Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My baby burm acts kinda weird. I have two hidespots in the tank, one under the heat lamp on the right side. And one on top of a heating strip on the left side. He seems to always be under the hidespot over the heat strip, and when i pick him up, he seems really hot. Like I can feel an excess amount of heat coming from him. Is this normal? Or would he stay there even if it was hurting him?

Youre supposed to have a cool side and hot side in your tank. This gives your Burm the chance to retreat to a cooler area if he is too hot. Get rid of the heat strip if you have a heat lamp on the other side of the tank. You are essentially forcing him to make a choice of feeling too hot or feeling vulnerable being exposed if he leaves the hide. Also, monitor your RH since youre using the heat lamp. Good luck

I had that originally, a 100 watt during the day and a 75 watt at night. But then when i picked him up, he was always cold. So i decided to add a heat pad. Now when i pick him up, hes always pretty warm. I dont know what to do!

Do you not have a thermometer or two in his enclosure? Keep the warm end at 88-90 and the cool end at 80-85. If you keep that gradient, you wont have to worry about him.

I have two thermometers, one at each end. At the hot end its about 90. At the cold end its about 72. I cant keep the cool end any higher without adding the heat pad or something.

Just kidding. Really though, he seems a little weird, but what do I know, I only have I burm. She, however, thermoregulates just fine. She never feels cool to the touch, and I dont use any under tank heating elements. I simply have a 150w emmitter that gets one side up to nearly 100F and the other side is about 75F. Usually shes right in the middle!
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"My favorite thing about the internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps and you dont have to smell them."
Penn Jillette (1955-present), in a compuserve chat

What type/size tank do you have her in? At night do you lower the light buld wattage?

I dont know a lick about how to care for snakes. Ive had this girl for about 16 months. I Bought her and a male as hatchlings from LLL. The male died within a few weeks. She is nearing 7 feet long and getting bulky, but I really havent a clue if this is a good size for her to be. -Again, I know NOTHING about snakes. She doesnt have a light bulb, just sunlight throught the window. Her enclosure is about a 55 gal size terrium with a screen top. Next year, Im going to build her a 72" long x 36" high enclosure, so she will be more able to move and work her muscles on big branches/ logs. Her 150w ceramic emmitter(placed on the screen top) is her only heat source, and it is avail 24/7. Ive not seen any humidity related problems, even with the screen lid. She sheds well, and pretty frequently. Shes never been problematice in anyway for me. Maybe Ive been lucky, despite of my ignorance?
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"My favorite thing about the internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps and you dont have to smell them."
Penn Jillette (1955-present), in a compuserve chat

Its not the you are *lucky*. Its just that you havent started to see the problems that WILL arise from your setup. First, a female burm of _at least_ 16 months should be larger than 7 feet if fed properly. What are you feeding? At that age/size she should be on rabbits. If you are feeding rats, stop and switch to rabbits. An appropriate rabbit size would be in the range of 3-5 pounds. Once you start on rabbits, her size will explode quickly. Believe me. Second, a 55 gallon cage is probably too small even now. Dont wait till next year (unless you mean the beginning of January)...build her a new cage now. A good intermediate size would be 6x4x2. That will last her up until she is nearly full grown. What are the temps in the 55 gallon with the 150w ceramic? I imagine they will be close to acceptable. You will need to upgrade upon building a new enclosure. Avoid things like climbing branches and the like in her next cage. It is unnecessary and possibly dangerous. If the snake were to climb and fall, a 70 pound mass of snake hitting the floor isnt very healthy to the animal. Avoid that type of furniture in the cage. Burms dont do much but sleep so if you take her out for exercise she will be fine. Next, I have to ask why you would buy a breeding pair of burms (commonly known to reach HUGE sizes) and not have a clue or a "lick" of knowledge about them? Its amazing to me that even now, after 16 months you still claim to know nothing about the animals. Why?
I wish you luck and hope that you take the steps to educate yourself about the amazing and ultimately very powerful snake that you have.

Yeah, I meant in the first few months of the year. I just wanna wait until after the holidays are over. Shes been eating just rats. I was wondering about rabbits, but just havent tried them yet. She has been getting fed once a week. Truthfully, I didnt want burms, it was my b-friends idea. I tend to get the sole responsibity of caring for all the animals though. Shes a cool critter, but just not very interesting to me. I much prefer Varanids any day over some snake! Theyre much smarter and more entertaining. The burm rarely makes me laugh the way my monitors do! -Not to say shes any less special in her own snaky kinda way...just different.
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"My favorite thing about the internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps and you dont have to smell them."
Penn Jillette (1955-present), in a compuserve chat

Look,.. no offense, but you probably shouldn't be keeping these burmese if you don't fully respect them and give them the best of care. But seriously, certain things that you said in this post of yours that really irked me were things like,. "I much prefer such and such over 'some snake'." and that they are "just not very interesting to me." and "The burm rarely makes me laugh the way the monitors do." All of this demonstrates a blatant lack of respect for an animal that is a living thing that deserves respect. Snakes aren't intended to amuse us or to make us giggle. They are majestic living things that deserve to be kept by a keeper that respects them as such and is willing to provide the very best care for them that is achievable,.. not by someone that only expects to be entertained by their animals. If this is what you need then get a monkey.

Sorry I came off so angry, but I am. It is situations like this that should not exist. It is people like you that end up abandoning their snakes with an indifferent "Oh well,. I got bored with the dumb thing." If people don't love and respect these animals,.. they have no business keeping them. Period.

>>Yeah, I meant in the first few months of the year. I just wanna wait until after the holidays are over. Shes been eating just rats. I was wondering about rabbits, but just havent tried them yet. She has been getting fed once a week. Truthfully, I didnt want burms, it was my b-friends idea. I tend to get the sole responsibity of caring for all the animals though. Shes a cool critter, but just not very interesting to me. I much prefer Varanids any day over some snake! Theyre much smarter and more entertaining. The burm rarely makes me laugh the way my monitors do! -Not to say shes any less special in her own snaky kinda way...just different.
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>>"My favorite thing about the internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps and you dont have to smell them."
>>Penn Jillette (1955-present), in a compuserve chat
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores." Mia Miselfani

hey i was wondering i have a cage that is 2 1/2 feet high and wide and 7 feet long what wattage ceramic heat emmiter would be good and how high would it raise the temp? and what size lamp should i use and what is the best emmiter i need alot of help on emmiters as my room is cold and they would help

I have a 8x2x2 (soon to be upgraded) for my 13' green female. Her heating setup has a 150w ceramic and a 150w infrared lamp on the warm end. It keeps the warm end at 90 degrees with a 93 bask spot and the cool end at 82 with a nice gradient in between.

im using a 260 gallon retarium that is the screen cages would the emmiter burn threw or would it be fin could you help me with a great heating setup for that cage and to keep the cage warm enough and have good humidity

How large is this snake that you have living in a screen "chameleon " cage. Those cages are not made to house large snakes. They are made to house small arboreal lizads and such. In my opinion any burm over 4 or 5 feet could easily break through your cage. Switch enclosures immediately or you are jsut asking for an accident, Todd

You really need strong solid caging for a burm. They are strong enough to break out of most of those mesh type enclosures, not to mention they dont hold heat or humidity so you are also asking for health problems. Id suggest (like Todd did) that you build or purchase a real snake enclosure. For vents and lighting/heating areas like you mentioned, I use those grill-like things for home heating ducts from Home Depot. You can bend the fins as necessary to allow heat and light to enter, while still maintaining a secure environment. Feel free to ask any questions.

Alright i have alot of knowledge with burms and about them but when it comes to cages im lost so could you help me without all the specs of one and what to have in it and what not to add and do because i have not a clue if you could i would appreciate it

Thanks,

Lee

OK, you need a size depending on the snake...male or female? Females will need 8x4 full grown. Use a quality .5" plywood (or thicker if you can find it). Go to the caging forum, there are plenty of plans available that people are willing to share.

I will give you a what I would recommend for an adult Burm. If you do not want to buy a prefab cage from some one like animal plastics, boaphiles, or vision then I would recommend building one. I build my own enclosures and I use 2.4's adn 1/2 inch plywood. My cages are 6' x 3' x 2'. Many will argue that they should have bigger enclosures but this is what I have found works well for me. I have two doors made of plexiglass centered on the front that measure 18" tall by 30" long. That leaves a 3" framework all around the doors and the edge of the cage(except in between the two doors. There it is a 6" space). The doors can be mounted with any hinges. I secure the doors by using mending plates secured to the wood around the doors so that they can swivel allowing the door to open . Swivel them back over the doors and they can not be opened. A standard light fixture can be mounted either on top of the cage or near the top on one of the endes. These will power iether incandescent lights or heat emiiters. If you are going to breed the snake then I would not recommend using incandescent lighting. It makes it harder to simulate a proper cooling period and a photo period. If you are not breeding then I think one 150 watt basking light and one 100 watt or 150 watt heat emmiter would properly heat your cage and allow for hot end and a cool end if both heat sources are installed on the same end. It is important to put your heat emmitter on a thermostat to ensure that it doesn't get to hot. If you have any further questions then you can e-mail me at todd.becker@us.army.mil. I hope this makes some sense to you. It is late and I am getting tired but I will give more detailed guidance if you need. Todd

You gotta bring that side up to at 80. 72 is just too low for a non-breeding snake and *could* lead to RI problems later on. Get a heat pad or whatever you need. Usually a stronger light on the warm end will trickle down and warm up the other end somewhat.

It sounds like you (the original poster) are not using thermostats on your heating devices; if not, you are heading for BIG trouble, severe burns, improper temp gradients, and potentially death. First, off, attach your heat devices to a quality thermostat and also incorporate a remote probe thermometer that will tell you the high/low temps within a given period of time...this will tell you quickly if there is a problem. I don't know what type of cage you use, but I use Pro PRoduct Radiant Heat Panels almost exclusively for my herps; fantastic products. Ceramic heat elements (like ESU or Pearlco) are good alternatives and can be used as a sole heat source...w/a thermostat. And like the other person mentioned, try to place the heat sources on the same side of the cage so you creat both warm and cooler zones (within reason...I aim for 80-82 deg F on the cool side to the mid to upper 80's on the warm side with a basking area that reaches 92 deg F.). Hope this helps.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm

You dont happen to have any pictures of your tank setups do you? Right now I have mine in a 30 gallon aquarium which isnt the best for humidity or temperature gradient. I am open to anything new, its not like I dont have the money for a new enclosure or any kind of new heating, I just wouldnt know how to go about getting what. If someone were to give me instructions on such a thing, I would definetley do it hesitation.

The cages I would highly recommend are Habitat Systems (finest on the market), Neodesha (a close second) and Vision. All three are tailor made for snakes. In terms of heating/lighting, I would recommend going with a Pro Product Radiant Heat Panel accompanied with a full spectrum fluorescent lamp for background ligting...a great combination for many herps. I don't have pics at the moment, however, I will try to take some of our new burm exhibit for Big Bertha; the 19', 280lb burmese python.

where can i get all this stuff?

look back to my response to burmking under his subthread on strong caging or something like that. I gave general guidance and my email adress is there if you need more help or like JDP stated go to the cages forum and look there, Todd