Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to the reptile show in Ventura yesterday and wound up buying a baby Burmese Python. I named it George after my grandfather who flew the "Hump" (China-Burma-India) in WWII. I definately want to take care of this snake to the best of my ability but I haven't looked at any material on their prime conditions yet (he's in a 20L with a 75watt infrared bulb at one end and plenty of hide at the other and was misted last night with moss, I figure that should hold the humidity and vary the temperature to his roaming needs). Ok, my questions:
Could you guys list from expierence the most common mistakes people do with these snakes (besides buying them when they are unable to care for them)? Do they have any special necessities? Any other advice?

My new baby is about 2' and a male of normal coloration.

one of the biggest mistakes is not enough humidity or water. The humidity really needs to be at least right around 70%. Depending on where you live, that can be quite tricky. And keeping him in an aqarium isnt going to help either. Keep his temp up at about 90 on the high side and low 80s on the cool side. if you see that he is staying just on the warm side, or just on the cool side, you may look at changin things around.

Feed him about every 4-7 days. If you notice him gettin hungry, you may want to increase or decrease what you are giving him. But I would get him into a different type of enclosure as soon as you can. Good luck.

Dustin
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

would like to add that overfeeding is a common mistake. There's allot of material you can read that will help you with the proper amount of food for the size of your snake. Hopefully you didn't impulse by more than your ready for.

Shoot me an e-mail and I can help you with fabricating cheap methods of husbandry such as a humidifier, enclosure, lighting etc. Do you have any carpentry or mechanical skills? Not like on motors but problem solving. Are you good at math? Usually people good at math can master the do it yourself arena.

Todd uses newspaper for substrate. I use aspen bedding and hate it. It makes a mess. Thinking of switching to newspaper.

Cage has to be cleaned at least once a month with 5% bleach water solution. If you put lots of plants etc in the cage it is also a pain. He needs a place to soak. I have a separate water dish and soak dish. They'll terd in that dish.

Ventilation. Gotta keep the heat and humidity up but the little dude still has to breathe.

Handling. He needs to be used to you. I like to let mine crawl around the front lawn for a stretch.

Sealing the cage, what to use, make sure it doesn't leak or your carpet will let you know.

Food, if you plan to raise rats to save money, I would recommend against it. Buy them frozen at maybe $5 for a dozen small ones to $3 for large rabbits. Buying them live is stupid expensive and raising your own, unless you've got the time, space and don't mind the smell, is another pain. Get them to eat F/T (frozen thawed) and life is allot easier.

Lotsa stuff man but WWOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! They are cool.
DZ

np