For all the "Kids" who want a Burmese Python!!!

[Corey Woods]

From looking at that snake I would say it is no more than 12 feet, 70lbs. That snake is no way 16-17 feet. That snake would have a hard time eating a 12lb rabbit let alone a human.

I imported my first burmese from Bob Clark in 1997 when I was 17 years old.

Corey Woods

[The_Snake_King]

Look people I may have overstated the "kid" thing. Am by no means am I saying that young adults shouldn't be able to have a burm or retic. It is just, I see over and over again yougsters like snakemann87, who just started keeping snakes, getting a burm. A Burmese python is not a beginners snake. They starte with corn snakes, then onto a ball python and a boa. This is the path taken by many of us. But what we have learned through ecperience, they have yet to.
They can benefit from our experience by asking questions, listening to and abiding by our advice. We know what it takes to care for these snakes. Having a corn snake or ball python for a year or so, doesn't give anyone the experience necessary to care for a giant snake. We advise that a person wanting to get one of these giant snakes, learn everything they can, find a person who has one and work with that snake for a year or so. But, unfortunately, most just go out and buy one without any of the above be even taken into consideration. And in the end the snake suffers from their lack of experience.


__________________

[The_Snake_King]

and by the way, the snake was measured as soon as it arrived. It is over 16 feet with a girth of about a 2 foot diameter.
I've seen a snake this big eat a german shepard. So yes it can eat a small child.

[BoidKeeper]

Cory: At 17 you were not the average 17 yr old snake keeper now were you?

The Snake King: “I've seen a snake this big eat a german shepard.”
If I ever saw a snake eat a German Shepard, personally I would be slightly more reserved about disclosing that type of info on a public forum.
Trevor

[ReptiZone]

eithere way in the end it was the snake that suferd the worst and this should have ben dealt with in a more profecinal way not the trunk of a cartrying to actlike a pro buy mesuring it and all that energy should have ben but towords the well being of the snake buy telling the owner how to get it from point A to point B

[The_Snake_King]

You ever try to move a 16 foot snake by yourself?
The two men he had with him wouldn't go near the thing. It had a choice to make, and he made it. The snake arrived alive and no worse off then if it stayed where it was until he found someone willing to help move it.

[ReptiZone]

that kind of stuff is what gives ppl like us a bad name and I agree with corey it is at best 14 feet it is no biger then the one I worked with a the zoo. I feal a 16 foot burm would not fit copmfertably in a trunk of a car not saying that it was comfertable.( dont get me wrong)

Could you imagine if it was a newer car and it had a inside trunk releas that would have hit the papers so fast we would be 10 steps behind all of the hard work some ppl do to get rid of by laws in these contrys any way I am done.

[ReptiZone]

all he had to do was call animal control and explain his situation he was bring it to a shelter and neede a hand moving it could they send some one that was not afraide of larg snakes and yes I have moved an anaconda that size check my galary it is not safe but it can be done.You break a hell of a swet doing it LOL and you resite just about every prayere you know just so the snake will be nice with you.

[The_Snake_King]

Amen to that!

It is hard to find anyone willing to go near a 8 foot boa let along a monster like that!

[Uncle_Sam]

Uncle Sam agrees 100%. We have freedom of speech and of the press. We have the right to voice our opinion and for good measure. Why delete an American post because it is so right? Anyway, Uncle Sam wants you Canadians!

[ReptiZone]

well you cant have me,,,,LOL

[BWSmith]

I think that a herp community is a little different animal than we give it credit for. LOTS of people get snakes when thye are young, some stay in it, some don't. Some join forums and societies, some don't. I would be interested to know a statiscic on how many "responsible" young people who get baby burms havethe snake reach adulthood. There will be veteran herpers here that will raise their hand. Of course. We have all stayed in it and become a part of several communities. For most of the vets, herps are probably one of the most important things in our lives (or maybe it's just me). Everyone is saying that they are old enough and responsible enough to keep giant snakes. Noone can really argue one way or another, only time will tell. And it will. I will venture to say that only about 1% of baby burms sold each year reach adulthood and probably a quarter of those may stay with the original owner their entire lives. But there really is no way to get accurate numbers. Just my opinion.

[kelly]

(faze) just for note i was the one who picked up this snake i was given as choice of the snake being shot and killed,released into the wild or i came to get it right THEN
i have a container with me thinkin he would be able to fit but he didnt .....
as of this moment this snake is living in my redtails cage while my redtail stays in the tote till he is picked up to goto mass.... or to bw if bw wants to talk it over with her and pick it up
what would you have done? given those instance's
let the snake go and get killed or released into the florida ecology to destroy it even more?
and for those of you wondering this snake came from a guy who had just passed away and his wife didnt want nothing to do with it
and yes it is about 18 foot because it took 5 of us to hold this snake down once i got back and she measured out at 16 while she was S'ing on us trying to pull away from our grasps....
as for the girth im not sure if that is a accurate girth due to the fact that we didnt measure it till she was coiled up in the cage..
we basicly just picked a thick lookin spot and measured it

[stormyva]

I am glad that someone who does care got that snake.... as for the trunk... sometime you do what you have to do to get the job done.

For the snake debate.... I really dont think the debate ever really had anything to do with the size of the snake and there is no doubt that there are many teens with more experience than some of us adults. My opinion is that a burm or retic, any giant snake, should only be purchased by an adult. I say this not because of the size or the experience level of a younger person, but for the future of the snake. I don't know or can I recall ever meeting any person that at fifteen or sixteen knew where they would be or what they would be doing in 1 year much less 10 or 15.
Imagine this.... A 15 year old buys a cute little burmese and they took great care of it, but now they are 17, graduating from high school and getting ready to go to college to study biology. One problem.... the college does not allow pets in the dorm and most rentals wont allow them without a huge deposit. So now they are left with the task of placing a huge snake in a new home. No one wants a snake that big so the snake ends up being set loose to die in the wild, turned in to a rescue facility. Change that scenario a little and replace the Burm with a little corn or ball.... and placing it to a new home would be no problem at all. The local pet shop would have probably even taken a ball or corn back to re-sell.

[kelly]

i have to agree with stormy on this one also i'd like to make a note about the whole "kids" thing think of it this way when you are lookin at the word i know 37 year olds that still act like they just hit puberty but i also know 12 year olds that conduct themselves as they are 25 ...i dont think this is a matter of age i think this is a matter of knowledge with larger boids and responsibility i myself am 22 turning 23 years old been dealing with boids and herps for quite a few years now but i know i am
not made for a big snake like this full time thats why i only handle them on rescue where i only temp house them.
now heres why it keeps goin back to the age issue....
everyones always blabbering about experience now lets say someone starts with say... a ball python or even a bci you figure if they buy it as a baby and raise it it will take guessing 3-4+ years to gain a good size that they can even be considered large boids.say the kid that the bci or the ball at 13 y/o that places the kid at the age of 16-17 y/o then they say "ok well this snake is descent size now im handling it qiute easily and respectively i think im gonna go out and buy myself that baby burm i've been lookin into..."so the kid goes out and gets the burm then a year or 2 later the burm is anywhere from 6-10 foot now the kids decides he wants to move out of his parents house goto the real world or college.....lets say in this instance he goes out into the real world and trys to start with say a apartment or a trailer with no credit... starts out in a slum of a trailer where the burm takes up half the walkin space and the kids working 40+ hours a week trying to make ends meet but as we all know its tough so then comes the choice lose feeding and/or get rid of the snake
now if the person decides to go with not feeding that monstrosity then you wind up with a hungry burm and say a 150-70 pound 18 year old that looks like lunch.....
or if he decides to get rid of the snake it goes to someone that supposedly knew what they where dealing with or say hsus well in either case its gonna end up at hsus and be put to sleep so it doesnt really matter bout the kid that wanted the snake.....
............................
now you see why everyone keeps goin back to the age issue?
sorry bout my blabbering figured i'd try to put the age thing into purportion for everyone hope i did a good job of it