Okay so I've read all about Burms and have some Burm experience from being involved in reptile rescue. But I've never kept a Burm long-term and I was hoping you guys could give me some idea from your personal experience just how fast these guys grow. I thought hearing from a bunch of people with first hand experience would be better than the average book-learning.

In your opinion, in optimal captive conditions, how big will the average Burm be at:

1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
5 Years

And how many years on average for them to reach full size?

Thanks everyone! I'm working on some illustrations to promote repsonsible big-herp ownership and your feedback will help a lot.

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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
www.forgottenfriend.org
"Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue . . .

i dont know how to answer your question correctly but i'll try. a burm can get 10 or more feet long in about a year. now this is not true for all burms, my burm is 3 yrs old and he is only 7feet long. and again if you dont feed them as frequently they dont grow as fast. my burm ate everything I gave him and he is still only 7ft so you never know.

I have a few burms in my care and I think I can answer this question.

By the first year - you'll see 6'-8' for a non-powerfed burmese python. - if you power feed (not reccomended) you're looking at maybe 8'-10' depending.

Year two will see a normal healther burm to 10-12' or so - this is about the point you may see the first mating behavior from your animal. DO NOT breed at this point or you may signifigantly reduce the life of your burm if it is a female.

Year three is 14-16' for a female and still 10-12' for a male - by this time most animals are fully mature and ready for their first real breeding season. When in doubt, DO NOT breed for anyreason - once again you'll decrease the life expectancy of your animal.

Year 5 is just maintenence for male snakes. but for females you will see her slowly start to grow from this point - most females max out between 14-18' in length and around 100-125 pounds from what I have seen. She is a full grown majestic titan at this point and is not to be triffled with. She will readily produce 80-100 eggs each breeding season that she is of weight and ready for the next 10-15 years for most animals. After the age of 10-12 they tend to drop off in breedability and become massive eating machines. Lovely to work with and to pet.

Anything else let me know

Paul

I have one Burmese ... She's just over 12ft long and little over 13 months of age.

This thread is dated 3/14/05, so I don't know if the original person asking the question will see you’re post or not. Thanks for your impute.

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Colleen

I apperciate it, I tend not to notice the date stamps.