I had this great reply all typed out last night and my internet kicked out when I hit send. @#$%^&*! computers! LOL So, here goes another try.

I have 28 snakes in my current collection, and of those five are adult Colombian redtail boas (one 6 footer, and four 7 footers), one adult normal phase female burm (13 feet) and one juvenile albino burm (between 5 & 6 feet - yes, she's small for her age, the only picky feeding burm I know). Anyway, they are all quite mellow snakes, for the most part...not that last qualifier 'for the most part'. Any snake can have an off day and the longer you are in the hobby, the greater the chance that either you have - or will be - bitten. The likelihood of a bite also increases with every new animal you add. Over the years (I've been keeping boas & pythons since 1991), I've gotten a number of nips from baby snakes and only a few bites from adults. That's mostly because I am very careful and I also make it a point to learn my snakes. Each snake DOES have its own personality and quirks. The sooner you learn to read the snake, the better for you both. In the effort to prevent bites, a good snake hook doesn't hurt either.

Of the occassions the adult boas have bitten me (twice in 13 years), both times have been my fault. Once I startled my 6' female boa when I reached into a holding container to pick her up. She gave me a nice nip to let me know she didn't appreciate being woken up by being picked up. The second was completely my error, just this past February, when I put one of my 7' male boas in a cleaned feeding tub (with no intention of feeding him) while I cleaned his cage - instead of putting him in a pillowcase like I normally would. When I reached in to remove him, he bit my hand and constricted my arm. This is in no way the snake's fault however, it was my own stupidity for breaking with my usual practices and not taking into account how I had conditioned this particular snake. A week to the day later, I was removing my adult female burm from her cage to clean it and she decided to bite the same hand (completely against her usual behaviour and without any warning). She didn't constrict me and in all seriousness it was really as gentle a bite as she could have inflicted. I've only had this girl since November, but I've been helping with her care for two years and she is known for her gentle nature and has never been known to bite anyone in her entire life. She was simply having a bad day and didn't want to be messed with, regardless of my need to clean her cage. If I had to do it over, I would rather be bitten by any of my boas than receive another bite from my burm. While it didn't require stitches (at least, I didn't go get any), the bite was much more painful, did more damage and left me unable to use my hand for several days while the skin tried to knit back together.

The point behind the stories is that even a snake that is known for its gentle nature can still bite. We really can't think like they do and we can't reason out the why's of a bite every time. That doesn't even take into consideration the very strong feeding response most burms demonstrate compared to the feeding response in boas, which I find MUCH less aggressive. I would gladly recommend a boa to anyone willing to commit to their care and take the full responsibility of owning such magnificent animals. Short of truly stupid behaviour, such as allowing an adult boa to completely circle your neck, the average boa is not going to kill an adult person. The same cannot be said for an adult burmese python. These are truly massive snakes and their strength is phenomenal. They aren't really what I would recommend in a pet snake to the average keeper because not only does the actual keeper need to have a very strong commitment to providing proper care and safe handling of such an animal, but you need the same commitment and integrity in a helper. A boa can be handled and maintained by a single person but a burm needs at least two people when it reaches adulthood just for simple safety practices.

Don't get me wrong, I love both of my burms. However, I would never recommend the average person to get one as a pet. I had no intention of having more than the one burm, my albino, when my best friend had to give up her adult normal. At 13 feet and probably 80-90 lbs, my adult burm is still growing and should at least reach 15 feet, if not more. With burms, there is so much more to take into consideration than simply temperament. Even the most docile and predictable animal can have off days, and an off day for an adult burm who gives even its smallest nip can result in serious injury to us soft humans.

Raven

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