Burmese Python Care:

Adult males may average 10 to 15 feet and 60 to 120 pounds. Adult females may average 12 to 18 feet and 100 to 250 pounds. Some individual snakes may grow to greater lengths and weights. The lifespan of a burmese python should exceed 20 years.

Feeding:

Juvenile burmese pythons may be maintained on mice and/or small rats, approximately double the girth of the snake, once every week. As your burmese python rapidly grows it is necessary to continually increase the size of its meal items. Rats up to 1 pound suffice until the snake reaches 6 or 7 feet but at this point larger rodents such as rabbits are strongly advised. If the burmese does not readily switch to rabbits one may double and triple large rats to make a decent-sized meal. In the event your burmese does not readily accept rabbits just be patient. The burmese will eventually accept rabbits and before you know it even rabbits will have to be doubled and tripled to make a decent meal. (guinea pigs and chickens may be substituted for rabbits). Rabbits may be rat scented by rubbing the nose of the rabbit with the mouth and genitalia of a freshly killed rat, transferring the rat's scent onto the rabbit.  

With any feeding always practice and follow safe and responsible feeding methods! Most especially when the burmese is at or past a "respectable size". We recommend  feeding ONLY inside the cage. Raising your burmese on pre-killed or frozen-thawed food items may eradicate much of it's instinct to grab and kill its food items, thereby reducing the potential risk of him accidentally hurting you or someone else in the process of being fed. Though this risk can never be eliminated entirely it is always best to reduce it as much as possible. We also strongly recommend either laying the pre-killed food item at an unoccupied end of the cage, or using proper-length tongs to offer it to your python from a safe distance. Keep in mind that if you use the tongs the python's instinct to overpower and kill the food item will likely be re-awakened by even just the movement of the food item. Burmese pythons have a very deeply ingrained instinct to hit hard and kill fast and you should expect this each and every time you feed.

Do not handle your burmese until the visible meal lump is no longer detectible. Depending on the size of the meal and the age and size of the python this can be as short as 1 day, and it can be as long as 4 or 5 days.

When your burmese begins to mature (8' to 10' or more) decrease the frequency of feedings to every two or three weeks as they wont require as much nutritional volume as often once their rapid growth stages are over.

Caging:

An optimum-sized environment for your burmese would be a cage that is large enough to move about in freely, while still small enough to cause the burmese to feel secure and yet not "exposed". When a burmese is small, (2 to 5 feet) this may be a cage that is as wide as the snake is long and half as deep. Needless to say, when a burmese is a 16 foot adult this method wont be very practical. For an adult burmese a 3 by 8 foot cage will usually suffice, though if it is possible to provide more space and size, please do so.  

Some keepers like to use hide boxes to help their little burmese feel safe and secure. We only use these if the burmese (based on each snake individually) shows signs of discomfort or "cage insecurity". If they appear to feel comfortable, safe and secure without a hide box we certainly don't want to create any unnecessary dependencies in them that could last into adulthood. These can get annoying. 

It is advisable to have a thermostatically-controlled heat lamp on one end of your enclosure, providing a basking spot of low 90s temperatures (92-94). The ambient, or general area, temps should be 80 or above and up to 86. If you live in a region with a dry climate you can move the water bowl closer to this basking spot until the cage humidity reaches an optimal level (60% to 80%). Misting the inside of the cage twice daily or more may also help raise and maintain a more comfortable humidity level for your burmese. If the humidity is still too low check the size of the cage vents. If they are too large try covering them slightly and gradually more until proper humidity levels inside the cage are achieved. DO NOT EVER cover the vents all the way or to a point where the snake is deprived of adequate, fresh air.

There are many suitable substrates (cage floor covering) in the market today. Any that are highly absorbent and somewhat sterile are acceptable. Many herpers/breeders (including us) use newspaper. Use a minimum of 2 sheets thickness per foot of snake. Other breeders use different types of cypress bark or mulch available at most garden supply stores. Cleaning should always be performed the moment a mess is detected. This will help to ensure that your burmese remains healthy, content and clean.

Handling:

We advise maximum handling, especially when the snake is young. This will help to familiarize yourself with your burmese and vice versa so that in later years when your snake is a 200 pound, 18 foot python you have a positive, trusting relationship with him/her. Snakes that are mostly ignored often lack beneficial conditioning and thus they lack necessary familiarity that helps to form trust and this can lead to additional unwanted mishaps. We suggest getting your burmese used to a snake hook early. Remove him from his cage with one and he will soon accept this as normal. This practice will help you to avoid painful mishaps associated with this species surprisingly strong feeding response. Once your burmese knows you he or she will be a comfortable hold. That is, until she exceeds 100 pounds and sends you to the chiropractor on a weekly basis, ha ha. But all joking aside, burmese tend to be very easy going and very accepting of you and the environment offered them. Now, an exception of this general rule is that if you take them outside their survival instinct may be triggered and cause instinctual, defensive-based panic. Not always, but sometimes and this is reason enough to mention it. This evocation of strong, defensive survival instinct can occur with any snake species and should always be remembered, taken into account and even expected. Though of course the best thing to do is to avoid it by not taking your snake outside.

When a python is young it can be easily frightened. This can often be caused by a myriad of seemingly ordinary things. It can be triggered by a sudden, alien (unknown) smell. It can often be from a sudden movement looming over them or seeming to come at them menacingly. It can be caused by suddenly being in a wide, open space. It can be caused by being nearly blinded by bright sunlight. It can be caused by many things that we don't usually anticipate. Even the most docile snake can suddenly become very frightened and perhaps bite the first thing that moves in front of its face. As the intelligent one in the relationship it is up to us to understand the situation and to be patient and remain calm. If your python suddenly freaks out try to figure out what scared him. We recommend that you do not put him down or put him back in his cage in the event that he bites. You don't want your python to learn that he can make you go away with a bite. This will often lead to more of the same behavior later and this is not good at all when your python is much bigger and the bites are much more painful. In the event of a bite bring your hand slowly up under his chin and out of his direct view, and allow him to smell you by letting his tongue touch your skin. As he probably already "knows" you by smell, as a harmless part of his normal world this will likely be very reassuring to him and he will begin to calm down once again. Not always, but usually. Your scent can represent normal, safe things to him during a time of fear, uncertainty and the unknown.

When we say that your python "knows you" we do not suggest that he or she knows you in the way that a good dog knows and understands you, with conscious intellect. Your snake will never develop feelings of goodwill or warmth toward you. Nor will he ever actually like you, or miss you when you're gone. He is not capable of these complex emotions. He will be almost entirely indifferent to you. You really only are relevant, at best, as the "bringer of food". This is not because he is necessarily "anti-social", but because he is not a species of an animal form that ever evolved a complex brain with inherent social dependencies and capabilities. Simply because this cognizance and interspecies’-dependency was never needed for reptiles to survive the eons, the way it was utterly necessary for pack animal species such as wolves or lions to survive. Snakes are loners by nature except for during winter den hibernation (non-tropical species) and annual mating.  Now, before this cold fact depresses you keep in mind that you can still achieve and maintain a productive, safe and enjoyable (for you) relationship with your snake built on trust, familiarity, contentment and security (for him).

Incomplete Page.  More pictures and text coming Soon!