Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I managed to get myself a normal female burm over the christmas period to go with my albino male. I was originally 100% certain that i was going to breed these guys, although my conscience has started playing on me, what would i do with the babies? I dont mean neglect/house them or anything, i mean about prospective buyers, would i bother about checking suitability? at the end of the day, most if not all of us try to breed any animals to help make them pay their way a little, would the money be more important, I know we can only do so much when selling them on, people will lie about experience now and again just to have the macho image of a big snake, although that does seem to be fading, THANKFULLY!!

I am just venting some thoughts i have been having recently and I am curious what thoses of you that have successfully bred them done with the babies?

I have considered the idea of selling them on to Wholesalers, and that would then keep my conscience clear but surely they dont care either?

And just totally off the running point, when a female has laid the eggs and if decided to artificially incubate the eggs, how easy/hard is it to retrieve the eggs from her and at what point would be the best to try?

Cheers for reading/responding

Phil

It's refreshing to see someone struggle with this very issue. I run a very successful wildlife center near Chicago (thanks to God) and each year, we rescue over 50 burms. Some of these burms are HIGH END animals. There is a glut of captive born burms and there are FAR TOO MANY burms in the U.S. than capable homes who can properly care for them. Every time we pump out a new clutch, I just say "well, there's 30 more future abandoned burms"! Yes, that's a bit of an exageration but based on our data, that's not too far from the truth.

Now, if you are breeding burms to provide feeder snakes for the elapid keepers of the U.S. then I say go for it. That does sound very morbid but that is really the only reason I can see for breeding this species (we have a few cobras, one in particular, who only eats snakes). Don't get me wrong, burms are one of my favorite snakes (I keep several) but we just have way too many burms who need good homes; why produce more?

For those who take their breeding seriously, how many of you can honestly say that all of your buyers are qualified individuals? And not just qualified, how many will actually keep that snake for its entire life? Not many I bet. There are many other better choices for people to pick than a burm. But, for the right person who has the resources, experience, physical ability and space, they can be very rewarding animals...those people, unfortunately, are few and far between.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

>>Hello,
>>
>>I managed to get myself a normal female burm over the christmas period to go with my albino male. I was originally 100% certain that i was going to breed these guys, although my conscience has started playing on me, what would i do with the babies? I dont mean neglect/house them or anything, i mean about prospective buyers, would i bother about checking suitability? at the end of the day, most if not all of us try to breed any animals to help make them pay their way a little, would the money be more important, I know we can only do so much when selling them on, people will lie about experience now and again just to have the macho image of a big snake, although that does seem to be fading, THANKFULLY!!
>>
>>I am just venting some thoughts i have been having recently and I am curious what thoses of you that have successfully bred them done with the babies?
>>
>>I have considered the idea of selling them on to Wholesalers, and that would then keep my conscience clear but surely they dont care either?
>>
>>And just totally off the running point, when a female has laid the eggs and if decided to artificially incubate the eggs, how easy/hard is it to retrieve the eggs from her and at what point would be the best to try?
>>
>>Cheers for reading/responding
>>
>>Phil
>>
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I agree with Rob Carmichael on this one. The Burmese python has been somewhat of a plague on this hobby over the last few years. I blame not this animal but the people distributing this species across the US for the many of the laws we encounter what seems to be every day now. With the reticulated python influence stacking up in collections I see only more problems to come...so I am sorry to say there is certainly no need for more Burmese pythons. It is nice to see this is a concern of yours but I think you already knew the correct answer before you posted. Godd luck with the animals you have and I hope you find a productive use for them.

I don't mean to sound too negative...

I remember reading that story about the Burm that was killed in
upstate FL. It had actually managed to catch a turkey by a lake
and some hunter killed it while it was eating the turkey. Poor
snake...

You are absolutely right. I was alluding to the question of "if" they made it to adulthood. But of course, as nature goes, not all will survive whether its due to human error or genetics or some other natural cause.

>>I don't mean to sound too negative...
>>
>>I remember reading that story about the Burm that was killed in
>>upstate FL. It had actually managed to catch a turkey by a lake
>>and some hunter killed it while it was eating the turkey. Poor
>>snake...
>>
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Why would selling to wholesalers keep your conscience clear???

The fact is, even if you performed a miracle by finding good homes for all the offspring, that's just that many fewer homes that are available for somebody else's offspring.

There is no reason or excuse for breeding burms when the number of homes is such a miniscule fraction of the number of animals out there.