Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im getting my first burm, an albino one infact. I found some for a good deal, the guy says they feed forcefully, and arent tame, and are fine once there outta there cage, but never been bit. are all baby burms like that? or should i keep looking. cause my baby boa, wasnt like that at all when i got him

I'm in no way an expert. When I got my burm she was a little hissy and huffy with me. Not very happy to get picked up or touched.

True, once I got her out of her cage, she calmed a bit, now she is super cool. She has really calmed out and everything is fine.

I hear other people say, just give them a few days or weeks to get use to their new home. They got to get use to you. To eventually realized and know that you are not a threat or food too. So give her a few days to a week, try to feed her, give her a day or so to digest. Then, slowly, little by little handle her more and more. Just be careful, I used an oven mit cuz i was scared to get bit, figure out what is right for you.

Good luck,

Richard

When I got my burm about 2 months ago he was snappy, to the point of snapping at my shadow. Now he is calm as can be outside the cage. When I first got him out, I used a glove and a long sleeve shirt. I did not want him to get used to that, so now I just reach in and grab him. He is really hissy, to the point of inflating his body about twice its size, but it is just a show and he had never bit me. Even when he snapped at my shadow, I would put my hand in the cage and he would just look at it and hiss, never snap. Your burm will grow out of it, but you have to hold it, even if it snaps at you. The snake will learn that if it snaps it will get put back in the cage, you have to avoid doing this. Just hold him/her even if he/she snaps, and it will eventually grow out of it.

Just me thoughts, take them as you will.

Jason

i dont own a baby burm but i do own a ball python and when it snaps its not wise to put it back cuz it will tyink if it doesnt want to be taken out it just has to snap therefore when it snaps just wear glowes and pin its head down gently they hate this but it dont hurt them eventually after aboput a week or 2 it will be calm believe me im not sure if this is the same with butrms but its great with ball pythons

Pinning a snakes head is not necassary and is dangerous to the snake. If you are not gentle or use improper techniques or improper pinning tools you can cause spinal damage to your snake. If the snakes head is pinned and the snake starts thrash around it can cause cervical dislocation and death. Also the snake in question will always associate you with this strssfull situation and never calm down and be a pleasant snake to own. Just handle the snake normally and after a few weeks you will notice vast improvements in the snakes temperment. Personally the only snakes I think should ever be pinned are hots and that is only for certain reasons, ie, medication, milking, or inspection for some reason or another. Todd

Sometimes babies are a bit nippy, but they usually calm down quite nicely after a few weeks of handling. It's been a long time since I had a baby snake of any kind, but I have had several very snappy babies, including various rat snakes, retics and Burmese. The trick is to get in there and handle it as much as possible. If it is really nasty, and/or you really don't like getting bitten, get a nice pair of leather work gloves that extend past your wrist and use them to handle the snake. That will help keep you calm while handling an aggressive snake. After a few weeks, the snake should calm down quite nicely. But interaction remains the key -- keep handling the snake regularly, and you shouldn't have any problems.

Another tip to use when removing the snake from its cage with bare hands: Use an open palm and sort of scoop the snake into your hand. Should the snake decide to bite, it will most likely get the flat, fleshy part of your palm, which doesn't make for a bad bite at all. Their little teeth can't dig into to your hand at that angle, and many times they don't even break the skin. If you try to pick up the snake with the back of your hand exposed (such as just reaching in to grab it), it can make for a pretty uncomfortable bite. I don't care how small a snake is -- I do not like getting bitten on the back of my hand. Just a few tricks I've learned over the last 12 or so years.

RP