Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think my burm is getting a little on the chunky side.. My other pythons I have had always felt really "tight" and firm like muscle hard to the touch but my burm feels soft, and "squishy". How can I tell if he's fat? I feed him 2-3 medium rats every other week. somtimes only 1 large/jumbo rat. Is this too much?
sorry about all the posts lately.. I post something then 10 mins later I remember something else i meant to ask but forget.
I only have 2 snakes atm 1 ball, and 1 burm. the ball is rock solid when i pick him up. so hope i am not over-feeding my burm. he always acts hungry though! lol

The burm you posted pics of certainly doesn't look anywhere near being "too fat". He's probably just more relaxed than your ball.

I didn't look at your burm's pics but here's a couple of thoughts:
1) A healthy burm should look more lean than fat....most burm pics you see on various burms show FAT/OBESE animals. Why?
2) Most burms are kept (cramped) in cages that are far too small. Stuffing a large burm in a 6' cage, though can be done, is not doing the animal justice. There are very little opportunities for exercise even for a sedentary animal like a big burm when kept in a small cage. Our burms that are on exhibit are in 16' cages...and believe me, they use the entire cage on a DAILY basis. This means that they get exercise due to having more opportunities to thermoregulate (they have to travel farther from the warm to cool areas and vice versa). When kept in large cages, they move more, their activity levels are better, they are much more alert, etc. We do keep one large adult burm in a 6' vision in our off display area but she comes out almost daily for "romp around" time with my staff and she seems to really enjoy checking out the entire room when she has these chances.
3) We only feed our adult burms one appropriately sized rabbit per month...that's plenty. I have several burms who are in their 30's and still going strong on this regimen.

Just a few observations that I thought I would share...I'm sure someone will retaliate with "well, I keep my 16' burm in a 4' cage and he is 30 years old and is a happy camper" response but hey, to each his own.

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

>>I think my burm is getting a little on the chunky side.. My other pythons I have had always felt really "tight" and firm like muscle hard to the touch but my burm feels soft, and "squishy". How can I tell if he's fat? I feed him 2-3 medium rats every other week. somtimes only 1 large/jumbo rat. Is this too much?
>>sorry about all the posts lately.. I post something then 10 mins later I remember something else i meant to ask but forget.
>>I only have 2 snakes atm 1 ball, and 1 burm. the ball is rock solid when i pick him up. so hope i am not over-feeding my burm. he always acts hungry though! lol
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Thanks Rob..
Those reasons you gave about the animal using all the space he has to a cage is why I would rather have at least 8 foot cage instead of that 6foot. (even with a male) I would have larger than 8 if my house allowed it. Do you think my food plan/schedule is okay for a 6foot burm? (i measured him yesterday wile he was out) (the 2-3 medium rats every other week, and sometimes onl 1 large/jumbo instead of medium) Is this too much? I try to take him out everyday. Below is one of the pics.

First, that's a gorgeous looking burm; always refreshing to see a real nice looking "normal" burm. That snake appears to have nice muscle tone and your feeding schedule sounds fine as this is still a young, fast growing snake; eventually, you'll want to cut back to once a month (or every 3 weeks). Good job.

>>Thanks Rob..
>>Those reasons you gave about the animal using all the space he has to a cage is why I would rather have at least 8 foot cage instead of that 6foot. (even with a male) I would have larger than 8 if my house allowed it. Do you think my food plan/schedule is okay for a 6foot burm? (i measured him yesterday wile he was out) (the 2-3 medium rats every other week, and sometimes onl 1 large/jumbo instead of medium) Is this too much? I try to take him out everyday. Below is one of the pics.
>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL