New Burmese Python Owner Seeks Advice...

[Sane]

I am a 27 yr old female from the US, I have had alot of friends with snakes and learned a few things over the years, And have always wanted my own. Well I just bought a 8 ft Burmese Python from a friend of mine.
He is VERY good with his snakes and has them very tame, but his methods are not at all traditional, and I think id rather go with majority rules for safety.

I have a few Q's

He says i dont need a humidity gauge of any kind, I believe i do.
arent i right in that? should be 60+ right?

What can i use for a vapor barrier?

What can i use to lock the aquarium? It has a screen lid.
Do they make straps or anything like that for them?
(and yes the aquarium is HUGE and she has ample room to stretch out and should until shes about 14 feet).

How often should I mist her and the cage? my friend does not do that at all.


What are the best ways to get her used to me, I have been leaving her alone to settle in so far, Just got her about 30 hrs ago.
But once I do handle her, what is the best way to go about it without the friends help? so that she feels less threatened etc?

Will she be stressed out you think or anything like that from the changing of homes and owners and loss of her "sister" peaches? She was very close with my friend, he had her since a baby and she is almost two, so she is very used to him & now he wont be around her much.

I have a rottweiler. (almost 3). I will not be allowing him around her or her around him when she is out of her cage. Her viv is located in the kitchen, which has a locking door on it. Is he ok to come in the room as long as she is in the viv? I have been doing it so far, and she didnt react. and he has not noticed her.
When i do hold her, will she attack me because she smells him in the house or on my clothes you think?

Do other snake owners have other pets also?

Any advice is good!

Also we feed her cooked chicken, not mice, rabbits or rats, Same as my old friend did the first snake i was ever around. She likes that fine. My friend that sold her to me started her on it for me when I told him it is what im gonna be feeding her. Im vegetarian, I couldnt handle the animals with a face thing...

Thanks!

[body_xs_j]

cute snake good luck with him. I use to think on getting on of them. Sorry I don't have info on it. I use to have a big redtail. But had a frend of mine make me a cage.

[Malice]

make sure you never pet your dog or SMELL LIKE DOG if your going to play with the snake... if you smell like dog at all, on your clothing, you will mostly likely quickly have a very serious problem which you might not walk away from. the smell of your dog and fur in the area, will cause your snake to maybe have a feeding response... personally i think this was a very bad choice for a first snake, did you know this snake can weight more then 200lbs? and CAN KILL YOU. without any problems.. IF I WAS YOU, before i would EVER handle the snake, i would keep a spray bottle with HOT water beside you at all times... if you get into a bad situation, stay calm and start spraying the snake in the face with the HOT water...

please consider a new snake for your first pet.. YOU will make a mistake, and you may not get a second chance... just keep what im saying in mind... the snake will also be able to push through a SCREEN, if you like your dog, i would sudgest buying a large snake tank, usually made of PVC.. for exaple BOAPHILEPLASTICS.com
if you have children, get rid of the snake...

please seriously consider what im saying to you... to me, this is like giving a 4yr old a handgun and say be careful.

[Smilts]

I dont keep Burmese pythons I have red tail boas thats as big as I ever want to go!
Generaly I would have suggested lots of preownership research. But since you have the snake allready, this site may help some Burmese Python. Do please be careful.. And I prefer whole prey items.

[Sane]

Originally Posted by Malice

make sure you never pet your dog or SMELL LIKE DOG if your going to play with the snake... if you smell like dog at all, on your clothing, you will mostly likely quickly have a very serious problem which you might not walk away from. the smell of your dog and fur in the area, will cause your snake to maybe have a feeding response... personally i think this was a very bad choice for a first snake, did you know this snake can weight more then 200lbs? and CAN KILL YOU. without any problems.. IF I WAS YOU, before i would EVER handle the snake, i would keep a spray bottle with HOT water beside you at all times... if you get into a bad situation, stay calm and start spraying the snake in the face with the HOT water...

please consider a new snake for your first pet.. YOU will make a mistake, and you may not get a second chance... just keep what im saying in mind... the snake will also be able to push through a SCREEN, if you like your dog, i would sudgest buying a large snake tank, usually made of PVC.. for exaple BOAPHILEPLASTICS.com
if you have children, get rid of the snake...

please seriously consider what im saying to you... to me, this is like giving a 4yr old a handgun and say be careful.

Alright well first off, You own a snake, so who are you to jump me? just cuz u think im a noob? cmon now. im not a total idiot.

my friend would purposely play with his rat and then his snakes, to teach them the difference between owner and food. Personally i think it was a risky foolish gesture, but he swears it worked regardless.

But i def plan to not have dog on me b4 i hold her.

Ive known many snake owners with kids. And i personally didnt plan to mix the two. I gave up on the snake hope cuz my kids. But now i have a big enuff house and it has a locked kitchen they arent allowed in and i will only be handling her in said kitchen.
So I think they will be fine. id never risk my kids.
I have owned a snake before but i was only co owner. and it was a python too. & i know a decent amount about them. I just wanted to make sure that things havent changed alot and been doin alot of research.

I know my snake will live up to about 25 years and get to be as much as 200 lbs and 20 feet. And of course i know she can kill me. im not stupid.
Female dont mean stupid thanks.

I know regardless what people say burmese aint the best starter snakes, but she is what i want and so long as i take the proper precautions then its not a death wish. My rottweiler is actually more dangerous than she is attack wise. There are much more attacks by them than snakes. But trust me, im treading very very carefully with rogue, even tho i know from being over my friends all this time how sweet she can be. cuz u cant tame a snake. they will and can strike.

She is already my pet. So there is no reconsidering it. Ive done spent alot of money on my grrl and she aint going anywhere any time soon.

I also felt a screen was a bad choice, my friend used one and still does tho. But i have it weighted. And am seeking for straps for it.
I first bought a glass one but it was too small.
I cant afford a cage like you described or i definately would have one.
And my kitchen she is in stays locked at all times. kids and dog are not allowed in.

I doubt she could kill my dog. Maybe when shes older but not right now. hed have her ripped in half first. She could hurt him but i think hed live thru it. and either way, i refuse to find out. i want both my pets safe.

Im not 4. im grown. Im a very responsible person and not a risk taker.
Buying it was the only risk i took.
I am beying beyond paranoid and beyond careful trust me.

I will sell her first time she gets at all feisty.
And i wont give her the chance for her first time to be my last. k?
so dont worry about it.

Thanks for the hot water tip tho at least.
any more actual tips u got let me know.

[Sane]

I did do tons of preownership research actually. and most the sites i visited contradicted each other. and tons of them said stuff i already knew. i never enter into ANYTHING without research.

Most of the sites said to do the wrong stuff by far. such as didnt even mention humidity and said use cedar to name a few.
Trust me i checked every site i could find for weeks.

You can prefer whole prey all ya want, I think its totally cruel. Just cuz they eat them in the wild dont mean they cant eat other stuff. It is proven they can.

Trust me ill be beyond careful. and thanks ill check out the site and see if it is one i havent read yet.

b4 reading yalls responses i went out today anyways and bought a mister and all the other stuff i was askin about. cuz i knew i needed them but was pointing out that alot of people say otherwise and i dont get why.

[Sane]

Originally Posted by Coy

I dont keep Burmese pythons I have red tail boas thats as big as I ever want to go!
Generaly I would have suggested lots of preownership research. But since you have the snake allready, this site may help some Burmese Python. Do please be careful.. And I prefer whole prey items.

do u have a pic of ur red tail? id like to see her.

[Kmef07]

hey someone is finally from my side of the world on here. im from Cincy. How's the snow there cuz it's a big pain here. I would have to agree with everone so far though it defiantly is not a good snake to have for your first pet i can't believe your friend would even consider letting you have that one if he knows anything about snakes. also i would suggest trying to do frozen prey because it just seems healthier for the snake. do not handle the snake without someone there with you that is even the recommendation for experienced snake breeders and keepers.

Since you already have the snake no sense in dwelling on the fact you shouldnt have gotten it. you need to:

1-read read read all you can about your snake and get your hands on as many care sheets as you can and write down facts that seem to be consistant through most of them. they will all vary a bit but should be somewhat close. write down what temp should be on warm and cool side, humidity levels, ect. put all that in a notebook and refrence that incase you forget your not just workin off your memory.

2-again do not handle the snake by yourself. if it is hungry you are possibly dinner. or a big enough threat that it needs to take care of. always have someone with you and the hot water bottle sounds like a great idea. but when handling my friends snake that happens to be the same species and about 10ft we always keep a knife around.

3-I have a baby Brazilian rainbow boa that is only 2.5ft and her cage sits on the floor and we have a big shitzu and she comes in my room all the time and lays next to the cage the weird thing is my snake will usually come out and lay against the glass near my dog. never seen anything like it with snakes or any other animals i have had. they don't seem to ever stress each other out but that doesn't mean that your dog wont get stressed with something bigger than it now in the house or your snake won't get stressed by what it would consider a predator. that you will just have to decide for yourself how they react to each other. generally most people i know don't like to have their pets by their snakes.

4-You have it kind of easy because as a snake gets bigger and older it seemsto become more tolerable to variations in temp and also humidity and can handle higher and lower temps than a baby of the same species. some species are more rugged than others. my friend that has a burmese does not mist or anything but kind of lets his snake be. he says that they seem to be a pretty rustic snake and his can tollerate some extremes when the power went out for a couple days last year his snake's cage lost power for about 2 days and got down to about 60-65f the snake wasn't too happy about it im sure but it did ok once he got power and warmed the cage back up.

5-go to home depot and they have some steel screens that are awesome for big snakes. they are thick and heavy so if you build a good wood frame around it and put it over your cage there is no way it could push through it. then while at home depot get some tie down straps or tow straps and fasten those around the cage and the top.

these are just some general things i could think of while bored here at work because no one is here cuz of the snow and ice so sorry it was so long and if you have any questions i message me and i can ask my friend. good luck and just be careful when you handle the snake. and use common sense because it's really not that hard it just takes a little thought. post some more pics if you could i'd like to see the overall size of it.

[Aaron_S]

Wow...

Where to start. First of a bottle of hot water is a good idea but the water will cool pretty quick. Vinegar works best and you should have a knife available when handling the snake. If you don't have a second person to help you at least ensure that there's a second person in the house and that they know you're handling the snake, and they also know how to deal with the snake should something go wrong. Yes it sounds like scary safety measures but really I know people who hoses hooked right up to their hot water heater. Your dog smell shouldn't matter. Shouldn't is the key word. The dog smell is already in the house constantly so the snake will realize it's not a prey item. Sure they can attack dogs but they won't attack an animal that is larger than them unless in defensive.

Secondly, no matter how long the tank is it isn't big enough for your snake.No tank EVER is suitable for a burmese python to 14 feet..EVER! No tank is 4 feet wide, you're lucky to get 30 inches wide. You should have the snake in a 6x2(or3)x2 right now and be moving to a 8x4x4 soon. The tank is terrible for keeping humidity levels up as well as keeping heat in. You don't really need to spray the burmese python but it doesn't hurt. Make sure you do do it during a shed cycle though.

EDIT: Also the snake will be fine with you. It never 'got used' your friend or even cared for her 'sister'. She rather be away from her sister.

Lastly, I'm going to try to be as nice as possible here. You SHOULD NOT have this snake in your possession. Cooked chicken because YOU can't handle feeding it it's actual diet. That's digusting. You own an animal and can't give it it's proper needs so you make the animal suffer for your own problems/issues? Get out of this hobby now. Cooked chicken doesn't have what it needs to give your animal the right nutrients. Let alone the added chemicals animals get for human consumption is now in your animal. Way to go buddy... you're a grade A keeper... Either give the snake to someone else or care for it properly.

Some people...

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Kmef07

4-You have it kind of easy because as a snake gets bigger and older it seemsto become more tolerable to variations in temp and also humidity and can handle higher and lower temps than a baby of the same species. some species are more rugged than others. my friend that has a burmese does not mist or anything but kind of lets his snake be. he says that they seem to be a pretty rustic snake and his can tollerate some extremes when the power went out for a couple days last year his snake's cage lost power for about 2 days and got down to about 60-65f the snake wasn't too happy about it im sure but it did ok once he got power and warmed the cage back up.

You're not quite right. If a snake species has requirements it doesn't mean that when it's an adult you can ignore them because it's more 'tolerant' of crappy keepers. Baby snakes all the way to adult snakes need the same requirements for the same species. Just on a larger scale, which trying to maintain temperatures and humidity on a larger scale is actually more difficult. Burmese pythons just tend to be very hardy snakes.

[Kmef07]

omg that was horrible but again im at work snowed in and it made me laugh.

However, She honestly doesn't know so you cant get mad at her for it. I agree that she should have done research but as far as she knows she is caring for the snake the way her friend (who supposedly knows about snakes) told her to. you have to give her credit for realizing that her friend's ways with snakes are unconventional and she came her for advice on how to properly care for her snake. that shows that she wants to do the right thing. so lets try and help her and not scare her away. lol

[Aaron_S]

Umm no they don't want to do the right thing. If they did they wouldn't have tried to feed it cooked chicken. She said they asked their friend to start feeding it cooked chicken because they would feel bad to feed something with a face on it.

[Kmef07]

and the fact that they are hardy is what i was trying to get at. i keep my snakes at as close to the required temps as i can but in the wacky climate we are in it can be quite hard because one day it is 60f and sunny and the next it is 20f and snowy. this was the case the last couple weeks. i was just trying to hit on some positive note to make her feel a little better about it.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Kmef07

4-You have it kind of easy because as a snake gets bigger and older it seemsto become more tolerable to variations in temp and also humidity and can handle higher and lower temps than a baby of the same species.

I quoted you again to show you where you are wrong. It doesn't matter if they are a baby or not. Your brazillian rainbow boa needs the same humidity as a baby as it does as an adult. You'll get the SAME problems no matter if it's a baby or an adult.

[Kmef07]

oh i read that wrong i thought her friend was already feeding the cooked chicken to all his animals.