Info on Burms...

[Manitoban Herps]

Hey there, we have always been interested in purchasing a burm but never had the room, now we have a room, and a friend is giving one of his males awy (a 14 foot 100 lb het for albino). We are going to be fizxing the room up, and getting the snake a few months later. Do you have any care tips or/and ideas for the room?

Thanks

[dave68]

Make sure it's escape proof ie. windows and doors. Make sure there are no sharp edges on anything, no screws or nails sticking out of walls, and last but defineately not least, be very careful when installing heat lamps or heat pads etc... don't want to burn the place down or burn the snake!! Good luck and keep us posted!!

Dave

[ReptiZone]

Don't use a room!
Take the room and make it your herp room.

I never understood why people keep saying to give Large Pythons a room to themselves. It causes more harm then good.
It is next to impossible to give a proper heat gradients. I am sure the room is not properly insulated or wired to meet the fire code.
What people tend to forget is that snakes climb. But in a room that could be 8 feet tall, if a 14 foot burm falls from 8 feet up that is 100 Lbs slaming against the floor as well as any decorative materials that may be in the way. And we all know snake are all "rib". I would hate to try and move a 14 foot snake in pain due to a broken rib.

I would suggest that you make a cage that is 12' X 4' of floor space and 4' of height that is more then enough room required so your snake can strech out fully and then just throw in a large water bowl. There you have it.

That is just my opinion do what you feel is right.

The ReptiZone
Marc Doiron

[Iceman]

There is actually alot of danger in using a whole room for a large snake, I am not exactly sure what happened, but my dads friend had a 11 foot retic in its own room, and it ended up getting hurt bad..

you ever see T.O sk8ters cage for his burm? those style cages are awesome for big snakes, me and my uncle are gonna make one when i get a yellow head retic..

again, just someones opinion..

[kevyn]

Snakes don't need full room enclosures. It's really not a good idea. It isn't safe for you or the snake, and proper husbandry becomes much more difficult to provide on a such a large scale. That is of course if you meant that you were converting for a full room enclosure. Check out this link for cage sizes...

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBurm.html

http://www.bobclark.com/aAN_98.asp

[Manitoban Herps]

We plan on making logs going across his cage for him to climb on. And the truth being, the cages you need for your burm is the same size of a room.

Oh and I already have a herp room :p

[JimmyDavid]

Depends on many things to be so sure whether it's 100% good or 100% bad.

If the room is NOT THAT BIG to start with, i don't see the point in wasting space. Just use it as an enclosure.

You don't need to heat the whole room. Just part of it. It's better to leave colder spots around too, just in case the snake feels like it.
If you're planning on building a total environment (with logs, pond, etc) then you will really need as much space as possible. And the snake will feel better.

Snakes could fall off branches but then again, why aren't they falling all the time from trees in the jungle? All zoos i've visited had monster enclosures for big pythons, i don't think they are all wrong. I say go for it, all things considered.

[fErReTs]

I think if you use the room that you should have some way of seeing into the room so you know the where abouts of the snake before entering . Or at least that's what I think but I dont have any giants myself .

[kevyn]

And the truth being, the cages you need for your burm is the same size of a room.

If you are saying that you need room sized enclosure you couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know of a breeder that uses room sized enclosures and I know some breeders and know of some breeders with huge Burms. Take the advice on NERD and Bob Clark, they are 2 of the best keepers and breeders in the world.

[JimmyDavid]

And why on earth would those be good examples to anyone?

The example of a breeder is not usually good for someone who wants a pet. Sure, Bob clark needs to make the best of space, Not too big of a cage and "Skyscrapper" enclosures up the wall will be a good move, after all he's running a businness; but does that make a nice herp room for someone who just wants to pet a snake? Is that the best you can provide your snake? I've seen some zoos being shut down because they had their animals in smallish cages, if those enforcers had a visit at those breeders facilities they would have a heart attack.
If he already said he can provide space, why should he not do it? Because some others don't, won't or can't? I don't see the point...

[kevyn]

I'm not arguing his desire to go with a room sized enclosure, that's his choice. However, he stated as fact that Burms need such sized enclosures. Not the case.

[Manitoban Herps]

We are going with the room for sure, the person we are getttin ghim from wants too see the room first to make sure we have everything we need. i would rather beleive this guy then Bob Clark or N.e.r.d.

This guy has a room sized enclosure for all of his burms, and knows his stuff!

We are going to make a windowo the door and we are going to make it so u don't have to open the door to feed, just hav a smal door in the middle of the door, that u can through the food through, that way when the snake sees you it won't associate u withfood.

[kevyn]

Your choice, but bare in mind that people like Bob Clark were ground breakers in keeping these snakes. If it weren't for his methods both in husbandry and breeder, we wouldn't be enjoy many of the species and variety we do.

[ReptiZone]

All I want to convey is that a room size enclosure has alot of thing atached to it. Some one mentioned Zoos well Zoos need to be checked and certified by Electritions and by the local fire marshall.
If you do not have this and your hous goes up in smoke the secound they see the burm room your insurance claim will be voided you may think I am full of it but talk to KaHan the owner of Generasion Exotics.

And yes they do fall in the wild but you are not there to see it nore correct it. A burm that falls in a enclosure that is to tall and gets hurt you are there to attempt to correct it. Good luck trying to tuch it...lol
"1 ounce of prevention is better then a pound of cure."

Do what you want you cam asking for info on burms and I delivered.

"You can bring a horse to water but you can not force it to drink."

The ReptiZone
Marc Doiorn

[kevyn]

Excellent points!