Both species become very large over time. Both can be easy going if handled frequently as they grow and mature. But generally speaking, retics tend to be much more of a handful at any age. They are very energetic and always on the move. They can be very strong willed and forceful when they have it in their mind that they want to do something or go somewhere. When they are small, say under 10-12 feet, this is not much of a hardship. But when they reach huge sizes and weights and have greater strength this can pose quite a difficulty. When you try to stop a 200 pound 20 foot female from roaming where she wants to roam she can toss you around and you definitely may need help. Retics become frustrated when they are hampered or hindered in their roamings. And they show it.



Burms on the other hand tend to be much more laid back and can be very gentle. They tend to be more sedentary, slow and deliberate in their movements. They can usually also be guided and dissuaded in their slow roamings and direction by simply placing a hand in front of their face and guiding them back the way you want them to go. Burms take most physical restriction in stride and don't seem to ever become overly frustrated. This of course pertaining to already "tame" burmese".



In my opinion retics are for the more experienced, much more dedicated herper that already has a few years of burm experience and who can tolerate oodles of 'terrible 2's' python attitude and behavior.



I know that a lot of well respected members in the forum consider burmese to be a difficult species to keep that require a great deal of prior python experience simply due to their eventual size alone. But I think that burmese can be very easy going and easy for almost anyone with virtually any snake experience to keep safely. Just so long as you don't mind a snake that has to be guided rather than carried in 8 to 10 years.



In either case I highly recommend novice keepers to only begin with a newly hatched specimen so as to be able to "grow with it" as it grows and matures. By this I mean that your knowledge and experience grows as the snake grows and thus your daily hands-on experience and knowledge paces any challenges a larger snake would pose as your snake reaches these larger sizes.



I hope this helps anyone reading this that is considering either species as a pet. In any case it is essential that one learns all proper husbandry prior to obtaining ANY species. I also recommend that all snakes over 8 feet should not be handled if a second, experienced person is not present. Simply as a common everyday failsafe mechanism.
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David Beauchemin

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