Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all

I just got an 11' female from a guy that had to sell her because of lack of room. She is extremely aggressive. The guy I bought her from said shes been in pretty tight quarters lately, so I took her outside thinking maybe if she got some room she would be fine, but no!! She headed straight for my dogs, in their pen behaving, and struck at them. Then as I was pulling her back she immediately doubled back on herself and was headed for me, while emmitting unreal amounts of the most vile smelling fluid I think ive ever smelled.

Its not a huge deal to me that shes not lap tame, but I didnt know if anyone out there had any suggestions on ways to calm her down. Im not sure of her age, but im guessings shes at least a couple of years old, and I think shes had at least one clutch of eggs, but im not sure. Thanks all

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1.0 Albino Green Burm
1.1 Java Retic

This behavior is surely a sign of either bad keeping or complete neglect. Almost all burms will condone handling if they are handled as a baby and a juvenile. Some become completely docile where others will just tolerate the handling sessions. Now I am not saying it is going to be impossible I am saying it is going to be very hard to "tame" down your burm. It is an adult and is already set in its behavior patterns and personality. Show her a lot of attention and show her that you are no threat. If (when) you get bit by her do not put her back in her cage. If you do this she will associate biting with getting what she wants and getting put back and left alone. It will take a lot of work but if you want a docile snake you have a long road ahead of you. Good luck. Todd

Thanks Todd,

thats pretty much what I had figured. I dont think she got handled much, if at all other than to clean her cage before now, so its going to be fun. My main problem is just that my wife isnt really comfortable having her with her being so aggressive. Hopefully getting her in a proper setup will help her out. Thanks again for the advice
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
1.1 Java Retic

does she let you take her out of the cage without mutch fuss? how did you get her outside?

She currently is in an enclosure that opens from the top, So i just come in behind her head, and pin her head down, grab her behind the head, and then put her into a rubbermaid tub to move her outside. She hasnt bitten me yet, but the guy I got her from only had her for a few days, and he was extremely cautious with her as well, so I didnt want to take any chances. Im working on cleaning out my shed so that I can take her out there for handling time, where she can stink it up all she wants without ruining my house. But any time you get even near her, she gets mean, and shes either coming at you or away from you as fast as she can. She almost escaped into a parking lot when I picked her up, so it got a little funny for a few minutes. Im sure the people in the drive thru at mickey d's were havin a good laugh. Sorry for the lenth, if you have any more taming advice I would appreciate it.

What do you guys do for bites? removal of the snake, cleaning the wound, all that good stuff. Just figured it might spark some conversation.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
1.1 Java Retic

you got any friends that will help you hold her? if she is 11 feet, this might be hard to do by yourself. but i say take her in your garage, get a buddy, you grab her by her back of the head and have your buddy (or 2) hold her back half. then just sit out in the garage with her. bring a tv out there so you dont get board. and just sit out there for a hour or 2, see if you can get her to start trusting you. Put her in your lap while holding he head still. put her around your sholders. (with your buddys there of course, you dont want her trying to wrap around you)

i would LOVE to see pics. please e-mail me some if you can. rmman125@sbcglobal.net

thanks

A main problem I see with your aproach is the fact that you are grabbing her by her head. I completely understand that you do not want to get nailed by her , with her being 11' but you will never gain her trust if you continue to utilize this approach. First thing I would say is as soon as you can get her into another enclosure that opens in the front or on the sides. Almost all of a snakes natural predators will attack from above and when you reach in and grab her from above then it is an easy deduction for her to think she might be getting attacked. Now I am not saying that this will fix her problems but it should help a little. Secondly I would really stop holding her by the head. Put on a large coat and a pair of gloves and try to handle her this way. It will eliminate most of the bites(Always be wary of your face and do not let her get into a position where she can nail you in the face). Handle her this way and simply let her roam around you and explore you. when she gets to far away pull her back to you and start over. I think this will be your best approach but like I stated holding her by the head is going to show her that you are hurting her or at a minimum causing her stress and diress. Keep us posted, Todd

i thought he said he had a frount opening cage. maby i was jsut imaging a frount opening cage.

that snakes is not going to let him get her out of that cage, with out grabing her by the head, i think maby after she is out, losen your grip, and slowley let her head lose. but thats just my own opinian. if you keep workin with her she will come around.

of course, tood is ALOT more experanced than i am. so i would go with what he says.

I agree Todd about holding her by the head. I do hate to do it, and it was only for the duration of the time when I was moving her to and from her cage, or to try to get enough control of her to keep from gettin away. Im not really so worried about being bitten, (not that I want to or anything) but my wife is the only person ive had to help me out with her, and I was more worried about her getting hit than me. The gloves and coat Idea is great, and i just got her into an enclosure that opens from the front. The guy I bought them from had them on reptibid and then just decided he wanted to get rid of them that day. So I had to spend that day driving to pick them up instead of getting their enclosures ready.

I dont really have any buddies to help me out. My wife can help a little, but when tje snake releases her stinky stuff my wife is basically no good after that. The snake still small enough that I can generally wrestle her into her container, or off me, on my own. I will have some pics soon, and will get them posted, hopefully in the next couple of days. I really appreciate all you guys suggestions. Ive really never seen a burm this aggressive before. I had a 9 footer that I could have rats draped around my neck and he would still not be as nasty as this girl is.

Thanks again guys

Dustin
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
1.1 Java Retic