Posted by:
RobertPreston
at Thu Jun 26 15:53:09 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by RobertPreston ]
I always tell people to get the smallest "big" snake that will make them happy. In this case, that would be the blood python. I must confess that I have very little experience with blood pythons -- they've just never really appealed to me. The last time I checked on their care in captivity, I remember them being more difficult to care for than burmese. As far as ease of care, it's hard to beat a burm. Very hardy animals. However, as you know, they get very large. I have two burmese -- an 11 foot male and a 14 foot female. The female is huge. She is also quite tame, but possesses an incredible feeding response. She is dangerous at meal times, and it takes some creativity to get food in the cage without becoming food yourself. I use both my burms in presentations (did one yesterday and two today), and they are dolls when being shown. But they are totally different creatures when rabbits are around. You must be ready for this, and you must understand that great care and caution are necessities with these snakes. Non venomous does not mean harmless and the tamest of tame burms can do some real damage in the right circumstances. And too often, you don't know the right circumstances until it's too late. I live in a small community and you would be surprised at the number of people who call me wanting to place their unwanted boas and pythons for them. I have a fellow right now from a neighboring county who wants to give me a big female albino. I see these things all the time, and it really is a shame. People only see the glamorous side of keeping big snakes -- the reaction people have when they see one, the attention they garner, all that. What people don't see are the feeding responses, the care and maintenance that go into keeping one healthy and happy, and of course the cage cleaning. When burms defecate, they really unload! It's like cleaning up after a horse.
All these things must be taken into consideration. Those cute little baby burms turn into real giants. If you're ready for all that, scratch the blood and go for the burm. But if you really don't want a 200 pound plus giant snake that can topple furniture and poop like a mule, go for the blood or a boa or something like that.
RP
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RE: Burm or Blood? - RobertPreston, Thu Jun 26 15:53:09 2003