Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been babysitting a friends 10 foot burm for a few months now and when I talked to her original owner today he said he had no intentions of taking her back. He wanted me to take care of her but he still wanted to call her his snake. I really wish he would have been honest with me from the get go because the cage he had her in is very small for her size and i felt bad about her being in it but I was under the impression that i was just keeping her temporarily so it would have been pretty pointless to invest the money and time into getting her a bigger one. I am considering purchasing some plans to buy a cage from the cages by design website, has anyone had experience dealing with them? I know I want to build it at least 12 foot long but how high and wide should I make it. This will be the first cage i've ever built so any advice would be great. Also she has been eating a few live large rats a week but i was thinking of switching her to frozen/thawed rabbits would she accept this after only eating live prey for 9 years?
Thanks for any help you can give,
Katy

I have never dealt with that web site so I can't answer the first part of your question, but as far as the rabbits are concerned it is one of them things that you honastly will not know until you try. There are a few things you can do to help the transition. First heat up the rabbit with hot water so that the prey item gives off a heat signature. For the first try I would just try that and toss the rabbit into the cage somewhat near the snake. If that is not successfull you can try to entice the snake into striking by simulating the rabbits movement by wiggling the rabbit. I would suggest using sometype of tongs or large forceps because a ten foot burm can be a handfull if he got a hold of you. Anyway, those are my two suggestions. If they don't work I am sure others here have much more advanced methods that will work. Good luck, Todd

I cannot answer the first question either, but I may have a litte insight to the feeding of rabbits question. I have read on another forum, and I believe on here as well that you can get a p/k rat and squeeze the belly a little till a drop of piss comes out. Put that drop of piss on the rabbit near its 'organs'. Then take the p/k rat again and open it's mouth, put the open mouth over the nose of the rabbit and then try and feed the rabbit. Putting the rat over the nose allows for some of the saliva from the rat to get into the nose of the p/k rabbit. Before you feed the burm the rabbit, remove the rat from the nose, in case you needed me to tell you that. I would suggest just trying to feed that rabbit straight to the burm first before you try scenting. If the burm has a strong feeding response, like most burms do. You should not have a problem getting him/her to switch to rabbit. I did to have a problem switching a friend of mines female. Very simple, throw it in and watch her eat it. Very easy.

Good luck to ya,
Jason

Try offering a rabbit and see what happens....be prepared for a rather STRONG feeding response. Some burms, however, just prefer rats and if that is the case, the scenting method works well aso does feeding a dead rat and trail it with a small rabbit once the rat is almost eaten (you just kind of stick the head of the rabbit in the mouth of the burm while it is taking its last gulp of rat...USE TONGS!). In terms of cages, I keep my large adult burms in 12' wide x 4' deep x 3' high cages heated with a large pro product radiant heat panel. Good luck with your new burm.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest

You may want to get the person to sign a letter giving you ownership. I have heard of people hanging their minds down the road but a letter will show it was given to you..