Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OKay.. I have a six foot burm, and her tank is disgusting. I am not very well with handling her. She was my ex's.. I need to clean her tank for fear that she might get a bacterial infection. I do not want this to happen. I have tried reaching in her tank to remove her. I cant. All she does is puff up and hiss.. I have never seen her like this before, normally she is a very docile snake. My 19 month old handles her. But my question to all of you is.. I am being told that if I spray her with a mist of rubbing alcohol, that she will go limp long enough for me to remove her from her tank. I do not want to do this until I know that this is a safe alternative to getting bit. I dont know what eles to do! Please reply as soon as possible! Thank you very much for your time!

As far as rubbing alchol goes, I do not who told you that but I would think that is a very bad idea. For reasons I don't think I have to explain.

Ways to get the burm out of the cage. Well, most burms hiss and puff up when they first get touched. Use a stick or rolled up news paper to touch her and stroke her with it. Then you can grab her, or people put cloths over their heads. And after you clean her put her up for sale.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda

Has it struck at you? I, like rottenweiler, think the alcohol is a BAD idea. I've known it to be used to cause a big snake to release when it bites, but there are better ways to do this also. Burms are known for hissing and puffing up. It's ment to scare you. As rottenweiler said, you can use a hook or rolled up news paper to touch and pet it with. Once it calms down then pick it up. I generally just lower my flat hand to the top of their head. touch and pet it for a minute, then pick it up. Works well with small ones. Good luck.

Quig

First, if you are that trepidatious about taking out the burm why is it allowed to drape around an infant. That pic tells me that we have some real serious problems....that is NOT a smart idea. Even a small burm of that size COULD kill that child (and you would be amazed by the strenght that a small burm of even that size can exert in a short amount of time). DON'T let that snake wrap around the child...please.

Get a snake hook. That's all you really need. once a snake is out of its cage they rarely bite unless they are very nervous. If you have to use heavy gloves at first that is fine in order to build confidence. Just go slow and easy and allow the snake to get used to being held for short periods.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>OKay.. I have a six foot burm, and her tank is disgusting. I am not very well with handling her. She was my ex's.. I need to clean her tank for fear that she might get a bacterial infection. I do not want this to happen. I have tried reaching in her tank to remove her. I cant. All she does is puff up and hiss.. I have never seen her like this before, normally she is a very docile snake. My 19 month old handles her. But my question to all of you is.. I am being told that if I spray her with a mist of rubbing alcohol, that she will go limp long enough for me to remove her from her tank. I do not want to do this until I know that this is a safe alternative to getting bit. I dont know what eles to do! Please reply as soon as possible! Thank you very much for your time!
>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

If you are not comfortable in handling this animal at it's current size, what do you plan to do with this animal when it is 12' long or larger and weighs close to or more than 200lbs? If you wish to own an animal such as this, you need to be prepared to handle this snake when it is in a good mood or bad. This is something you need to be prepared for. Personally, if you are not that comfortable with it and according to the picture that I am seeing, I dont think that this animal is best suited in your care. I am not meaning this to be direspectful or as an attack, I am saying this for your well being and the snakes. My recommendation...find the snake another home with an experienced handler.

Best Wishes,

Chris

>>First, if you are that trepidatious about taking out the burm why is it allowed to drape around an infant. That pic tells me that we have some real serious problems....that is NOT a smart idea. Even a small burm of that size COULD kill that child (and you would be amazed by the strenght that a small burm of even that size can exert in a short amount of time). DON'T let that snake wrap around the child...please.
>>
>>Get a snake hook. That's all you really need. once a snake is out of its cage they rarely bite unless they are very nervous. If you have to use heavy gloves at first that is fine in order to build confidence. Just go slow and easy and allow the snake to get used to being held for short periods.
>>
>>Rob Carmichael, Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center
>>Lake Forest, IL
>>
>>>>OKay.. I have a six foot burm, and her tank is disgusting. I am not very well with handling her. She was my ex's.. I need to clean her tank for fear that she might get a bacterial infection. I do not want this to happen. I have tried reaching in her tank to remove her. I cant. All she does is puff up and hiss.. I have never seen her like this before, normally she is a very docile snake. My 19 month old handles her. But my question to all of you is.. I am being told that if I spray her with a mist of rubbing alcohol, that she will go limp long enough for me to remove her from her tank. I do not want to do this until I know that this is a safe alternative to getting bit. I dont know what eles to do! Please reply as soon as possible! Thank you very much for your time!
>>>>
>>-----
>>Rob Carmichael, Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
>>Lake Forest, IL
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U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org

A couple things i do to calm my snakes down if they are in a huffy mood, or just to keep them in better spirits in general.

Hook train all your snakes. Meaning, whenever you are going to handle, clean, or anything else other than feeding the snake, tap on it's head w/a hook, or rub gently, doesn't even reallyl have to be a hook. Just something basically to let the snake know what's going on. When u feed it, DO NOT touch it on the head, feed it in cage as well. Eventually, the snake will get into a routine w/you, knowing that when it's tapped on the head, it's not eating....seems to help pretty well.

Take an old shirt of yours, cut it up, place a piece in ur snakes hide. That way it will recognize your scent a bit better.

Whenever i wake up, or startle one of my snakes, if they huff up and hiss, just rub them a little, put ur hand up to their mouths and let them taste you. Usually, they will calm down immediately. Burms tend to be a bit more huffy when getting out of the cage than others in my experience. The key is confidence & assuring the snake you are not a threat or food. Just move slowly, gently, and take your time.

None of these are surefire methods and i don't claim to be an expert, just some ideas that have proven helpful in the past. Hope everything works out w/it.

Just wanted to point out one thing that everyone so far has left out because it seems obvious. One you've touched the snake and gotten it to calm down a little, pick it up gently from the middle of the body. After touching him on the back with the hand to make sure he's OK with it, slide the hand underneith and lift rather than closing your hand and really gripping his body. Whatever you do, unless you think he's about to bite you, don't grab him behind the head or he's liable to freak out, especially if he hasn't been handled much recently.

Oh, and find whoever told you to spray him with alcohol and give them a good hard slap for me. Not only will it not work and be very painful to the snake, it will probably REALLY tick him off.

Something no one has touched on yet:

It's a well-documented fact that *all* reptiles carry salmonella. All of them. They carry the bacteria in their feces and can transmit it to humans very easily. Even experienced snake handlers have gotten the bacteria from their snakes.

Even worse: in seniors, infants, and people whose immune system is not normal this can lead to meningitis and death.

Strangulation is not the only way your child could die from this pet, especially if the cage is as "disgusting" as you claim. Infants and small children should *never* be allowed to handle *any* reptiles without not only supervision, but a staunch anti-bacterial wipe-down afterwards. Just to be safe I would never let any infant touch a snake based on their tendency to put anything and everything in their mouths, but that's just me.

It sounds like this may not be the best snake for you and I agree with earlier posters who said you ought to sell it. Perhaps you may be able to arrange a trade for ball or other snake that won't get as big. Just keep in mind that any snake (or turtle or lizard etc) you get can transmit salmonella bacteria and shouldn't be around your infant. You should consider yourself extremely lucky that nothing tragic has happened and if you continue to keep this snake in it's current condition and don't take precautions a tragedy is inevitable. We don't want the next time we hear about you to be on the evening news

I may be a little blunt but i really need to ask this question!

Did you go to idiot school or is it a natural gift?

I suggest that you give the burm to somebody that knows what they are doing and get yourself a goldfish, i would also get rid of the pic of your child and the snake before someone from social sevices see's it.

Ok more than a little blunt, but i needed to get it off my chest.

If you live in the chicago land area. I can come buy and pick the snake up. I have 1.1 burms . That are 10ft and 145ft. long. If you live int the area let me know And I can get tonight. Thanks Joe

If you love your child please have the intelligence to
realize the danger of what could happen and avoid it by
never letting it play with that snake again. If you were
to leave them unattended for even a moment the outcome
could be horrible and you would be held responsible.
*Think*!