Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was walking in a local conservation area the other day and found an abandon burmese python. It was about 4ft long and looked like it had not eaten or drank in months. I know it is a burmese because I took it to a local pet store and they told me what it was. I asked them if they wanted it but they said they didn't have enought room for it. I have a 10 gallen aquarium and was wondering if it would be sufficiant to house the snake for a while until I can save enough money to get it a larger cage. It must be hungery becaue it bit my 9 month old nephew two days ago so I was wondering what to feed it. It didn't really hurt my nephew because it got mostly his pants around his knees. Its a good that i was there because if it could have bit him again it could have beem more serious! Any help would be appriciated. Thanks

No offense, but first thing first, I have to yell at you. DO NOT LET ANY SNAKE GET SO CLOSE TO BABIES OR TODDLERS!!! If they must be in the same room, make sure they're on opposite sides with at least one person supervising each!!! And no snake should be allowed to run loose around the house. They need very secure enclosures.
For little snakes, it's for their safety. For larger snakes, it's for our safety. Snakes aren't bad creatures, on the contrary, they're very nice. But they are highly instinctive. Loose little snakes could hide under sofa cushions and get sat on, and loose big snakes (8 ft and up) could potentially pose a danger to people (or if they get out of the house, scare the jeepers out of the neighbors).
I'm glad you picked the poor little fellow out of the wild. You probably saved his little life. But is this your first snake? Just as a warning, Burmese Pythons make horrible beginners snakes. While they often have very gentle temperments and are beautiful animals, they can grow more than 20 ft long and gulp down multiple rabbits per month! And contrary to legend, a small enclosure won't stop their growth, just make them uncomfortable. And you'd need a dedicated helper to assist you every time you so much as change his water after he gets to 10 ft or so. For 25-40 years...
Your best bet if you want a good pet snake, may be to contact animal rescues, reptile rescues and wildlife centers to try to find him a good new home while he's still little. Then you could research cornsnakes, kingsnakes, or little kinds of pythons like spotted or ball pythons. All of which are far better to start with.
But meanwhile, care tips for until you can find him that good home. The best temporary option may be to get a sturdy rubbermaid container and modify it, drilling holes for ventilation etc... Just don't let him freeroam.
Pythons in general like warmth and humidity, so get him a good heating element to warm one side of the rubbermaid, and a large waterdish for the cooler side. Put a hide box on each end so he'll feel more secure. Use newspaper for flooring.
For food, get him a frozen rat from you local pet store (no bigger around than the widest part of his body) warm it thoroughly to the temperature of a live rat by using warm water and drop it in near him with tongs. There are many good references on the web. One site I like and use for basic questions is, www.anapsid.org which covers the basics far better than very sparse advice I just gave. Or just scroll down these forums.
So, keep him away from your nephew, good luck, and hope you find him a good home.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Drosera, OK I gotta ask...............What happened to the other chicken??

Quig

There was a flaw (now fixed) in the chicken coop and a predator broke in and carried her off. Probably a raccoon.
Poor little homicidal bird. At least Condor's safe. I've heard of wild carnivores going berserk when in enclosures with domestic livestock, but thankfully this one didn't.
Going to miss her stinkeye and stalking my ankles. Fond memories and I am now short an arch nemesis...
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Truely sorry to hear of her demise. Had to ask, curiosity got the best of me.

Quig

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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

I agree with the other post. I also want to add that a 10 gallon tank is unacceptable for a 4 ft burm. I wouldnt even house a hatchling in it. If you cant afford a large cage, then I would keep looking for a new home for it elsewhere. Good luck.

>>I was walking in a local conservation area the other day and found an abandon burmese python. It was about 4ft long and looked like it had not eaten or drank in months. I know it is a burmese because I took it to a local pet store and they told me what it was. I asked them if they wanted it but they said they didn't have enought room for it. I have a 10 gallen aquarium and was wondering if it would be sufficiant to house the snake for a while until I can save enough money to get it a larger cage. It must be hungery becaue it bit my 9 month old nephew two days ago so I was wondering what to feed it. It didn't really hurt my nephew because it got mostly his pants around his knees. Its a good that i was there because if it could have bit him again it could have beem more serious! Any help would be appriciated. Thanks

a 10 Gallon tank is NOT sufficient for a 4ft burm. he would be eating probably medium rats. I would strongly advise that if you dont have enough experience with large constrictors and the space available, then you should probably try to find someone who can. Not just for the snakes sake but for yours as well. Your best bet will probably to contact your nearest Herp society. good luck.

Stan

Kudos to you for saving this snake's life but do the right thing and find someone who has experience in keeping large constrictors. You definitely don't have the resources to keep a burm; if you have to save money to get something better than a 10 gallon you are definitely in way over your head with a burm (consider a corn snake as a pet). There is no excuse to allow a burm to bite a young person; NONE. I am sure you meant well in allowing family members to get close to it, but that really shows a complete lack of understanding of the responsibilities in keeping burms. If you need help in placing this snake let me know.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>I was walking in a local conservation area the other day and found an abandon burmese python. It was about 4ft long and looked like it had not eaten or drank in months. I know it is a burmese because I took it to a local pet store and they told me what it was. I asked them if they wanted it but they said they didn't have enought room for it. I have a 10 gallen aquarium and was wondering if it would be sufficiant to house the snake for a while until I can save enough money to get it a larger cage. It must be hungery becaue it bit my 9 month old nephew two days ago so I was wondering what to feed it. It didn't really hurt my nephew because it got mostly his pants around his knees. Its a good that i was there because if it could have bit him again it could have beem more serious! Any help would be appriciated. Thanks
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Just try and get in contact with a Reptile Rescue in your area, they are all around. Don't go for petshops, they wont take any better care of it than what you can provide right now, awesome job getting him off the streets, now to find a responsible person to keep him off the streets. Good luck with everything. By the way, where do you live?

My herpetological society is doing a display on resposibility in Chicago during reptile fest. This post had alomst everything summed up in one small paragraph. It alomst sounds like this story was created by a professional in the community as it is a perfect example of everything wrong with this hobby. If this is not a "fake" post, please find the animal a good home and I too give you a thumbs up for the rescue.

It is fine with me if you want to use my post. Just so you know it is not a "fake post" I am not sure if you get a lot of those on this forum but this one is real.
I do want to thank everyone for their responses, I understand everything you have all said was constructive criticizm. As for the snake almost biting my nephew it was a miscomunication between my sister and myself. I had the snake out and decided to put some water in its water dish so I put it on my bed. My sister came in with my nephew and was in a hurry to do something and set him on my bed. I tried telling her the snake was on my bed but she didn't understand me so she set him down and before I could do anything she was yelling and he was crying. She told me she will never set foot in my room again.