Breeding burms

[DragonLord2330]

A great number of people are quick to be critical on the topic of breeding burms.How many of you truly believe that it is irresponsible to do so?
Can anyone truly tell me what is wrong in breeding such magnificent creatures. I have to say that the return can be very profitable, especially with regards to the potential size of the clutches. I do understand that some people who purchase these snakes are not prepared to , or are uninformed on the nature of keeping something that could live for decades, reach enormous proportions, eat like a horse and defecate like one. But I, for one, appreciate their beauty and size, especially the albinos.
I have one pair that are 12 and 13 years old, the male is close to 15 feet and 46 kilos and the female is 16 feet and 53 kilos, and I adore them and appreciate their magnificence.
So, in the right hands, with the right preparations, conditions and expectations, I, personally see nothing wrong in breeding them.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
JD

[hhw]

The reality is, there are very few people who are both interested in and capable of properly caring for a burmese python throughout its entire life. There is at most a handful of people in the country, let alone your area, who would qualify as the above. Further, only a fraction of these people will end up getting their burm(s) from you. Not to mention, you would have to have a considerable screening process to make sure anyone who ends up with your burms.

If you're still intent on breeding burms, I would suggest that you find interested parties before breeding. Then, when your female lays her eggs, only keep the number of eggs you need to satisfy these interested parties plus your own holdbacks. The rest of the eggs should be contributed to scientific research or destroyed.

[Bartman]

Well said hhw. I totally agree. There are way to many burms out there in shelters already, so we shouldnt be contributing even more.

[Double J]

Do wild burms still come in?

[rwg]

I'm not dead-set against the breeding of burms, but there are two things about it that bother me. One is that there are so many burms in rescues (or worse) that it seems somewhat irresponsible to be breeding more of them. It'd be like me starting a breeding colony of common house cats. Fer crying out loud, if you want a pet cat go to the shelter and get one. Breeding high-end stuff is a little different. Purchasers are making a bigger committment, and generally have done more research and planning for a 1k+ animal than for a $100 animal. That'd be more like me breeding show-quality Abysinian cats. Dont see many of those in shelters.

The second thing is, considering how many of them are in rescues, it is apparent that people buying them are not capable of caring for them for their whole lives, and the people selling them are either unable to tell if the buyer is capable, or simply dontt care. Either way, more sellers would simply compound the problem.

You acknowledge that many buyers cant care for them, but you say there's a decent return, and you personally appreciate them, so why not? Here's why not: the babies you sell have a low probability of being wanted pets for their whole lives, and many of them will suffer. Forget your return on investment. If you truly appreciate them, keep as many as you want...get them from rescues, but dont sell more of them to an incompetent public.

Roy

[HeatherRose]

I've moved your thread to the proper forum, you'll get better answers here :)

[ncwilson]

I agree with rwg, it's not that burms aren't magnificient, beautiful, graceful, and even tame, loveable creatures. Finding people that love these snakes for what they are the and knowledgeable of the sizes they reach and to take care of them is a COMPLETELY different story. However, if you do decide to breed and sell, charge a hefty charge unless you know the person will take very good care of the animal to assure that it was not purchased for sensationalism.