Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 7 foot male burm that I use often for educational shows. Yesterday, I was holding him for the bulk of my discussion, and I felt something weird and unfamiliar on my shirt. I looked down, and he was going to town wiggling his spurs! He continued for more than 30 minutes. Is this common for these guys? I've kept 5 burms for a total of 10 years and I've never seen anything like this. The way those spurs were moving, I swear he probably could have used them to write a novel. I've seen my snakes do something similar when mating, SO- did my snake suddenly make a mistake and find me attractive? What's going on?

It's quite possible you did something to stimulate breeding behavior. I have a friend who breeds retics and one of the ways he prepares his males for breeding, and this is going to sound weird; as in weird off the scale, is that he places his male in a big, empty room and basically wrestles with the hormonal male (male-male combat simulation). Personally, I can put a pair of retics together and they breed but I guess we all have our own ways to entertain ourselves. Anyway, I've had it happen once in the 30 years I've been working with burms; feels weird doesn't it?

Rob Carmichael

>>I have a 7 foot male burm that I use often for educational shows. Yesterday, I was holding him for the bulk of my discussion, and I felt something weird and unfamiliar on my shirt. I looked down, and he was going to town wiggling his spurs! He continued for more than 30 minutes. Is this common for these guys? I've kept 5 burms for a total of 10 years and I've never seen anything like this. The way those spurs were moving, I swear he probably could have used them to write a novel. I've seen my snakes do something similar when mating, SO- did my snake suddenly make a mistake and find me attractive? What's going on?
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I am super tired and can't sleep. I am setting up a table tomorrow on snake genetics and I really should be asleep right now but that post just made it completely worth being awake and laughing. I would love to see how he wrestles the retic to simulate combat. Also, I have seen alot of footage of E. murinus using their spurs during mating and I agree they csure can move them. It actually looked like it might even be a bit painfull on your arm. I have also had many poeple tell me about times when snakes did that and they had hemipenes come out as well. Must be the axe effect. And if you are reading this Rob I need to give you a call this week if its alright.