Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all.
First of all ineed to say i don't own any burms or other big ones. Largest ones i have are boa constrictors due i don't have so much space for to keep a large snake in a confortable way. I don't think i will have one at least till i'll move in another apartment and i don't really know if that will happen and when.

I'm keeping snakes since 1997 and i owned a lot of species including balls, GTP's, boas, rainbows, yellow anacondas and many colubridae species. I'm living in Rome and here in italy there is a really idiot "dangerous animals law" and other than crocs and hotsalso retics and green anacondas are outlawed. Burms and rocks are free for all. Ok.. my thoughts are about what i'm reading about the danger that burms can cause to thayr owners. Here is oftenly reccomended not to handle them alone when they reach 10' or more. I know a lot of people who owns 14-16' burms and they are handling em every week and oftenly alone. ok that can be easy.... they are lucky. The fact is that here noone is thinking that a burm cab ne "lethal" for an adult human unless it will bite his face and coil aroud his/hers neck... One time i was with a friend that was bitten and "coiled" by 14 ft afrock that had mistaken him for food, pretty scary but no "danger for life" as i saw, with 5 minutes of struggle he had snake off even if the snake didn't wanted to let go by itself. I've read that people were killed by burms in USA, can that be that these people died of heart attack or other compliances instead of being squeezed to death? (press is always using the sensation and the fear of snakes for to make sensational news.)
I don't believe that an adult and strong man can be put down by a 13 ft python so easily. different is talking about children, but children has never to be alone with any POTENTIALLY dangerous animals (even large dogs). I think that is much more probable to be attacked by your own dog, if it turns again you (i have a dogo argentino for example), or to die in a car crash than to be killed by a large snake, i'm not meaning exceptional monster 20' ft ones. Whit that i'm reccomending to handle large snakes alone, i'm only searching some informations and different point of views.

Thank you

Flavio

Hello there. I have just aquired a new burm on Sunday. She is 7ft. I also have two Boas, one of whom is also 7ft. I wont take them out unless there is someone else in the room as the general rule over here in scotland is one person to every 5ft of snake as it can be dangerous to handle something that big alone. As you were saying about a full grown adult being able to release themselves from a large snake, Im not so sure as I have had experience of the strength of these animals and I needed help, Im 6ft 4" and 200lbs. There has been quite a few people killed by burms and boas and its because of the fact that they are so strong, also the length of the larger ones too is a problem, as by the time you get one end off you, the other end has coiled round another part of you.