my baby burm prob?

[ReptileX]

I got my burm about 3 months ago and and i would say hes about 3.5 to 4 months old...I was wondering if burms his age are all nippy...i would say 3 out of 4 times i pick him up he bites me will he get less of an attitude as he gets bigger or does the attitude grow with his body? and a more concerning question which may answer my first, one of his/her eye is bigger than the other, not like a bubble or anything but it looks like there is pushing on it from the inside....its not a lot bigger but noticable..any ideas or hits as to what i should do about it??

[Matt_K]

about your burms attitude. I have two burms here that are about the same age as yours and they are both nippy. Do not worry, they WILL grow out of it. Just spend the time, and handle him despite. It will go away, as for the eye, im not to sure what that may be, maybe you could get a picture of the problem and post it for us to see??

[BurmBaroness]

I would recommend a trip to the vet for the eye. I have 4 burms here, who have not been nippy at all, and only one that's hissy. I think it just depends on the snake. The only way to calm it down is to handle it. If it bites you and you put it up, then it has won. And it will know that if it bites you, it will get put back where it wants to be. When handling the burm, do not return it to the cage until it is calm, and not hissing, biting. That should help.

[ReptileX]

thanks, i'll try to get a pic, might be a open moth pic though :)

[garethuk1]

i had a burm that keeped biting but if u wear a pair gloves and just pick him up without hessitating he will be ok they know when u are scared because u send of a faramone which thay can smell but if u stay calm it will be ok it worked for me

[ReptiZone]

you know how I feal about gloves reptile X if you need gloves you should not have the animal, but when I think about it that is how I started. It is only a baby burm your a big man you can deal with it trust me.

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in spend it where you want.

Chondro Python :cool:

[Linds]

I agree with chondro python in that gloves aren't they way. Firstly, they are dangerous to the snake. In an attempt to protect yourself, you are putting the snake at risk of getting snagged in the glove and losing/breaking a tooth(teeth), wrenching its jaw, etc. A broken tooth can lead to infections such as mouthrot. :eek: Secondly, even if the above wasn't a concern, it wouldn't be acclimating the snake to handling much better since your snakie wouldn't be able to feel the heat, smell the skin, etc of your hand.
Just persist with daily, patient, gentle handling (except allow 48+ hours for digestion after each meal, no handling) and your burm should outgrow this nippy stage. I find baby burms to be very nippy, and they don't outgrow it on their own like some snakes seem to. It's important to nip this habit in the bud, a big "nippy" burm is not a pleasant thing! :eek:

[bbkaren]

As for the eye thing, I read about some sort of snake disorder (called pop-eye I think?) that causes the eye to push out, maybe the vet should be called--

As for the nippy-ness, handling a lot should help. We've had ours over 3 months and he's just now starting to calm down. He's not a biter but would hiss like he wanted to kill ya if you went into his cage.

[ReptileX]

I guy that i know said it might just be a bad shed like maybe it was stuck to his eye and when he started to take the shed off it pulled his eye...could that be a possibility?and thanx for the info guys and gals!

[snakemann87]

i would be patient, try and get something and tap him to let him know you arent food. As for my burm, who is 5 months SUNDAY, he is fine, I have yet to be bitten by him, so I guess im lucky.

[norman]

?
tap it?

[snakemann87]

as in, maybe a piece of rolled paper towel or something and just touch him or "tap" on the head with it, or the body, just to let him know you arent food.

[BurmBaroness]

I would think that "tapping" could be misconstrued as a threat. When a snake has retained eyecaps from a shed, the LAST thing you should be doing is PULLING it, for the very fact that you could damage or destroy the snake's eye, especially if multiple retained eyecaps are present. You need to get the snake to a vet ASAP.

[ReptiZone]

I know where you live man and the vets are crap but there is no harm in trying

[Burmies]

My female burm, which is almost a year and a half, stopped hissing and snappingh at me when she got about 4-5 feet, but even then she still struggled to get away. Now I have no problem at all holding her and she is about 8-9 feet.

Burmies

[snakemann87]

thats cool, i hope my burm doesnt do what yours did just opposite, cause hes fine, doesnt try to get away or hiss, hope he doesnt start to, lol. no im jk, but i hope everything works out for him reptlex

[ReptileX]

Yea me too...hell maybe its justa birth defect..?

[ReptiZone]

T,L,C man that is all it takes tender love and care do a trip to the vet if you see fit, if the vet says there is nothin wrong or nothing they can do. You are just going to have to but up with the fact that it is a bit pissy all the time you need to take the time and handel it EVERYDAY!! even when you get biten in the morning you need to pick it up that night. 30 min in the morning 30 min at night for a few monts the you can relaxe a bit and handel only at night for 15-30 min but if you dont do the work the snake wont hand tame it self, hand tame is just a figure of speach for me meaning it dosent bit cause it is familiar with you handeling it if you dont handel it it wont be familiar with you and then SNAP! "put me down" is the only response you will get.

No gloves! just a snake hook and a pair of brase balls and some swet and blood you can do it but dont wait till it gets a dangerous size with a dangerous attitude and then try to find a new home it is hard enuf to find a home for a gentel burm I dont want to imagine a snapy burm. Just think of the future if you think you cant do it there is nothing weong with that you made a dicission and it was a mistake there is nothing wrong with that but dont dig your self a hole deeper then it is already.

now dont get me wrong you are a smart guy and you dident have a lot of expirence before geting a burm but niether did I.
What i did have was a amazon tree boa or cooks pet store told me it was a cooks and I was new and foolish and couldent tell the difrence but that is not the point, the point is a amazon can pack a punch beter then a baby burm so I was not scared the only thing that bit you was a rat snake you dont jump from rat snake bit to burm bit over night as it gets biger it will only get worse over time so bucle up and hold on to your but and enjoy the ride.

I also think it would be nice of some ppl who have some pics of large snake bites to post them so some new bies can see the harsh truth behind owning larg snakes it may be graphic but it is the truth I see alot of posts of ppl who say well I have ppl who will help me when it gets to be quit big but do all those ppl who are going to help you know what cind of damage it can do to a arm or leg you may say I have the head don't worry but it is not a crocodilian you can't sit on the head and hope fore the best you need to holt it in back of the head right at the neck and the can get wider then both hands but to gether if you slip you are no longer the one in danger your partener is.

any way this was not entended to singel out only you I used the word you as a general adressment to all newby herpers
plz no one take ofence I tryed to make it as clear as possible and as polit as possible thx
Chondro Python :cool:

[ReptileX]

yea actually i would like to see some snake bit pics...has anyone ever had a tooth stuck in there are the teeth actually that fragile?? do they usually bite and pull back or when they bite they start wraping there bodies around you? cause i've had both by my burm...i wasn't holding tight enough and he had enough room to turn his head and grab me and cause i was holding him he desided to hold me too i guess.....

[Xetox]

Originally posted by Linds
I agree with chondro python in that gloves aren't they way. Firstly, they are dangerous to the snake. In an attempt to protect yourself, you are putting the snake at risk of getting snagged in the glove and losing/breaking a tooth(teeth), wrenching its jaw, etc. A broken tooth can lead to infections such as mouthrot. :eek: Secondly, even if the above wasn't a concern, it wouldn't be acclimating the snake to handling much better since your snakie wouldn't be able to feel the heat, smell the skin, etc of your hand.
Just persist with daily, patient, gentle handling (except allow 48+ hours for digestion after each meal, no handling) and your burm should outgrow this nippy stage. I find baby burms to be very nippy, and they don't outgrow it on their own like some snakes seem to. It's important to nip this habit in the bud, a big "nippy" burm is not a pleasant thing! :eek:

I disagree about the glove issue, here is a great artice about using gloves with reptiles, I dont for 90% of mine but sometimes its just best to use them!

I hope you all enjoy the article, and O its from our friends over at ProExotics!

http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ_answers_Using_a_Glove.html

[ReptiZone]

I have 2 words fore the guy that wrote that artical SNAKE HOOK if you wear a glove and the snake bites it and you pull back there goos some teeth, or if a snake hse mouth rot and bites the glove then a healthy snake bites it after you might as well make the snake kiss each other to transmit that disease and he closes saying if you have a larg colection a old dusty is a good tool to have a round. I use snake hooks cause after they have ben used once I can throw them in my bleach bucket and rince it later now it is bacteria free (If you need a glove dont buy the animal) even monitor lizards there is a way to do it and if you do it right you dont need gloves out of all the times I handeld monitors I only got biten once.

But it was fun reading
Chondro python

[snakemann87]

i agree with no gloves also, i had duck tape on the edges of the glass for my cage, and when i was feeding, he missed the rat and hit the tape, and he was stuck, so imagine a thick glove if that was a VERY thin piece of tape. Oh, he was fine, no loss of teeth, thank god, i have removed the tape after that, my snakes more important than getting sliced on the sides all the time(hurts alot).

[ReptiZone]

i dont understand you post man sorry

[snakemann87]

sorry, ok. I said i agree not to use gloves, and to just give an idea of waht a thick glove can do, heres a story. I have a custom cage with sliding doors, on each edge i had duck tape so i wouldnt get cut. During a feeding as i had the rat dangling, he missed and hit the duck tape. When i looked he was stuck, he struggled for a while then got loose. Luckily, he was fine, no missing teeth, after that I feed him in another tank, which i usually do but that night i had to get to bed and my weird boa would swallow the rat, she just sat there with her coils around it.
So my point is just that if a thin piece of duck tape which i had on the edges of the glass panes for my cage could catch a tooth, imagine what a thick glove can do.

[Xetox]

I was just posting the link...I dont use gloves, but I know alot of breeders who do and they have never had a issue, personaly I agree if u can handle it without gloves then you should not own it!

But in turn, proexotics are well known breeders and are well respected in the business, so I take it they know what they are talking about!

[ReptiZone]

Ok I understand now snake man thanx for clearing it up man and
Xetox no ofense to you but I hate gloves amd now I know that proexotics us them I won't be buying from them thanx for the heads up on the sitituation. I just feal that strongly about gloves thats all talk to you later

chondro python :cool: