Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my burmese python never seems to bask or maybe i just never see her doing it i just wanted to kow if this is something to worry about? when i touch her she is not cold. what do you think is wrong or is she ok?

also i was wondering if she will calm down more with age she is handleable and mostly hisses but she is no where near what i would call "tame" she has struck only twice

Snakes will usually only bask to raise their temperature. that is why you see many snakes in the wild basking in the morning sun. If their enclosures are kept at proper temps with proper gradients then your snake might not feel the desire to sit directly under a hot light or right over a heat pad.
As far as the attitude, well yes they usually do calm down as long as you handle it regularly. However, some burms just have a difficult personality. I have one burm that is almost 10' and weighs 45 pounds that is extremely hissy. She will put on an incredible show and scare your average person to death. I do not fear her but I do respect her and since she isn't a people snake then I limit her handling to the minimum necassity. just learn your snakes quirks and respect their desires. some just do not like to be handled as much as others. Others however are like lap dogs(big lap dogs). Good luck and I hope I helped you a little, Todd

Thanks Todd. was your 10' burm always hissy or did you get her when she was older

I got her from Bob Clark when she was a baby in October of 02 and she wasn't to bad as a baby and for the first few months. However I was deployed to Iraq for a year and none of my snakes got the interaction that they needed during that time so she has grown apart from people and I feel that putting her through the rigors of long and rigorous handling sessions would be counterproductive and would only stress the snake out evven more so I limit my handling for her to only what is necassary. Todd