Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do you guys find that your male Burm's temperaments differ from your female Burm's temperaments at all? I've had my female for 4 years and I've never had a single behavior problem; she's the sweetest snake imaginable. But I recently got a male to breed her with, and he's as mean as hell.
I notice temper differences in my boas and corns, but I've only had 1 Burm so far... Now that I have a male, it seems like he's even more of a bastard when I compare him to my girl. Everything else is perfect - he's got a perfect enclosure and he's eating fine, and according to his previous owner he was always ornery.
Anyway, my point: Do you ever notice a distinct (or even subtle) difference between male and female tempers?

I have a male burm and he was mean at first but he mite need to be handle more. also everytime my burm struck at me throught the
tank i pulled him out and held him and he is a lot better now.

I had a male burm that was as tame as could be. And now I have one ferocious female burm, and one that is just kinda tempermental. I dont think that sex is as much of a factor in temperment as are genetics or treatment. I would give your male time, and im sure with regular handling, he will calm down. Good luck.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

For the most part, males and females (burms) are fairly similar in their personalities...laid back. A male burm "coming of age" can be a bit hormonal but these are usually in short lived spurts and it is the owners responsibility to understand their snakes (and not label them as "bastards"...I know you were just making a point). Our wildlife center keeps both male and female burms and their dispositions are identical. The amount of interaction and consistency in how they are maintained will dicate, to a great extent, as to how reliable they will be as captives. Rob

In my opinion about 99% of a burms (or any animal for that matter) temperment is a direct reflection of the care it was given as a juvenile. Most of a animals personality will be developed as a young one and will carry forward on to adulthood. It is much more common for a mean snake to become tame then it is for a tame snake to become mean. If you just aquired an adult make and it is a cb then I would almost guarentee that its attitude problem is a direct reflection of how its previous owner cared for him. You need to carefully and gently work with him and he should come around in a few months. Todd

About how big would it be before they can actually constrict and kill an adult healthy male human. I am 6' 4" and work out plenty. This is in no way of testing my strength or any crap like that. I am just curious. Lets say if they wrap around you but you have free arms. Would a 12 footer be potentially dangerous if you had free arms. I know if it constricts your neck and you have no free arms you are in trouble. I have always wondered this.
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Justin

To be completely honast a healthy and thick 10'er if it got a hold of you good would have its way with you. If it managed to get a good wrap around your chest or your neck and you were alone then more than likely you would have a major situation on your hands. Their is no way that one individual could man handle a burm that has a good grip and/or wrap on you if you are unprepared to take the proper actions. There are several methods that are supposed to work well to get a lare constrictor off of you. Pouring some kind of alcohol (liquor or isopropyl) into the snakes mouth is supposed to make them let go. Pouring hot water on them is also supposed to work as well as the tail bend. I personally have never had to deal with this experience because I take pride in the fact that I have not had a real bite in about 16 years. You can learn to read your animals and learn to work with their moods instead of forcing them to do things they miht not want to . Todd

Hmm. Yea I knew about the alcohol and stuff. When mine get big around 10 feet or o I am going to keep mouth wash or alcohol somewhere very near the cage as sort of an escape route. thanx.
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Justin

If you are going to use the water, I would recommend having at least a gallon, and if you can keep it flowing, thats probably even better. My fiesty female got a pretty good hold on my arm one day, and I wanted to see if the hot water had any effect on her. I only had probably about a liter or so, and it didnt even phase her. I havent tried the alcohol yet, and hope I never really have to.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

In my pinion, water, hot or cold, never worked in the past. This was with lizards though. In particular my sav. monitor. I used just a little bit of mouth wash and put it around it's mouth and let go.
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Justin