Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everybody.

I read this article by Bob Clark http://www.bobclark.com/aAN_98.asp

Do you think from your experience,that by giving the burmese food less frequently - it is possible to keep him smaller than his normal adult size ?
Bob writes that he knew of this burmese that for 7 years was fed with adult mice every 10 days and was not longer than 4 feet!!

In other words - is it true that with controled feeding you can make sure the burmese wont get bigger than a Boa ??
I'd like to hear your opnions.
Thx.

No offense, but Bob also writes that when he got it and feed it properly it was 11? feet in a year. To feed a burmese only mice may keep it small, but the snake will suffer eventually. That kind of feeding is deadly to the snake and irresponsible of the keeper. There is a breed of dwarf burms, but even they get longer than 4 feet. If it's small you want, maybe you should consider a different breed of snake.

Quig

A snake should not be underfed to keep it small. If the adult size is bigger than the individual is looking for then a snake that has a smaller adult size is the responsible thing to do. I'd stay small to if i only ate one granola bar and a glass of water a day...but i wouldnt be a happy person.

There was a case in the papers recently of a (human) kid who had been starved by his adoptive parents. When the authorities discovered him he was 19 years old, but appeared to be about 8. He weighed something like 45 pounds.

Of course it's possible, with snakes no different than humans. But it's animal abuse, plain and simple.