Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi to you all. I'm pretty new to snake keepin and at the moment have a very healthy 1 yr old Royal(Ball)python. My daughters who are 18 16 and 14 love her and her temperment is great but didnt realise how addictive reptiles are. I have been looking for a new addition to our family and have found a gorgeous 2 yr old burmese. I am very aware of the size they can grow to that isnt a problem but wanted to way up the pro's and con's before i take the plunge lol. Any advice at all will be great good and bad. plz get in touch and share your views.
many thks
debz

The only thing I can think of is the size. You can give the snake a room sized enclosure and can feed it gazelles? I wouldnt make the jump fom a 4ft snake to a 20ft snake. Why not just get a cornsnake or a kingsnake or one of the most common ones for beginners.

Thanks for advice, After taking my time to read up on them and getting advice from numerous people. I have decieded to give this one a miss for the time being. The size he is now at 2 1/2 yrs he could be handled by one but as they are fast growing and with work commitment,shift patterns and a family i guess it would'nt be fair on him in the long term esp when he will eventualy need two people to be handled safely. many thanks
debz

Probably a wise idea. This is a heck of a late reply, but if you want a handsome larger snake that can still be handled by one person, you could consider a black rat snake, pine snake, Jungle Carpet Python or something like one of those which is a lot of snake, but can still be managed by one person. I wish more people were so thoughtful about keeping critters.
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0.2 chickens
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
0.1 Halflinger horse
0.0 reptiles due to living with
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

As far as temperment and care they are great snakes. My only concern is size, you have to realize that this won't be an easy snake to maintain. Every time you want to clean out the enclosure or handle it you'll likely need to get over 2 or 3 buddies to keep it under control, or just get it off the ground. They cost a fortune to feed as well. Most people feed rabbits which aren't cheap, unless you breed your own, but that is a ton more work than it sounds like. They grow supprisingly fast and it'll be eating rabbits in no time.

They are noted for their generally good disposition but keep in mind that if it gets to 16 feet and has a sudden change of heart it could cost a couple dozon stitches.

Mine was just a little sweetheart though. But I traded her for some ball pythons, they really are a better pet snake.

Cam Hanna
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"I'm tired of being a wannabe bowler! I wanna be a bowler!!"
-- Homer Simpson

Children Burmese Python = bad