Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My family was inclined to bring home a (pardon the spelling) Shihtzue (Annoyingus mutticus) today. Granted I do have soft spot for dogs and I love them to death...however, from other dog owners in here...what kind of trouble am I looking at here? I will most likely play with the dog and have her scent all over me. If I handle my burm to clean cages or anything....how much of a predicament can this put me in? The burm isn't that big right now that I have to worry about much...however, I dont see the dog leaving any time soon, so therefore I wanted to get prepared by asking the advice of those who manage to work this out.

Thanks in advance as always!

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

View my website: www.herpfanatic.com

I think it will be up to the snake, But.....

I have three dogs here, my mix breed(pic), a toy poodle, and a damn chihuahua. The last two would make a great meal for my large female. She seems to be fine with them. Now I don't let her run free with them, but if I have them(the smaller two) put up, then let her out around the house, the smell does not seem to bother her at all.

In fact, my mix used to sleep right in front of her cage. She never gave him a second look.

Now I do always wash my hands before getting any of my snakes out, but not because of the dogs, just it's the right thing to do. When I have the snakes out in the room, sometimes the mix will come into the room too. The snake will look at him, then go back to what ever it was they were doing.

This is what I have seen, now I have heard of burms eating small dogs and all, but mine seem to be fine with them.

Would I ever let them just run free together, Hell no, but I have not seen any agression towards any of the dogs, and the smell does not seem to bother them at all.

My burms don't mind my dogs scent at all.
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Corbin

Is it just me or do you seem really stupid?!

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My burms dont seem to care if i smell like dog.

Chris,

Just as a precaution, I try to wash my hands (with that strong water free/alcohol based gel) between handling of any reptiles in my collection and twice when I handle mice, primarily so that I do not pass anything on to another specimen, but also so they do not pick up any threatening odors.

In my neighborhood both Burmese Pythons and Reticulated Pythons are indigenous. There are big rats that come out at night, but I do not believe that big 4 meter pythons are subsisting on big rats; I believe they are subsisting on stray dogs. What I am saying is that dogs are just another prey item (especially Annoyingus mutticus). If it is a big python, I would be careful. If it is a small one, it just might feel a little threatend initially by the strange new smell.

Michael

So you must either be in Asia or Florida to have both indiginous to your neighborhood!

I can't say for a burm, but my ball python could really care less about the dog... But I still wash before reaching in. If you have kids... or parents in the house you may want to remind them that the two do not want to hug or share playtime together.
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Rescued Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Rescued Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
0-0-1 Rescued Aggressive Bearded Dragon - Zeus
0-0-1 Rescued Non-Alpha Green Iguana - Bud
1-1-0 Rescued Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-0-1 Rescued Dieting Panda Hamster - Mr. Fluffy
0-1-0 Rescued Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

Yes, Asia, I live in Thailand. The average large adult that appears in the neighborhood is about 4 meters. Contrary to the published natural history accounts, they are found in populated areas; however, they are not found in the middle of cities, like P. reticulatus, which can be found in the middle of Bangkok, which has a population of close to 9,000,000! Everyone feels they need to bring any reptile that they find over to my house, including the giants. Great for my herpetological notes, but bad because many, especially the turtles, will be eaten if I do not take them in. I have identified 26 different species of reptiles in my local (10 square km) area from both field work and people bringing over what they find crawling around. How is that for a species diversity?

My P. m. bivittatus (they do not like calling anything Burmese here- Bivittatus Python) hatched in my neighborhood this year; "Anton" is just a baby. When the person brought it over to me, it still had evidence of the egg tooth breaking away!

Michael

The way it has been explained to me, and this doesnt necessarily include wild or wc animals, but rodents have a very different scent and different body odors that a snake senses, so if yours grew up on only mice/rats, it doesnt think food when it smells dog,

but still be carefull