[darkangelwitch]

Had our baby burmese for a month now, when we got her she was 30% underweight and dehydrated.

She is supposed to be 6 months old and at first she was a bit snappy when handled, but now she loves coming out to play. She is at the glass every night waiting for the door to open.

She is our first python (scary) so any advice would be gratefully accepted.

At the moment she is in a 5ft viv, daytime temp about 32 deg C in the hot end and about 28 deg C at night. Humidity is no problem at around 60%.

We have her big house planned and will be building it over the winter.

p.s. how do you add a picture?

 

[snake100]

how big is it now ? and would it not be better in a smaller enclosure? What enclosure was it in before? I have two burmese pythons myself and find the smaller the enclosure the better they feed off to start with.

 

[darkangelwitch]

Thanks for that, even though it is 5ft she has 3 hides to choose from but believe me, she absolutely loves being out with us.

She is very relaxed now she has settled in and feeds really well every week. She is about 4ft long and is putting on weight nicely (according to my vet).

I think the previous owner was only feeding her small mice so when we first got her she was a bit frantic when she smelled food but now she is on rats she is much happier.

I have a feeling she must have escaped a few times in her previous home (she escaped at the shop we got her from too) but she hasn't managed to work out the lock on the viv (yet......).

We have been keeping corns for 5 years now, plus we also have a Columbian Rainbow and now the python.

Would really like to get in to contact with anyone in SE England who owns a fully grown python and maybe get to see their enclosure. Our next door neighbour used to have a large python years ago so is useful for info about handling etc.

 

[Nat]

aaaaaaaaaaaaw gdluck with her, sounds like she had a real rough start, at least she is now in loving hands xx

 

[Andy]

I would say at that size a five foot viv would be fine

I have seen a few varying size Burm enclosures from little 8x4x4 foot ones up to whole rooms dedicated to one Burm. I wouldnt have one they are a bit big for my liking :lol:

 

[snake100]

sounds ok then in the viv as long as it is feeding well (glad to hear it ) sounds like it went through a bad time to start with as for pic i would love to see some u can use photobucket for that 8)

 

[dumbblonde]

i love burms their sooo cute. just make sure if your building the larger viv yourself, that it is very secure they like to escape when we got our first burm he was very underweight for his age(10/12 months old).the vet said his previous owners hadn't treated him very well,he just looked like a bag of skin.we've had him for six months now.when we first had him he was just under 4ft,now he's nearly 6ft :!: they grow very quick if you feed them properly

 

[darkangelwitch]

Thanks for that peeps, we are building the viv ourselves (hubby is a very good engineer and fabricator and believe me if she gets out of it she will be a genius).

Have attached a piccy of Rhapsody (hope it works).

Sugar - it didn't work - can't get my pictures to work booo hooo!

 

[Dan]

I'm curious, where did the 30% figure come from?

 

[darkangelwitch]

From the vet - specialises in reptiles

 

[Dan]

Ok, any ideas where he got it from?

I am yet to find a definitive guide as to what snakes should way at what length, age etc etc.

 

[darkangelwitch]

My vet has been handling various reptiles for years and can pretty much tell you by sight if your snake is underweight or not.

With Rhapsody it was pretty easy to tell as her spine was a bit too prominent and as with most animals when you pinched her skin (gently) it did not spring back the way it should if she was hydrated.

I intend to keep a diary of her growth over the next few years, we haven't weighed her yet (wanted to wait a couple of months to get her up to scratch first) but she was measured on 26th August and came in at 3 foot 8 inches.

At the end of September she will be weighed, and her length and girth measured then we can see how she is growing.

My rule of thumb for all my snakes is that if they shed cleanly, strike for their food, are good natured and strong then we can't be far from the mark in the way we look after them.

I will post Rhapsody's growth and maybe that will help you with yours.

p.s. She is the most sociable snake we have now, not sure what I am going to do when she is fully grown and wants to come out and play every night!

 

[darkangelwitch]

My vet has been handling various reptiles for years and can pretty much tell you by sight if your snake is underweight or not.

With Rhapsody it was pretty easy to tell as her spine was a bit too prominent and as with most animals when you pinched her skin (gently) it did not spring back the way it should if she was hydrated.

I intend to keep a diary of her growth over the next few years, we haven't weighed her yet (wanted to wait a couple of months to get her up to scratch first) but she was measured on 26th August and came in at 3 foot 8 inches.

At the end of September she will be weighed, and her length and girth measured then we can see how she is growing.

My rule of thumb for all my snakes is that if they shed cleanly, strike for their food, are good natured and strong then we can't be far from the mark in the way we look after them.

I will post Rhapsody's growth and maybe that will help you with yours.

p.s. She is the most sociable snake we have now, not sure what I am going to do when she is fully grown and wants to come out and play every night!