Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone I am new to this, but I do have some questions about my Burm. A little back ground on this one. She is a green burm and will be a year old in July about 4ft. How do I get this thing to eat frozen food. I got a burm because I heard they where great eaters and ate anything. She is very shy first off and will only eat live and personally I hate that and worry that one day it will be a live rabbit. I have tried frozen food she bites it but won't wrap it? I have tried it all senting it, braining it, warming it, chicken broth, the dance, putting it in a bag, again she will bite it but wont wrap it. She went on a 1 month hunger strike and a buddy of mine got her eating again. Again she eats live and at that time she just bit the rat or mouse when it went by her. Now one day I walked out of the room and left it in there and she killed it and was eating it I walked in and she backed off it. Then when I walk by the cage after that she snaps at it. Is this normal or has anyone seen this, and does anyone have ideas to make the change?
Thank you for your help

Often times burms will simply start eating, rather than constrict, when eating thawed out prey items.

I suggest putting a thawed food item in there, and leaving for several hours, let her do her thing. Try it at night and during the day. Completly leave her along while the item is in the cage. Leave it overnight and during the span of the day.. she just needs some "alone" time to eat it. If your around, she feels that you're a predator and might try to eat HER. When a snake is eating, they are at their most vunerable, hence why they wont eat if something is in the room bothering them.

So try that.. if she's biting at the thawed rodent, it means she's at least interested.

I hope this helps.. if not.. there's other things you can try
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

I have had a few snakes that would not eat frozen to save my life, but they would always take down a prekilled rodent without hesitation...Good luck changing your snake over...remember that it takes time and patience, and will switch with enough effort persistance...Later Randy T.
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You never experience life until you have kids..then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

First thing is, it seems odd to me that your female is only 4 feet long and she's a year old--my male is almost 7 feet long and isn't a year yet. And I know females get much bigger. Maybe they gave you the wrong age when you got her?

Pre-killed is easy--put the rat in a pillowcase, bring it out to the driveway and give it a good swing and a solid whack on the cement. It should take only one hit, peek in and it'll be twitching. (I hit it with all my might because I feel awful...). By the time you get it in to the snake, it will be still. If it's not, I'd give it another good whack.

Once your girl gets used to dead, it may be easier to transition her to frozen. Also, I've found that when you thaw out a frozen rat, a lot of times there's hidden cold spots in there that chill out the rat even though it feels warm on the outside, it quickly cools off and maybe she doesn't like that?

and she was in good health. She has grown like a weed for the past several months so maybe some of them go through late growth spurts?

I would also try switching to pre-killed before frozen. My green phase loves 'em!

your snake is doig great. rite now mine is 8 1/2 st 3 years . u will get a lot of growing the first few years but its gana start to slow down soon good luck.

A few suggestions:
If you are purchasing frozen, make sure they are freshly frozen. Vacuum-sealed is best. Going from live to thawed w/ freezer burned prey is nearly impossible. Also make sure you have thawed the prey completely and warmed it up (especially around the head)to upper 90's. Leave the prey in overnight- it won't be any good to use again but you've given her maximum opportunity to eat. Let her go a couple of weeks each time before you introduce prey again. the worst thing you can do is try daily or weekly to get her to switch. And as someone else said- if you can pre-kill first and get her used to that, the switch to freshly frozen will be smoother. Best wishes,
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders