Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
a few weeks ago a friend gave me a female, about 4ft. CB burmese because he really didn't have time to put into handling her as much as she needed to be. she has had a great feeding response for me as well. I'm wondering how much interaction really is needed to tame her out? i know that depends entirely on the snake, but should i really handle her every day? or every few days and for how long? She is a very impressive snake and hisses whenever you open the cage. i don't want to say she entirely bluffs everything, but i have held her for short periods of time in my hands. she seems to flick her toung not so much at me as much as the surrounding area, but she still hisses when im holding her. does anyone have any advice on how to tame a burmese?

normally i'll pull her out of her cage with my hook, and set her on the ground and just let her get a feel for what's going on. once she starts to move around a little i'll pick her tail up with the hook and place it in one hand, and then just kinda work her to where i can handle her. after a short period of time she'll lose patience and start to sqirm to get away, and thats when i try to get her into her cage before she goes all out on trying to get away, to the point where she'll try to get off the hook and anywhere else she can by any means possible. i've gotten better at reading when she's starting to lose patience so i can put her away then.
this is the largest snake i own of 17(i have a jungle carpet thats longer but nowhere near as robust). all response will be greatly appreciated. thanks to all.
Travis

What you're doing now is good so far. Definetly ALWAYS use a hook to get her out of her cage... if she's calm and not hissing, or is. I've noticed burms can be very territorial.. and have huge feeding responses that totaly dissapear once they are out of their "territory (their cage).

Since you just got her, I would reccomend letting her be for a week or so, and slowly start to handle her. Maybe once a week, then twice a week, and then tree times a week for short periods of time (a couple min.)

Eventually work up to a good chunk of time of holding her (15min-30min) three times a week until she's chill with you. Once she's doing good about being around you, and calming down with the hissing, you could handle a little more if wanted.

A trick someone on here had me do with my boy that hated me Is try putting a shirt in their cage (A shirt with your smell on it, like one you wore one-day and don't mind getting snakie-stuff all over). This will help them get used to your smell.

Remember, Don't handle for a few days after feeding!

I hope all this helps
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

Thats funny you ask that, I have the same problem with my Green Burm. She will be a year in July. Everytime I open the cage she hisses and puffs up and smacks her tail. She is about 4 ft now and I have only got bit once by her. That is because I was being an idiot and dancing with her on my arm (I am imbarresed to say that but) and all of a sudden I hear the hiss and bam. Anyways I take her out with a glove and then she is pretty hyper at first and then I get her out and she just sits on my lap. I take her out every day I can for 30 minutes, and I feed her every 3 days to then I dont get to hold her for two of those but I do reach my hand in there with the glove and pet her. I was told that everytime you open the door they think they are getting food, well I dont want her to think that so I just pet her sometimes when I cant take her out because she just ate a day ago. My question is how long does it take to calm them down. Because I dont want a 8 ft snake that bites. But see if that helps things are going pretty good.

OK,my burmese ia over 6 foot,and extremely docile,he just hides most of the time.But i would NOT feed a burmese or any snake for that matter every 3 days,especially if it is aggressive like it is and hisses at you all the time.Ant with a burmese i WOULD NOT feed it in its cage,because,like you said"when you open the cage,they think they are getting food"that is true if you feed them in enclosure.i never feed any of my snakes in the cages,always on my bed or florr or wherever,and by feeding them out of the cages,they will learn to not accept food in their cages,and mine has an incredible feeding response like you wouldnt believe.mine only bit me once whe he was younger and and when he was about 5 1/2 foot and i was stupid ,i was feeding him and like a dummy that wasnt thinking at the time,i was holding his fod close to him when he was on the ground,and i wasnt thinking and i was holding the rat i freshly killed,and he wasnt moving and before i knew it he had already had my thumb down his throat constricting my arm and the dead rat too.But i used some hot water and poured it on me and him and he released and he ate and i put him up,havent had problems since.

OK.4 foot is not a big burmese(considering they can get up to 25 foot and over 200 pounds,males being fairly smaller than females.)I would try to hold her as much as possible,if not every day,then as much as you can.Make sure you have a hidebox for it to hide,my burmese spends alot of time hiding,and mine is bigger too.But as small as it is i wouldnt personally use a snake hook for one of that size.It may also probably be stressed too,so try to keep all the stress off of it as you can.