Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've recently read about captive-released burms being set loose in Florida and establishing thriving native populations. Supposedly the climate in parts of the FL everglades is perfect for Burms to live, feed and breed.

Is there anyone from FL who can verify or refute this?

Also, I heard FL officials are counting on alligators to eat some of the burms before they take over completely. I thought that would present somewhat of a mismatch. Would gators really chow down on huge burms?
Link

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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
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I'm not from Florida so can't verify this, but as to your last question............alligators would probably have a rough way to go with an adult burm, but they could certainly eat many, many smaller ones which might just deplete the population a touch.

Scroll down to the bottom of this post http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=712106,712242 and check that picture. It'll be illuminating for you.

Thanks for that tip. I guess if I would have scrolled down a little bit before posting I could have answered my own question.

Between the native hot snakes and gators, and the non-native captive releases, the glades are turning into a pretty fun place to visit.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

I also am not from Florida but have done some research on this over the last year or so and I must comment here. It isn't just the irresponsible owner to blame here. Undoubtedly numerous irresponsibleowners have let their burms (as well as many other species) loose into the glades, the Miami International Airport is also largely to blame. The airport is probably the main prt of entry of most of the worlds importers. This in conjustion with the fact that the airport sits right on the outskirts of the glades has resulted in a problem over the last 30 years. It was almost common practice throughout the 70's and into the 80's for the cargo inspectors to release unclaimed animals into the glades. When an order came in the inspectors would hold the animals but they were unable to keep them for any period of time. I mean they are an airport not a holding facility. So after a period of time they would then take the animals to the adge of the airport and release them. The animals had a straight shot right into the glades. THis practice was holted in the mid to late 80's and I am pretty sure it doesn't happen anymore, but the effect is still there. Today there is relatively large populations of burms and retics as well as monkeys and exotic birds, which are not native to the area. So yes there is populations of these animals and yes the gators do help but truth be told the gators are the large snakes only predators so they do pretty well. Hope this brings a little more insight in to the problem. Todd

Todd,
The info about Miami Airport releasing stuff in the glades is really interesting. It would be a great subject to explore for some a research paper I'm doing myself about reptiles in the pet trade. You don't have any literary references I could look into for these stories, do you? Thanks.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

I work right across the street from MIA.

As a kid I used to hunt for monitors and tegus around here.
There were plenty of exotic lizards roaming then, they're not
very easy to catch though...

An aspect of this story that always seems to be missed is that
I think most of the Burms in the Everglades originally come from
small private zoos that have been wiped out by hurricanes,
allowing all their burms to escape and breed. Realistically, MIA
is not close to the Everglades at all, and not many burm owners
are going to drive all the way to the Everglades to loose thier
captives. I don't think that very many people would go to all
that trouble if they don't care enough about their burms
anyways. I think people who free their pythons do it closer to
the city.

I live in South Florida, and go down to the Glades regularly. I have been going almost every 3 weeks for the past few years, and have seen a Burm once. It was just at the beggining of Loop Road. It was a female about 8' long, and was definately a former pet because she never even hissed or attempted to bite me. I took her down to the Everglades Alligator Farm and gave her to a friend that works there who's name is Mario. Any of you all that have been down there probably have seen him before. Now he uses her for the 'Snake Show' and let's people hold her after the show.
Anyway,these Burms are thriving in the Everglades, and are going to impact the environment tremendously. All because of irresponsible Burm owners... This truly frustrates me. It is not only the Burm owners fault though, it is also the pet shops fault. Some kids will go into a pet shop and see a little baby Burm, and beg their parents for it. The parents will go and buy it for them, but the store employess don't even bother telling them the size that these snakes will reach. All these stores just want to sell sell sell, and don't take into consideration what they are ultimately doing to the environment. Then, in a year this 'cute little snake' will be an 8 foot jumbo rat eating Burm, and the owners don't know what to do with it. The pet shop isn't going to take it back, so they just carelessly release it in the Everglades because they think it will be happy in it's 'natural' environment. This is just my 2 cents.

PS-Sorry if some of these sentences don't make sense, it is very late and my mind is shut off.

Thanks

However, most would likely be taken as juveniles or subadults.

Yea definitely. On the flipside there have also been cases of adult pythons eating young gators.

>>However, most would likely be taken as juveniles or subadults.

http://www.wildphotoguy.com/photoshoot.htm

I'm convinced!!

great pics, thanks
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

YEAH THE GLADES ARENT REALLY CLOSE TO THE AIRPORT AT ALL. I THINK ITS A TRADE OF ADULT BURM OR ADULT ALLIGATOR. OBVIOUSLY IT ALL DEPENDS ON A FATAL BITE FROM THE GATOR OR THE FATAL WRAP FROM THE SNAKE. THE IMPACT OF IT IS THEY WILL BALANCE OUT BECAUSE THE GATORS WILL EAT YOUNG BURMS, AND THE BURMS WILL EAT SOME YOUNG GATORS. THEIR ARE ALOT OF GATORS, THEY DONT HAVE A PROBLEM REPRODUCING SO IT WONT LIKELY EFFECT THEIR NUMBERS. THATS MY THOUGHTS. THANKS