Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read in amazement in this forum about how and what some people feed their Burms.
I have one particular male albino...about 8ft, that eats 2 med rats every 7 days. And appears fat.After 4-5 days, my male begins looking for food again! He's an absolute pig!
I read where some feed large rabbits at 6 and 7ft.Collosal, and jumbo rats at 4 ft.
Yet I got a chubby snake! I'm curious, and looking for feed back.
How often, and how much, and what size prey do you all feed your burms?
And how big is the snake you are feeding. Also...if you feed other species, I'd like to hear ( read? ) your input on that as well.
You all have my curiousity up. And just so everyone knows, all my large snakes get plenty of exercise.
I'm trying to get a handle on feeding habits here.

Bob

If you go a few posts below and read about my burm knowing it was underweight, you will find that I am thinking much like you. Except I've been feddign him 2 1 lb rats a week and he is realy gaining weight and muscle tone. You can not see the ribs very well anymore and he has muscle going along his back bone. When I got him he had none. I am starting to breed rabbits now and in about a month I will have some for him. I have many reasons on breeding rabbits. I'll eat them, my albino brum will, monitor, and i plan on getting 1 retic and 1 female albino burm soon. It is just hard to kill the rabbits. It used to not bother me to kill feeder animals, but it gets me now. i could barely kill a big rat the other day for my burm. (That is why I like to get them frozen, not to mention how much easier it is than breeding them).
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Justin

I highly doubt that your snkae is fat. I feed my snakes heavily. I feed them large prey items also. As babues I fed them one rat pup or weaned rat every 5 days. By the time they were four foot they were eating large rats every 5 days. I kept them at this interval of every 5 days until they were on rabbits. I switched tehm to rabbits at about seven feet. Now they are about 10-11 feet and I am feeding them 5.5 pound rabbits every other friday. They are still growing fast and still have a solid and firm appearance. Hope this is what you were looking for. Todd

I start my babies out on rabbits, but I breed my own, so I usually have a pretty steady supply of feeders comin out. I feed rabbits because of the smell of rats, and the distance that I have to go to get food if I have to buy it. I have more rabbits right now than I know what to do with, as my supplier overbred his. I feed my small snakes about every 5-7 days, a rabbit that is pretty close to the size they are around. My big females I feed 1 or 2 4-5lb bunnies.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Ohhh trust me Todd, my snake is fat! The scales are spread apart, his shine is gone. And yet he's always hunting. He sits in his cage like a blob. His name is Jabba the Hutt I think!
With the warm weather, I have taken him outside in the yard a lot to move around, and try to get him out at least to slither around the herp room while I work in there. Although after I have to replace everything he knocks over. He's worse than a kid.
He's fat enough that I dont want to switch to large rats yet.
I do agree about the rat smell. I also have one farmed ball python that eats gerbils. He'll eat frozen ones, but not frozen mice or rats. I have been thinking of breeding gerbils.
But the smell! Rabbits I can breed outside.
Justin, I agree with you, I can eat the ones the snake does'nt eat. Tastes just like chicken!
I have been hunting since I was a kid, and breeding dogs.
I enjoy the hunt, I enjoy the dogs life...but to this day, it still bothers me to kill my game, and to put down an old and dying dog. I guess if it did'nt I'd be pretty heartless.
When pre-killing prey for my animals, I try to remember what I live by...in this world...everything eats something else.
And to do so it needs to be killed. Vegetarian I am not.
But I digress. I guess my albino burm will be converted to jumbo rats later this year. But right now I still say he's fat.
Anyone have pics of their rabbit fed burms?

Burmaboy,

I would caution you about feeding him gerbils if you plan to do it live. I have heard a few times that the gerbils tend to get very aggressive towards the snakes. It may have just been a couple isolated incidents, and if youre feeding them frozen its not big deal. And heres a pic of my big, rabbit fed female.

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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Nice Snake!!!
I only feed frozen, or pre killed gerbils. Damn! My ball loves 'em!
Gerbils try to kill one another...I'm pretty certain that they would treat a snake with even more contempt.
I will most likely keep my Burm on rats for a bit longer. He's only a year old ( got him from NERD ). I can use large and collosal size.
Once I get a freezer full of rabbit. I might share with him.

Here is a pic a posted a while ago of my biggest female. She is a little under 2 years old, about 10-11 feet long and weighs a little over 50 pounds. Todd