Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

I just got a 6ft female albino green burmese. She was shipped to me, and although the previous owner says she is very handleable and friendly, she has been hissing at me whenever I open the cage and touch her. How long does it take for a Burm to adjust to a new place of living? Should I take any serious precautions? I am keeping her as a pet and plan on handling her very often, but obviously do not want to get bit. What steps should I take into getting her used to my touch and her new home? I don't want to jump the gun on her, but I also don't want to not handle her.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

- Ian

Let her settle in a good week, just to get back up to temperature, and feel secure in her new surroundings. She's had a bit of a shock, so would you if someone posted you somewhere in a box! Burmese are fairly vocal, better that, than striking without warning. Maybe get her used to being touched either with your hand or a snake hook first. I always touch the head first, it kind of takes them out of feeding mode and puts them into "ok i am going to be mauled" mode LOL

Dont Panic ! She'll be fine.. of course there is always the chance the previous owner did have problems with her, maybe why she was passed on to you ! in which case, you will need to take your time and gradually build her and your confidence.

Best of luck
Don

Thanks. I figured she would need some adjustment time. I'll gradually start touching her more and more until she seems comfortable enough to be handled.

I appreciate the insight, and anyone else's imput is more than welcome!!

- Ian

I only own two burms, but have held many of many sizes and temperments, and am proud to say i've held an 18' female of absolutely perfect temperment! My first burm was chosen specifically because of his demeanor towards me in the first place... I noticed that he was interested in me while scoping out a water monitors cage at a local petshop, and I meandered over to him and asked to get him out myself, and they said the others might bite.. which they did. 6 burms in a cage big enough for one they all took and angry attitude with me when I put my hand in there except for him, who curiously slithered onto me! I didn't let him go for several hours after that, purchasing him almost immediately after he was comfortably on my hand! My albino female came to me as a baby from the classifieds of this site and she hated me since day one.. but through routine cleanings of her cage, a "timeout" box for when they get unruly, and gentle controlled handlings when you do handle them, her anger has lessened and my confidence has grown. When I was introducing myself to the nice first burm of mine, I shut myself away in a walk in closet alone with him and his 20 inches of burm fury, just so he would be used to my presence.. I did this a lot with him, and we have a great relationship. Witha 6 footer to start though, I would recommend a training glove. I bought a pair of welding gloves and dyed them black with alcohol based leather dye, washed the excess out, and *every* time I get a burm out of they're tank, and I mean *every* time, that glove is on. Not because I'm afraid of getting bit, because I've had many snakebites, but because a same smell over and over a hundred thousand times becomes second nature to the animal, and through the rigorous smells humans go through make and acquire my scent changes much more often than my leather training glove does! sorry, i'll shut up now, I talk a lot when I talk snakes! Hope this helped some!
3 Y 3 C 3

I agree with Ian, let her settle in for a week or so.

In the meantime get a good snake hook, mine is about 40 inches long. If you want to handle her use the hook to let her know you are there. When she gets bigger the hook won't be much good to pick her up, but it does work to let her know you're there and not food.

DON'T use the hook at feeding time, I feed of hemostats that are over a foot long. I put the prey item(f/t) in the cage and hold the door on the prey items leg. This protects the snake from the hemostats and me from the snake (in case she misses).

Some people say to feed in the cage other say to feed outside the cage. Both have their pro's and con's. Find a system that works for you.

My girls are 11 to 15 feet and it works well for me. Take a look at Rosie, she is a couple of posts down.
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

Your snakes look great!

Thanks for the imput. I hope she comes around easily to her new home and my wanting to handle her almost daily!

Once she settles and I can get her out of the cage, I'll post some pictures up.

Thanks!

- Ian

Update: I got her out of the cage tonight. After persisting through her slight hissing, she became very calm once I had a good hand on her, and even after holding her for a bit. After getting a closeup look at her, I noticed she is starting to shed and her eyes are fogging over. I think this explains why she was being cranky since I got her. Thanks for all the help.