsupervised.'

You can be killed by anything. Far more people die from falls in the bathtub every year than by large constrictors. But we do not speak of a bathtub as being a usual dangerous item. I was responding to the tone of your post, which very much sounded exactly the same as people who are thrilled to see snakes put on ban lists. I am just saying that everyone needs to be careful in the way that we speak about snakes, and not assume that people, especially non-reptile oriented people can read your tone and fully understand what you are trying to communicate.

[Kayak Steve]

I didn't mean to offend you but even if you are not young and you have kept small species of snakes you are inexperienced with the giants and therefore don't truly know what caring for them and handling them entails. Just the fact that you couldn't ID this snake as a Burmese python points to your inexperience with them and your mom might be even less experienced. This is not something that should offend you. I have never kept venomous snakes and even if it were legal in my state I would not keep them unless I could be mentored by a veteran keeper and I FULLY understood all of the aspects and potential dangers and liabilities of keeping them. BTW, I have kept various snakes including some giants over the 35 years of my snake keeping hobby and I have made a few stupid mistakes with them.

[Kayak Steve]

Josh, I am a firm believer in and supporter of the 2nd Amendment and I cringe when I hear someone say "guns don't kill people, people do." That's a half truth if there ever was one and it weakens the argument for the right to keep and bear arms. I feel the same way about the giant constrictors and other potentially deadly pets. If the potential for disaster is openly discussed along with the protocols that should be followed to prevent accidents I think it makes for a much more cogent and respectable argument for our rights. To deny or belittle the potential for disaster, I feel, has a tendency to make the antis even more distrustful.

[JoshSloane]

Josh, I am a firm believer in and supporter of the 2nd Amendment and I cringe when I hear someone say "guns don't kill people, people do." That's a half truth if there ever was one and it weakens the argument for the right to keep and bear arms. I feel the same way about the giant constrictors and other potentially deadly pets. If the potential for disaster is openly discussed along with the protocols that should be followed to prevent accidents I think it makes for a much more cogent and respectable argument for our rights. To deny or belittle the potential for disaster, I feel, has a tendency to make the antis even more distrustful.

I am a staunch 2nd amendment believer as well, but I have to disagree with your line of reasoning. What I am saying is that the public picks and chooses which objects to highlight as dangerous, regardless of the actual statistics which back up the argument. For example, in 2013 there were over 32,000 deaths as a result from car accidents. If someone on this forum said, "hey im going to be picking up my new truck today," you wouldn't say, "well you better think twice, tens of thousands of people die from car wrecks yearly." Yet when someone inquires into a large constrictor you immediately threw out the "can kill you" line, when there are only a small handful of people hurt by large snakes yearly. Point is, what people choose to describe as deadly, in blatant disregard for statistics, tends to add to the stigma of that certain object.

[JoshSloane]

But I do agree that they definitely are not a snake for any kind of beginner, and only for those with the situation/resources to handle them correctly.

[bcr229]

But I do agree that they definitely are not a snake for any kind of beginner, and only for those with the situation/resources to handle them correctly.

IMO both of those conditions are primarily for the snake's health and safety, rather than for the keeper's.

[JoshSloane]

IMO both of those conditions are primarily for the snake's health and safety, rather than for the keeper's.

Not sure what you mean.

[bcr229]

Not sure what you mean.

Why are king snakes and other colubrids often recommended for beginners? It's not necessarily due to the snake's temperment - many are royal PITA's and will bite/musk even as adults - but because they're pretty bullet-proof when it comes to husbandry.

OTOH BRB's are considered a snake for a more experienced keeper, not because of their temperment as most older animals are pretty chill and easily handled and they don't get overly large, but because they have a narrow range of temperature and humidity requirements to stay healthy.

The same goes for burms, for all that they're big, they're not all that hardy, and if housed improperly by an inexperienced keeper they can go downhill pretty fast. Even as a baby this is not a snake you can drop into a glass tank with a screen top and overhead light and call it good, like inexperienced keepers do with ball pythons.

[JoshSloane]

Ehhh I kind of agree with you. I think that many people would rank a Burmese python as a hardier snake than a bp, considering the feeding issues that come along the average ball python.

But this thread has gotten wayyyy off track from the OPs post so I am going to let it be.