Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I currently have a reptile breeding and education business.. We have been contemplaging weather to get a burmese python for our education business or not.. Our general rule is if a reptile is not safe enough for our two children who are 9 years and 11 years old to handle then it doesn't belong in our home. Well we have gone to see a handful of baby burmese pythons and all have struck with no hesitation and have left some nice bite marks so needless to say we are a bit 'gunshy' at this time, but still intrigued by this beautiful snake. I have heard that as they get older, most of them tend to settle down. We absolutely love the colors of the albino burmese and if we did purchase one it would probably be an albino. Do you have any suggestions on helping us to work through these fears or should we look at another snake that would be a better addition to our collection? Currently we have several lizards as well as red tail boas, ball pythons, cornsnakes, and a baby green tree python that is absolutely a sweetheart.

Thank you,

Kim and Michael Nodine
The Reptile Den
Rocklin, Ca.

Well, I agree that they are awesome snakes to work with, especially the big girls that are kitten tame. And as you probably know, most of the problems that people have with them are due to sfe's (stupid feeding errors). Now I wouldn't suggest a big burmese alone with your children by any stretch, but with supervision and respect you should do fine. So if you have the time, space, and resources for one, I'd say go for it and more power to you

(s.f.e.'s) Exactly. Burmese pythons are really just like any other snake, if you handle them irresponsibly , you're going to be bitten. They are however beautiful animals and very sweet if you raise them properly. If you get one, make sure that if you have handled ANY food items or actually if you have handled any other animal before handling your snake , WASH YOUR HANDS THOROGHLY before you attempt to handle a burm. Also, I believe that the child issue should not become a problem because I dont know of any idiot that would leave a burmese python that was big enough to do a person damage around children anyway. Accidents can always happen no matter how tame a burm is. Other than that, I would say that , if you have the passion,the space, the time , and the finances it takes to raise a burm and you are willing to accept the responsibility that comes with them, then go for it. As I said they are marvelous and beautiful creatures, and well worth the effort you'll put into them. But my advice is, if you are even a tiny bit uncertain as to whether or not you can handle a burm ... dont get one. Hope that helps.

As a curator of an internationally recognized reptile museum (that features large constrictors like burms, venomous herps and everything in between), and, as a father of two young children as well, I understand fully well your concerns. Personally, if you have any doubts or concerns, don't get one; it is just not worth taking any chances and there are many other large species of pythons that don't get so big that you have to be worried around your children (blood pythons, borneo short tailed pythons, some of the various species of carpet pythons, olive pythons, etc.). If by some freak accident a large burm gets a hold of a young child, and, if you don't have sufficient "man" power there to uncoil the snake (and it may take 4-5 large adults), it won't take long for a child to succumb to their powerful coils. This isn't meant to scare you as I truly love burms and love working with them (and using them to educate people to love reptiles) but it is important to understand the potential risks involved when working with them. If you decide you want to get a burm, I would recommend starting off with a hatchling that you can work with every day. Get it used to being held by different people. Put it in a place that gets a lot of traffic (w/in reason) but still provide opportunities for the snake to hide. This way, you can grow with the snake and understand every little subtle behavior it has (every snake is different). Hope this helps.

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

>>My husband and I currently have a reptile breeding and education business.. We have been contemplaging weather to get a burmese python for our education business or not.. Our general rule is if a reptile is not safe enough for our two children who are 9 years and 11 years old to handle then it doesn't belong in our home. Well we have gone to see a handful of baby burmese pythons and all have struck with no hesitation and have left some nice bite marks so needless to say we are a bit 'gunshy' at this time, but still intrigued by this beautiful snake. I have heard that as they get older, most of them tend to settle down. We absolutely love the colors of the albino burmese and if we did purchase one it would probably be an albino. Do you have any suggestions on helping us to work through these fears or should we look at another snake that would be a better addition to our collection? Currently we have several lizards as well as red tail boas, ball pythons, cornsnakes, and a baby green tree python that is absolutely a sweetheart.
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Kim and Michael Nodine
>>The Reptile Den
>>Rocklin, Ca.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Every snake usually strikes when it is young to see if it can hurt you my albino burm struck me once when getting and he has struck my bro twice because my bro took him to his work and put it in a cage when he had to do something so he had to give the puppies medicine then he went back and it bit him and tried to wrap around but my bro was fine and didnt really care when our burm was 6 months old ONLY TIMES WE HAVE BEEN BITTEN WAS WHEN I WAS HELPING MY BROTHER HELP CLEAN OUT THE RAT AND MOUSE CAGES AT HIS WORK OR HELPING WITH THE DOGS Right now im 13 years old and my bro is 16 and we are fine with our burm and other big snakes
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1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.0 Albino Burmese Python

ONLY TIMES WE HAVE BEEN BITTEN WAS WHEN I WAS HELPING MY BROTHER HELP CLEAN OUT THE RAT AND MOUSE CAGES AT HIS WORK OR HELPING WITH THE DOG

This is a habit I'd grow out of real quick. You are just asking for major problems. Handling prey items then handling your burm.
As far as wanting to own a burm...
That is your choice to make. My young son was taught at a very young age to respect the damage a burm can do.
He was once bitten by a hatchling, and decided right then and there he needs to be careful. No, I would never let him handle a large snake, he just happened to be handling one of my hatchlings.
You also have to take into account, how much room you'll need for a burm, how much your food bills will be.
Example...it costs me nearly as much, per month, to feed one burm,as it does to feed about 30 other creatures. Almost all large snakes.
I'll admit, most of the cost is the Fed Ex, charge for the rabbits.
But they still have to eat. Cages for a 15' snake are not cheap either.
While I can say, without reservation, my best attitude snakes are my burms, they are also my most costly to keep.
I have never even been struck at. The worst that has ever happened was I pooped on. Not pleasant.
My burms are allowed to roam the reptile room freely when I work in there...actually, I confine them to a bathroom that is attached. They use the shower fixtures as climbing fixtures.
I trust my burms more than my other snakes. More than my RTB, my BRBs, even my balls ( there's a joke in there somewhere)look at me funny when I go to grab them.
But with my burms...they actually come to life when I enter the room.
BUT... I fully respect the fact they can kill me.
I admire them, I truly enjoy keeping them...but I keep in mind that they are wild animals.
Keep that in mind...decide what you can afford in room, and feed, and the risk involved with owning a burm...and make an educated decision from there.
Let us know what you decide.

Ohh i dont get gitten anymore my bro quit his job to improve his grades and i havent been bitten in like 2 months our snake is calm and i make sure not to handle prey
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1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.0 Albino Burmese Python