Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone give me advice on enclosure size for burms? How much excersize do they need? Can you over handle them?

Any info would help.

Dan

Most people dedicate a room to them or a walk in closet. But honestly you can build a custom cage that would house a 20 foot burm. If you build an enclosure thats 8ft. Long 4ft. Wide and 3 feet high will suffice for a burm that gets 15 feet.

If your burm gets bigger than that you will need a cage around 12ft. Long 5-6ft. Wide and 4 feet high. I would recommend building a cage that is going to be big enough for the rest of your burms life, Because moving is alot of stress on a burm and it takes time to adjust to a new suronding. Give your burm some good sturdy branches but dont expect him to use them alot after he gets bigger. (Clean the branches with a 10% bleach solution)

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Now as for your 2nd question:

Burms get most of the exercise they need during daily handeling, just provide your burm with 1 or 2 sturdy clean branches as i stated above and that will give him more exercise if he uses them more wont hurt.

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Now for your 3rd question

I would have to say yes you could over handel your burm, I would recommend that you handel him for an hour and then put him back in his enclosure for him to rest or so for about an hour or a little longer and then you can handel him again but dont exceed 2 handeling a day. They need there rest like us and that is alot of work for them. An occanional 2 hour handeling is nice trust me i throw them in about once a month.

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If you have any more questions feel free to post them, me or anyone else on this forum would be glad to help you..

Im interested in seeing your burm if you have any pics

Lee

I suppose I handle too much. She will hang out on my lap and watch TV for hours.

I am considering getting a second snake, that should devide the handling time. I really like the Jungles.....I want another large snake, but not so heavy bodied as a burm and not cranky, like reticulated pythons can be (kids in the house). Any other suggestions? I saw a pic of a neet looking scrub, what are they like and how large do they get?

Also, I am looking at one of the expensive 48"X96" enclosures, about 8' tall. Lots of the pictures I have seen on these boards show keepers with stacked cages, about 3' tall or so. Am I looking at too much cage? Rob Carmichael's post was helpfull, but how tall do these cages need to be?

I have some pics of my burm. She is not very impressive yet, only 8-9 months old and 5' long. How do you post pics?

Thanks for all the help guys...

Dan

I respect Rob Carmichael immensely and admire what he does and his knowledge about snakes in general, but I disagree with him about the so called "overhandling" issue. I personally think, and this is speaking from experience too, that the more a boid is handled that the more they know us and are used to us and in my opinion this results in less stress. When I was younger I used to take my few burmese EVERYWHERE with me, all the time. To the local rock quary to go fishing,.. to the convenience store to play Asteroids,.. to the market to buy a Nesbits soda (they allowed this in the 70's and nobody much cared). These particular snakes (and others I am not mentioning, including boas) were so tame and easy going it was amazing. It was the same with my ex-girlfriends snakes. She used to handle them all day long and they were really mellow. I have never seen adverse effects from "too much handling" and don't think such a term applies to burmese. Just my humble opinion.

>>I suppose I handle too much. She will hang out on my lap and watch TV for hours.
>>
>> I am considering getting a second snake, that should devide the handling time. I really like the Jungles.....I want another large snake, but not so heavy bodied as a burm and not cranky, like reticulated pythons can be (kids in the house). Any other suggestions? I saw a pic of a neet looking scrub, what are they like and how large do they get?
>>
>>Also, I am looking at one of the expensive 48"X96" enclosures, about 8' tall. Lots of the pictures I have seen on these boards show keepers with stacked cages, about 3' tall or so. Am I looking at too much cage? Rob Carmichael's post was helpfull, but how tall do these cages need to be?
>>
>>I have some pics of my burm. She is not very impressive yet, only 8-9 months old and 5' long. How do you post pics?
>>
>>Thanks for all the help guys...
>>
>>Dan
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Here are my recommendations for enclosures for burms:

up to 6': 4' x 2'
6-9': 4' x 3' (or larger)
10-14': 6' x 3' (or larger)
15-18': 8' x 4' (or larger)
over 18': at least a cage 10' x 4'

These are just GENERAL guidelines and every snake is an individual and must be treated accordingly. Obviously, the more space you can provide the better but remember, the larger the cage gets, the more difficult it may be to heat and provide proper humidity levels. Understand burm's basic natural history and you will be well on your way.

We use neodesha, vision, and habitat systems and I highly recommend all three (YES, neodesha is back in business!).

You can certainly overhandle burms and I recommend consistent and routine handling but avoidance of overhandling. We take our burms out between 1-3 times weekly for regular exercise (and the many education programs we do at schools, etc.). Never handle a large burm shortly after feeding. Hope this helps.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation