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[NicoleRussell]

Before You Buy

Go to a zoo that has an adult specimen. Check out your local herpetological societies to find other giant python owners and ask if you can be allowed to visit their snake, and, if possible, handle it. Few pet stores actually have full-grown adult specimens.

Check out your city, county and state laws to see if there are any restrictions on owning a giant python or boa. Cities who have experienced terror because someone let their Burmese get out of the house have been passing increasingly stringent regulations prohibiting, or severely governing, the ownership or possession of large snakes.

If you have small children, or children will have access to the room in which the snake will be kept, ask yourself whether you can properly secure the snake so that, not only is there no chance for it to escape, but there is no way for young fingers to undo the cage.

Remember that regardless of how tame your Burmese becomes, and no matter how long you have had it, it is still a wild animal and as such is to be considered unpredictable and potentially dangerous. (A tame 8', 56 lb one, free roaming since the family bought it as a hatchling, killed the family's 14 year old, 5 ft. tall, 99 lb son who was apparently napping at the time of the attack...the autopsy evidence showed that the boy tried to get the snake's mouth and body off of him - his hands were perforated with teeth marks, his torso bearing bruise marks from the constriction...[Colorado, 1994]. In this particular case, there was no apparent reason for the attack.

Places to Go, Things to Do and See...

Check out your local herpetological society and reptile rescue for information on reptiles.

Check your local library for these and other python and reptile care books, or buy them from your favorite bookseller:

The General Care and Maintenance of Burmese Pythons, by Philippe de Vosjoli. 1990. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside CA.

The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians, by Obst, Richter and Jacob. 1988. TFH Publications, Inc. Neptune City, NJ.

Snakes of the World, by Scott Weidensaul. 1991. Chartwell Books, Seacacus, NJ.

Living Snakes of the World, John M. Mehrtens. 1987. Sterling Publishing Co. New York.

The Snake: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet. Lenny Flank. Howell Book House, New York NY.