New guy got a couple questions

[scout]

I recently got a a baby burmese. His name is Diesel, (Snow Dogs not Vin). I have always wanted one and but my ex was terrified. He is very quickly growing in size. Even the pet shop owners, who are very knowledgeable, were surprised at how quick he is growing. No I'm not power feeding. Only 2 mice about every four days. Just whenever he looks hungry.
How long before I should give him some more space?
Can you really tell this young what the sex is?
Live feed or not? I just thump the mice on the back of the head and it works for now.
There is a beautiful 9' female Burm that loves me. I have never owned a Burm before but I have experience with other snakes and reptiles. What do I do? I keep hoping that someone will buy her before I do.
Just to let you know I have handle her several times as well as my 5 and 8 year olds. She is really sweet.
I am just don't know how quickly she will grow from her current size and I don't have anyone else except my kids to help me if needed.
Finally thanks to everyone for any advice in advance. I am really looking forward to this forum.

SOLAMF

[T.O-SK8TER]

You can search for husbandry info on the web and it is really easy to find! I hope you realise how big of an enclosure these guys need though! Look it up and if you have any questions after your reading just ask!

[Aaron_S]

How long and thick is your snake? He could possibly take a small rat if he is big enough. Secondly,burms are meant to grow and fast! Especially in the first year so I wouldn't take it as a surprise at his size on his feeding schedule.

How big of an enclosure do you have the snake in right now? ONce we know this we can help you give an idea of when he should be moved into a larger enclosure.

Yes. You can tell the sex at this age. But you may want to get some experienced to probe it and if small enough pop it.

I would recommend not feeding live. Prey kill works fine but be prepared to prey kill large rats and even rabbits. You can always try and convert to frozen/thawed prey.

If you have the room,money and time for the larger female go for it. Just remember at her size a good sized enclosure would be 8x4x2-4...this size would last her quite a few more years so why not jump up to it quick as possible. Also you must know the fact that feeding the snake will cost a fair amount.Unless you have a hook up somewhere. www.rodentpro.com works well from what i hear.

At 9' feet she is quite large already and I don't think she will be growing too quickly. If you kept her own appropriate prey item or items at about 10-14 days she will grow and a nice pace for you.

I would recommend finding a friend who is not afraid of snakes who is able to help you when your lil guy isn't so little anymore and if you decide to buy the 9 footer make sure you have this friend. Always better to have an adult around just in case. Just make sure your kids know who to call for help if you take it on alone and something goes wrong.

Hope this helps

[T.O-SK8TER]

Yea, you will need help lifting that burm out of its cage and I don't think you should expect your children to help you, it's gonna weigh over 100 pounds and he won't like being moved either which will make it even harder, you also need sopmeone to shield off the cage when you bring him out and put him away!

[dlucka]

Yes, you should find some one else to help you then your kids, just in case you never know. Then if you got the place and ready for all, go for it.

[scout]

The female has red shades on her head. It doesn't look natural. Is it possibly a sign of something?

She is currently in a 8x4x2 that is real cheap that they are willing to thrown in if I get her. I will build her a nicer one. I can lift her on her own right now, just as long as someone holds the door open for me because it takes both hands.

The Burm I have is just under 3 feet long and 4 1/2" around. I currently have him in a small 10x20 that I got when I bought him. He is growing like wild fire. When he eats the mice you can't even tell he's eaten, there is no lump at all. The store should get some small rats in today so I will try today.

I know how big they are capable of getting. I am ready to spend the money necessary for taking care of a huge snakelike this, including the enclosure and feeding. I was a bit surprised as to how quickly they grow at such a young age.

They have a smaller Burm I feel bad for. He keeps rubbing the top of his head against anything he can find.

As far as handling the big one alone someone told me not to worry. Just have a spray bottle with some alcohol and water and that if the snake does decide to grab a hold of anything to just give him a squirt in the face. He said it's harmless. It just doesn't sound right though.

Some one help. I really don't want to take a bunch of bad advice from some idiot.

[NewLineReptile]

Well first your Burm should be on rat's at that size. And who ever told you NOT to worry about handling a large snake is wrong NEVER! handle a large snake by your self.
You should have him in a bigger enclosure then what he is in now.
As for the other Burm you talked about i would really make sure you can care for it before getting it Large snakes are alot of work
And if all you have is your kids to help you out you could be looking for problems.

As for how big your burm is getting they can get to around 10' in there first year if cared for the right way. But get your burm on rats for sure and a bigger enclosure. And really think if this other one would be a good idea for you.

Good luck
Brandon

[Mike177]

NEVER! handle a large snake by your self.

the problem with handling a snake that is say 15 feet with no one around is that if a snake decides that u look like food and bites and constricts you, you will have no way of getting a bottle of alcohol on or on its mouth because if a full grown burm constricts you chances are you helpless unless some one else is there. I watched something on T.V. about a man getting constricted by a retic and his wife beat the snake with a meat cleaver and it wouldn’t let go. As a part of a snake’s instinct it will just squeeze harder. Just keep that in mind.

As for the enclosure try getting a big 60 or 70 gal. Storage container at home depo, they work well, cost about 10-20 bux and hold humidity like a charm,

Good luck with your new snake and i hope you enjoy these butiful giants as much as so many people on this site,

.............Mike...........

[althena]

Especially with burms that are unpredictable.

I have used alchohol (from rubbing alchohol to jack daniels), warm water, cold water, etc. when my snakes have bitten me (or each other.) NOTHING worked. I don't want to be in my burms mouth, all by myself when they dont work. That actually reminds me of a couple days ago during feeding - my burm got REALLY excited so I spritzed him in the face with my water bottle... And he thought it was food and got more excited and lunged at it. -.-

Female burms also have the capability of growing over 18'. Even in captivity.

Just something to think about. :)