Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. I was recently emailed about how long I have had my burm and how I got it. It's an interesting story, part sad, but with a happy ending at least and I thought I would share it here.

I was called by my friend who lives in Kentuky. His wife works for an animal shelter. The shelter was notified about a 17 foot snake that was found in an abandoned apartment. So they sent out two snake handlers to check out the situation.

My friends wife was one of them and she said that when they got there, it was not a 17' snake, but a 7 foot snake. An albino Burmese. She was half dead. She hadn't had water or heat in at least a week. They had no idea when it was last fed. She was also infested with mites.

So they took her back to the shelter and got her feeding and helped get rid of the mites. She had some bad burns on her from a heat rock that was left in her cage, and they treated them as well. They got her hydrated very well. She also had lost a couple scales on her upper lip from trying to get out through the screen top of her cage.

Amazingly she was very tame and loved the people at the shelter. The only problem was they couldn't find anyone to take her and couldn't keep her there. So my friend called me up and asked if I'd be interested in taking her. He knew I had worked with Burms at the carnival and that I had two ball pythons.

So he sent me all her info. Feeding schedule, etc..

My friend agreed to meet me part way to pick her up and so I met up with my friend in Ohio to pick her up. Let me say this, I live near Boston, MA so it was quite a drive to get her. In the same day I had to drive through a snow storm and also a rain storm. When I got her home she seemed happy but was wheezing. I took her to the vet and she had a minor RI, which I got the medicine for. I'm currently finishing her shots for the RI and she has another appt. with the vet scheduled for two weeks from now.

The point of this is,,,,, some people are hideous! I was appalled that someone would leave such a wonderful animal, alone, without food, water, or heat. The shelter was told that she probably at least still had the heat rock working up until a week before she was found. That story disgusted me! I was happy to hear though that the shelter is pursuing whoever did this and will file criminal charges.

I was happy to take her in. She's in quarantine right now. She is adorable and seems very nice. I swore to my friend, and myself, I would never let that, or anything similar, happen to her again! She seems happy with me and I'm proud to have helped her.

Just thought I would share...

Circusfan

It's good she was fortunate enough to fall into your hands. It was a very sad story indeed, but it ended well.

Quig

And that just proves why there is no need to buy burmese pythons (even albinos). There are plenty to rescue. Good luck and I bet this forum helped with your decision to take the snake in. very cool.

I had worked with large Burmese some years ago and had been planning on getting one when my friend called me. Not only did I learn alot about the snakes themselves while working the show I was on, but I learned a great deal from the great people on this forum on caring for them. I love snakes and will always treat my girl with all the love I can.

I worry that things like this are so common. I figured the previous owners might have gotten her as a baby and were planning to move, when they suddenly realized how large she had gotten and learned she would get bigger, so they left her. This is just hypothetical until they catch the people who did this, of course...

But I love her. I just gave her another bath tonight, since the vet told me the antibiotics would dry her out. He suggested giving her a bath regularly to help keep her hydrated. Dr.'s orders.. = )

I built her a cage from a (I believe it was) 75 gallon aquarium. I'll post some pics. on here once I get my camera working. When she grows a bit more I plan on getting a nice sized Vision cage for her.

Circusfan

That reminds me of how I got my mali uromastyx. One difference though is that she wasn't abandoned in the sense that no one was around. The guy that owner her was a big enough jerk that when he got bored with her, he just put her in a 10 gallon tank with a heat rock and old lettuce so she would eventually die. My dad was over at the guy's house one night (they knew each other before that) and he saw a little tank on the floor that was completely filled with uro crap, old lettuce, and a very obese uro with two big white patches on her back. The guy gave her to us right away...he didn't even realize that what he was doing was so wrong. When he gave her to use he also gave us the cracked 29 gallon tank he used to use (which is still way too small for an adult uro), and a heat lamp he used to use, and that gave us insight to the burns on her back. There was actually skin melted to the bulb and rim or it. Apparently it must have fallen on her and given her horrible burns...so horrible it's a miracle she's still alive, especially having no veterinary care or even supportive care after it happened.

So I took her in, got her a slightly bigger tank....I'm working on building even bigger cages for all my animals right now. I love her to death, and it's sad that I know she's old and she's been through a lot, so theoretically she could go any day, but the year we've had so far has been great. Only problem she has ever had since I've had her is a case of pinworms, which caused some liver problems...but both were fairly easily fixed. She's still extremely fat, and she is a lot more work than a uro normally is, because she refuses to poop in the cage (she must remember what it was like to have to live in it all the time in the past). So every couple days I have to throw newspapers and towels around my room and let her out to "go".

It's really sad to think that she's been through so much, especially since it's suspected that she was imported as an adult around 8 years ago. It's nice now knowing that she's having a pretty good life though.

Good luck with the burm.

Thanks for sharing. Sometimes people really aggravate me. I'm glad to hear you took her in and she's doing better. As you said, she could go any day, but at least if she does, she'll go knowing at least someone loved her.

Circusfan