Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

On day number one of this new year I took a few minutes to consider what might happen this year, how I would like things to go, and what kind of challenges I'll likely face. Some of my thoughts inevitably turned to my pets - which I'm looking forward to another great year with.

I decided that January 1st would make for a good measuring day - so I set out to do just that. My labyrinth burm is up to 11.23', and just starting to get dark (a sure sign that a shed is coming soon).

In considering keeping my burm it suddenly occured to me that I invest quite a bit into him. I remembered some of the threads on this forum, many of which try to educate people about how to properly keep a Burmese python and all the efforts that should go into it.

I would like to offer another perspective on keeping a Burmese python - the financial responsibility. So for all those who keep burms, I'm sure this will come of no surprise to you. To all those who are considering getting a Burmese python as a new pet, well, have a look at this table I put together first. It is a rough summary of how much I've spent on my burm (some of it is one time cost, some annual (ie, food)). This should help give you an idea of how much you will have to spend to keep your burm well.

Here goes - for that 'cheap' baby burm, here's an example what you can be looking forward to:

Now, I'm not rich - and let's just say that's an understatement. So, understand that I have invested what for me is a very significant financial investment, in addition to the time and attention I invest in him. And I'm glad for every bit of it.

Hopefully this will help someone who is considering a burm for a new pet to understand what they are getting into.

Thanks for reading,
- Mark
.

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My personal website: www.antegy.com
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My Kingsnake.com Picture Galleries

- 1.0.0 Labyrinth Burmese Python Gallery
- 0.1.0 Suriname Boa Gallery
- 0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake Gallery
- 1.0.0 Pueblan Milksnake Gallery
- 0.1.0 Trinket Ratsnake Gallery
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My photography on photo.net
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Me on myspace.com

Assuming that you feed your burm every two weeks and he eats everytime that you offer him food, and that you only feed him one rabbit at a time. I think you need to find a new supplier of rabbits. When you figure it out, it is about $14 per rabbit. That is crazy!!!!! I was quite upset when I had to pay $7 per rabbit for anything up to 15lbs.

I do agree with you on one thing though, burms are VERY expensive. It is hard to believe that a 2' hatchling will grow to be a 8' monster in 1 years and go from eating very small rats to eating rabbits in a year.

Thanks for putting that chart together, hopefully it will keep some people from buying a burm they cannot take care of in the long run.

Jason

You're right - that would be $14/rabbit! That's not actually the case though. In putting together that table I inadvertantly made the mistake of accounting for my frozen feeder costs for the year - which is not accurate for this purpose because my frozen feeder costs include feeders for all of my snakes (five snakes total). I should have gone through my records and picked out the cost for just his share of the feeders (which is probably about half of the total).

Thanks for picking up on that - I didn't want to mislead anyone on that, just on oversight on my behalf.

- Mark

>>Assuming that you feed your burm every two weeks and he eats everytime that you offer him food, and that you only feed him one rabbit at a time. I think you need to find a new supplier of rabbits. When you figure it out, it is about $14 per rabbit. That is crazy!!!!! I was quite upset when I had to pay $7 per rabbit for anything up to 15lbs.
>>
>>I do agree with you on one thing though, burms are VERY expensive. It is hard to believe that a 2' hatchling will grow to be a 8' monster in 1 years and go from eating very small rats to eating rabbits in a year.
>>
>>Thanks for putting that chart together, hopefully it will keep some people from buying a burm they cannot take care of in the long run.
>>
>>Jason

Wow that is a hell of a number as I am not rich either! My number is probably not quit as high but I probably do not have as happy a burm as you do. I built my own cage for about $150 minus the 40 hours or so it took me to do. I also manually mist right now until I find the right humidying system(probably something I'll piece together myself cause I'm just like that).

I do not even want to sit down and calculate my number. I'm glad these animals look so magnificant cause otherwise I'd make mine get out and find a job. LOL

Great post though. This site should automatically link you to this post when you try and access the burm forum to deter the impulse buyers.
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1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Burmese Python

Now if only more people read these things. Anyone who gets a Burm without so much as pausing to think of the massive committment involved should be slapped with a dead and stinking trout.

Nice list. Scary, but nice. Just wondering, with the 45 dollars extra for electricity, is that per year or per month?
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0.2 chickens
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
0.1 Halflinger horse
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Drosera,

Your language is very colorful - I really like it! (it put a smile on my otherwise very sleepy face this morning).

About the electricity - that $45 is monthly extra, not yearly. I usually pay about $30 per month for electricity. Now that I have the 'snake room' setup, it costs me about $45 dollars a month more (~$75 total per month now) to run the exhaust fan, cage heaters, humidifier, and room heater. Of course, in the summer it won't be as much electricity as I won't have to run the humidifier or the room heater - but the cage heaters (heat pads / heat panel) will always be on.

- Mark
.

>>Now if only more people read these things. Anyone who gets a
Burm without so much as pausing to think of the massive committment involved should be slapped with a dead and stinking trout.
>>
>>Nice list. Scary, but nice. Just wondering, with the 45 dollars extra for electricity, is that per year or per month?
>>-----
>>0.2 chickens
>>0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
>>0.1 Halflinger horse
>>0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
>>1.1 parents
>>Still searching for 1.0 WC human

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----------------------------------------------
My personal website: www.antegy.com
----------------------------------------------
My Kingsnake.com Picture Galleries

- 1.0.0 Labyrinth Burmese Python Gallery
- 0.1.0 Suriname Boa Gallery
- 0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake Gallery
- 1.0.0 Pueblan Milksnake Gallery
- 0.1.0 Trinket Ratsnake Gallery
----------------------------------------------
My photography on photo.net
----------------------------------------------
Me on myspace.com

I have seen pretty much the same thing in my house...

Our electric was normally $330-350 per month (lots of stuff running in the house), in the summer it goes up $40-50 (AC's), but now with all the reptiles running (Burm, Black Throat Monitor, JCP, Pueblan Milk, 3xLeos, 2x Bearded Dragon) the rate is now regularly $420-460... INSANE, but a cost that is a must.

Also, the food costs are huge... Between my Burm and Black Throat, I have easily spent at least $800 in the past 12 months... Just today at the White Plains Rep Expo I spent $148 on feeders, and that was just to keep my monitor happy for the next 2-3 months...

Oh well, it is part of our hobby.

>>Your language is very colorful - I really like it! (it put a smile on my otherwise very sleepy face this morning).

Why, thank you! I aim to get my points emphatically across without having my posts deleted.

$45 extra per month! Yikes! When I get my own place I'll have to look into solar panels. In California to the best of my knowledge, what you generate gets deducted from your bill, and if you generate more than you can use (you're still hooked up to utilities) gets you a check from your local power service as well as a few government rebates.
Of course I've heard of getting panels installed costing as much as 10,000 though it seems like even that would pay for itself a time or two in a Burms lifetime.
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0.2 chickens
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
0.1 Halflinger horse
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

I normally don't post here (or even view this particular forum) but I do click on the *Popular Threads* from the KS homepage from time to time.

Drosera,

What you stated about installing solar panels to offset the cost of electricity used caught my attention. I understand in California solar panels might be one avenue to pursue but the cost would deter most people. I live in Minnesota and one thing we have more of than anything else (dispite various opinions) is wind. In fact, I have heard of more than one person placing wind generators on their property and receiving some of the same benefits you mentioned with solar panels.

I understand that not everyone wants a giant wind mill churning away in their back yard and for private use this is not entirely needed. I have seen wind generators that are quite compact and can actually be installed on a persons roof without being particularly noticable. I haven't looked into it myself (but will when I do purchase a house) but I would think these units are quite afforable and still would provide their owners with many of the government rebates the solar panels do.

This was just a thought, perhaps a suggestion...don't be deterred by the cost of some of the more "high tech" options out there, there are just as many "low tech" energy savers that work equally well (if not better) and are much more cost effective. They may not look as cool, but I'd rather be a dork and have money than be cool and broke.
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Sometimes, things are exactly as they appear...sometimes.

Wind power.... That sounds pretty interesting. There's more light breezes than actual wind in my part of California (except during storms or the occasional fall blustery day) but low set up cost sounds nice. I'd be concerned about bird safety, but a really good generator design may be able to null that risk. Certainly something I'll consider and research.
BTW, I truly doubt that a small windmill on a roof can be seen as dorky. Just something unique and practical to differentiate your own house from the cookie cutter varieties out there.
'Course I'd be overly tempted to also install a small statue of Don Quixote tilting at it. Wouldn't that irk the neighborhood committee?
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0.2 chickens
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
0.1 Halflinger horse
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

LOL...I suppose you have a point about not really being "dorky" looking, but I'm fairly sure the roof mounted units look more like a big toaster (or some other strange boxed shaped appliance) than an actual ground mounted windmill.

And from what I've read...it doesn't take much wind to generate the energy a home would require.

As far as the birds go...I can't help you there.

LOL...Don Quixote....I like that.
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Sometimes, things are exactly as they appear...sometimes.

As an animal health tech I always take the vet point of view. From your set up it sounds like you have a very happy, healthy snake and you probably will never need to see the vet until your burm gets senile.
On the other hand, through factors that we can (environment) and can't control (disease, cancer, ect) an unexpected vet visit may be necessary. This of course is true for any pet. Some sort of savings or empty credit card should be set aside for any reptile collection. This should reflect what your would be willing to trade your pets life for. Literally, as lack of funds is the #1 reason for euthanasia.
So ask yourself, is your pet worth $500, $1000? If treatment were likely to be successfull but required a trip to a specialist in another state would that be possible. All things to think about PRIOR to the need arrising.

ps, excuse my ignorance (burms are illegal in my province) but your burm has a very tiny head in the pic, is that normal for a young animal?

That is a good thing to keep in mind - having money set aside for unexpected health care costs. I do have some money set aside, though I admit its not specifically for my burm, but generally for any emergencies.

About the size of my burm's head - while I do question whether his head is small in relation to the size of his body, I don't believe that it is tiny. From the photo in my post which you were referring to, you have to consider perspective distortion of the picture on account of the angle it was taken at. That is, while his tail end was close to the camera (and so looks larger), his head was a good distance away (and so looks smaller, relatively). After all, he is over 11 feet long!

Thanks for bringing up the matter of having extra $ for emergencies,
- Mark
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>>As an animal health tech I always take the vet point of view. From your set up it sounds like you have a very happy, healthy snake and you probably will never need to see the vet until your burm gets senile.
>>On the other hand, through factors that we can (environment) and can't control (disease, cancer, ect) an unexpected vet visit may be necessary. This of course is true for any pet. Some sort of savings or empty credit card should be set aside for any reptile collection. This should reflect what your would be willing to trade your pets life for. Literally, as lack of funds is the #1 reason for euthanasia.
>>So ask yourself, is your pet worth $500, $1000? If treatment were likely to be successfull but required a trip to a specialist in another state would that be possible. All things to think about PRIOR to the need arrising.
>>
>>ps, excuse my ignorance (burms are illegal in my province) but your burm has a very tiny head in the pic, is that normal for a young animal?

I could keep a burm way cheaper than that. You have a lot of nice but unnecessary stuff there. I mean if you can have it then great. But to just keep a burm sufficiently and healthy is no where near that expensive. Unless you have a major health problem come up. But the same could happen with a kingsnake or cornsnake for that matter. Really the biggest cost you have to worry about with a burm over anything else is the food.

There is a big difference between keeping an animal alive and allowing it to flourish.
With that said, perhaps you could post your cost chart so we could see how it can be done more efficiently

here is my cost chart.

Cage 8x4 $120
light socket and Che $40.00
Flexwatt for belly heat $20.00 (that includes dimmer)
Thermometer with humidity reading $15.00 at walmart
food $5.oo a rabbit 2 a month assuming it is an adult. $120.00 a year.
cleaning supplies I will go ahead and say $50.00 but I don't know what I spend on cleaning supplies I really doubt that much.
I will also give him credit for the vet bill although I don't know why it is that high. at$250.

That brings the grand total to $615 and I doubt if I would spend that much.

Sounds pretty good, a burms requirements are met for sure with that stuff. You did forget stuff like electricity ect. but your list is much cheeper. It's like comparing a viper and a neon. They both get you from point A to point B. I like Mark's misting system though, as a burm cage is kinda large to spend misting by hand everyday. Again, probably not necessary, but it would raise the standard of living that tidbit more.
Another point of view, but do any burm owners here have very large zoo like enclosures for their snakes? You know, like with a large pool, big tree trunks ect. I'm a big fan of going all out for my animals (yes, they ain't as big as burms though) and am constantly trying to improve their environment. Just a thought

The last house I owned I kept a yellow anaconda (9 ft at the time) in a large "built in" enclosure. It was 6x10 feet or so and went from floor to ceiling.

In it I had poured a concrete pond over a false floor and installed radiant heating, as well as a filtration system and a bit of a waterfall (helped to keep the humidity up). Used sprinkler heads attached to a manifold and plumbed into the house water supply for a mist/rain system attached to the ceiling and drainage. Other decorations were molded out of concrete in order to make them easy to maintain (rock ledges for basking, tree stumps for visual appeal). Few live plants just to break things up a bit (tropical lilly pads in the pool and some bamboo that just wouldn't die growing on the edges of the enclosure).

Took a few hundred dollars for the supplies - minus the lexan for the front windows...that cost almost as much as the rest of the enclosure. However it also took many, many, many hours to design, build, fix, test, fix again and finally introduce the fast growing hatchling too (it was a bit under 3 feet when I started and a bit over 5 feet when I finished). I really liked the end result, end it made maintenance pretty easy too.

Most the time I will set up at least one or two naturalistic display cases for my snakes along with somewhat more sterile conditions for my breeders. The ones in the display cases are a bit more active, but both groups always seem to be at the same level of health (eat the same, breed the same, shed the same). They tend to respond more to other factors besides what the cage looks like.