Intro:
Well i recently purchased the snake that i always wanted for quite some time.... A Burmese Python. I owned one back in 04' right before i went off to college and wasn't able to bring her/him( didn't know at the time what i know now so i never sexed it.) with me in that living situation. However i recently acquired one and i must say that it brings back memories.These snakes truly are amazing creatures. I also have owned many other Ball pythons that i loved but had to give away as well in 04'. The only one that i kept was the biggest and that was an 02' Colombian Redtail Boa Constrictor and she is amazing. Working for a snake farm that was very much into pythons has me really ready for these exotic animals once shes gets older. Right now she is approximately 37inces long and she just took her first small rat this afternoon from being under my belt since the 25th. Right now she is in a 15 gallon tank but within the couple weeks i will be building her a cage that she will comfortable in and will have more hide boxes and heat zones. I must say that there is a lot of info on this site and will be on here quite often. Thank you to all the burmese owners and great herp experts that have put their words in throughout this forum cause it has really helped me to better understand not only the life of the burmese python but also the best way for me and my burmese live a safe, happy, and healthy life. You guys have some awesome python morphs but i have always been fond of the "Normal" Burmese python. Hopefully one day i will own more because i think they are my favorite. Once again thanks everyone and i look forward to being around here.
Conditioning:
Now onto my question. Well i've learned that its hard to understand what the snake is thinking at all times but it has helped me to put myself in their shoes to help understand what they would do in situations. The first Burmese that i owned never hissed so i was new to this situation therefore i have become accustomed to using a snake hook but once she is in my hand she is as gentle as a baby and stops hissing. Im aware that this is a very common thing with Burmese pythons as they try to be tough. She hasn't bit yet because i have taken very great caution with my actions and with the way that i approach her. I have started conditioning her in the sense that every time i take her out of the cage she gets the hook(hisses a little but before she is out of the cage she is perfectly fine like i said). To get to the point...i'm trying to figure out the best way to condition her around feeding time. I fed her a pre-killed/stunned rat in the bath tub and brought her in the tub with the hook while holding her head with my second hand so there wasn't too much pressure from the hook(coat hanger). While in the tub she was a little nervous and didn't move much but once she smelled the rat as i put it in front of her face she didn't hesitate to take it from my hands and coil it up. After she was done i wasn't sure how to approach her( this is the part that im getting at). Do you guys think that it is ok to use the stick once again? With condition in mind, im afraid that she she will associate the hook with feeding time and this is how i get her out of the cage to handle so i wasn't sure if it was a good idea to use the hook on feeding days and if so then what other alternatives do you use? thanks a lot for any info/input that you may have from personal experience. Thanks for your time and getting this far! haha
Sorry for the long post but i get carried away talking about snakes. Have a great one!
P.s. And i've named her Aphrodite!
P.s.s: Once i figure out how to post pics (through trial and error) i will post them. Thanks once again
Ulysses
If I was raising a Burm from a hatchling, I would still feed inside the cage from the beginning, use a hook for handling, and for what it's worth, we knock on the cage before feeding the Burm and boa, too.
