Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello

I currnetly have three burms. One male albino green 7ft., one female green 8ft., and one female albino about 12ft. I would like to breed these snakes. If anybody has any experience with breeding burms, I would like appreciate some pointers.

Thanks,
Jody

>>Hello
>>
>>I currnetly have three burms. One male albino green 7ft., one female green 8ft., and one female albino about 12ft. I would like to breed these snakes. If anybody has any experience with breeding burms, I would like appreciate some pointers.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jody

Can I ask, why you wish to breed them? I am not experienced in doing such, but I am just curious. I am not attacking you either so please dont take it that way. It just seems that burmese pythons are a dime a dozen. EVERYBODY constantly wants to breed these snakes, but yet there are so few reliable owners out there to house and take care of them?

I am just trying to get peoples reasonings so I can further understand this.

Thanks and Best Wishes,

Chris

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your response. I did not take it as an attack in any way. I enjoy my reptiles very much. I currently have thirteen snakes, three lizards, and a turtle. I breed mice, rats, and rabbits for them to eat. Producing my own food supply has been a lot of fun for me. Many people on here breed their snakes. I've read many posts by excited people announcing that their eggs are hatching. I'd like to join their ranks. I find it very exciting. I build my own cages and produce my own food. Breeding seems like the next step. I also have several people urging me to breed my snakes because they want one for themselves. I don't find that burms are a dime a dozen. The cheapest one I bought was a five foot albino green male that cost me $300. I'd love to be able to give some to my friends free of charge.

You also mentioned that their are many unreliable burm owners out there. This may or may not be true. It depends on how you look at things. Many people keep large snakes. You may not notice because people generally don't walk down the street with their snakes like they do their dogs. My wife thought that I was nuts when I came home with my first snake. Then she went to school and mentioned it to some of her friends. She was suprised to find that one girl had a burm also, another had a red tailed boa, and a third had some corn snakes. Many people keep snakes. The problem is that newspapers blow it out of proportion every time something happens involving a snake. It's like shark attacks. Millions of people swim in the oceans. A dozen people get bit over the course of a year and there's all out panic among the public. For every unreliable burm owner out there, I bet their are a thousand or more that take great care of their pets.

I hope that I was able to fully answer your questions. I hope you didn't take my response to be too defensive. It wasn't meant to be that way. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions.

Jody

i can see where both of you Jody and Chris are coming from on one hand burms are becoming problems in states like FL where they are being dumped when they reach large sizes but then again breeding snakes can be a lot of fun iv done it with smaller snakes such as corns when i was younger but i dont think i would breed my burm. when you said the cheapest you've seen burms go for was 300$ i was just wondering what kind. by me the reg. burms sell for about $100 and i got my albino for 200 then again some go up as high as $500

John.
-----
1 Burmese python
1 savu python
1 blood python
2 Uromastyx mali, Nigerian
2 savannah monitors
2 pacman frogs
1 scalata tortoises

Having rescued literally 100's of unwanted burms over the years while serving as Curator of my wildlife center/museum, it is my opinion that MOST owners of large constrictors are not equipped to care for them properly. I have hard and fast evidence to support my claim and like the previous post, I ask the same questions because just realize, while its an awesome experience to see little baby pythons pip from eggs, most of those babies you produce will become unwanted pets at some stage of their life. And before people get bent out of shape, yes, there are some wonderful people who give their burms wonderful homes but they are few and far between. Instead, if you want to keep a pet burm, great, but if you want to breed, try something like a ball python, short tailed pythons, etc....these and many other small to medium sized pythons make fabulous pets and those are the species we should be recommending to those wishing a large but not too large of a pet snake.

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

>>Hello Chris,
>>
>>Thank you for your response. I did not take it as an attack in any way. I enjoy my reptiles very much. I currently have thirteen snakes, three lizards, and a turtle. I breed mice, rats, and rabbits for them to eat. Producing my own food supply has been a lot of fun for me. Many people on here breed their snakes. I've read many posts by excited people announcing that their eggs are hatching. I'd like to join their ranks. I find it very exciting. I build my own cages and produce my own food. Breeding seems like the next step. I also have several people urging me to breed my snakes because they want one for themselves. I don't find that burms are a dime a dozen. The cheapest one I bought was a five foot albino green male that cost me $300. I'd love to be able to give some to my friends free of charge.
>>
>>You also mentioned that their are many unreliable burm owners out there. This may or may not be true. It depends on how you look at things. Many people keep large snakes. You may not notice because people generally don't walk down the street with their snakes like they do their dogs. My wife thought that I was nuts when I came home with my first snake. Then she went to school and mentioned it to some of her friends. She was suprised to find that one girl had a burm also, another had a red tailed boa, and a third had some corn snakes. Many people keep snakes. The problem is that newspapers blow it out of proportion every time something happens involving a snake. It's like shark attacks. Millions of people swim in the oceans. A dozen people get bit over the course of a year and there's all out panic among the public. For every unreliable burm owner out there, I bet their are a thousand or more that take great care of their pets.
>>
>>I hope that I was able to fully answer your questions. I hope you didn't take my response to be too defensive. It wasn't meant to be that way. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions.
>>
>>Jody
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Jody,

I hope you dont take this the wrong way, because I understand what you are saying. However, there are so many burmese pythons that are purchased and then either released and/or turned in to rescue centers because the "owners" are incapable of handling them. As I am sure you know, these animals require alot of space and special care. Not everybody is up to these challenges (well they think they are until it is too late). I am not saying that your friends are not able to do this. Yes there are many breeders throughout many of these forums, and they are quite excited when it comes time for hatching, etc. However, it doesnt' justify nor help our situation within the pet trade. Too many people at the current moment have these animals and they shouldnt. I am well aware that there are many responsible keepers out there. I would love to see MORE of them. Unfortunatey, the way things are looking at this point, they are heading further south day by day. I am not wishing to deprive you of this. If you do choose to breed them, that is great, and I hope you can help find them GOOD homes. However, the way things are currently looking, it appears that may be harder than what you may think.

Some smaller snakes that are easier to house and make better "pets" would be my recommendation if you wish to breed something. They can make money as well as not make headlines as easy. These snakes are typically easier to house and maintain, and are not a safety issue to anyone.

As you mentioned, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect and understand yours. However, I hope you will revise your thoughts on the matter and perhaps consider taking something else on to breed that can find homes easier and more permanently.

Good Luck and Best Wishes,

Chris