Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well 16 days later my Burm was found down the street in one of my son's friend's yard.She was a bit hot and a little testy,but none worse for the wear as far as I can tell (so far).One question I have is,can snakes catch rabies or other diseases and such?It is readily apparent from her weight and her shape that she ate something BIG while she was gone.She doesn't have any scars or VISIBLE damage,but I am worried about what she may have caught if she ate something that was wild.Any suggestions of things to watch out for?Thanx for any ideas,in advance.

Only mammals get rabies. The most likely thing would be intestinal parisites from coming in contact with other reptiles or their feces. I thinks salmonella is also possible if she's been eating birds, but most captive snakes already have it and it doesn't cause significant problems.

If you're concerned, wait a few weeks and take a fecal sample to a vet.

Oh, and when she calms down a bit, check her thoroughly for ticks and then check again in a few weeks in case you missed any small ones the first time.

Glad to hear you found her.

Your snake was missing for 16 days and you found it down the street! I thought it was a miracle finding my ball python 3 hours later under my basement staircase. How big is your burm? If Moses got out of the house I would be in a panic! How did your snake get out of the cage let alone the house? man, did you get lucky! Most people may see differently but I got to laugh when you say he must have eaten something big. No telling what it was. Hopefully flyers for missing _______ do not show up on phone polls in your neighborhood.

DZ
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

I think she's somewhere between 11 and 13 feet,never really figured out how to measure her correctly.Needless to say I'm glad to have her home!

Sounds like somone is missing somthing with four legs and fur.
Hopefully it ate a stray cat. I wonder how many feral cats still live in florida..LOL

Check her feces for a drivers license. That way you will know who she ate and you could send a letter of apology.

Thats a mighty big burm to have loose. Damn!

I got a funny story. Many years ago I had a yellow ratsnake. I wasnt a real big fan of the ratsnakes but at the time my home became a halfway house for wayward reptiles. When a neighbor or friend's kid had some type of herp they didnt want any more it would wind up with me, at least until I could find a proper home for it. This particular snake had a noticeable scar running along the left side of its body. It was wild caught so thats not unusual. One day he got out and absolutely disappeated. I searched the house to no avail.

I used to live very close to a golf course surrounded by wood. Months after the snake escaped I get a call from a co worker. He had taken his young son golfing and the little guy was much more interested in running around the woods than hitting the white ball. Cant say as I blame him. Anyway, he saw a snake sitting in a low branch in a tree and convinced his father to help him catch it. Somehow they managed to get it and brought it home. He described it to me on the phone and I couldnt believe it.

I said "By chance does it have a large scar running down the left side?"

It did. They had found my missing snake. Unbelieveable. He asked me if I wanted it back. Uh uh! Finders keepers! I went over there to give him some snake stuff and sure enough it was him. And he had grown. He looked very well fed. Good thing they got him since he probably would not have survived the northern winter.

He became the family pet and as far as I know they still have him.