New Addtion.. and it's not a ball!

[TheSnakeGeek]

went to the chattanooga repticon this weekend with my dad, my little brother, and a couple friends. wasnt plannin on picking anything up. i was kind of disappointed with with the selection of balls that was there.. but i came across this purple tiger retic that i kept checking out. the breeder let me hold it, and i loved the little guys personality. had no intentions of getting him. anyways, at some point in the show, i had split off from my family to go get some food. i guess my dad noticed that i had kept coming back to that snake, and while i was eating he walked up holding it and told me he just bought it and it was mine. i didnt believe him at first, but sure enough, he was telling the truth. lol i know very little about retic genetics, and i have no intentions of breeding him. i've just always been fascinated by these snakes and kicked around the idea of getting one as a pet. he was labeled as a "purple tiger." from what i can find, im assuming he's a 2 gene animal with purple albino and tiger? even if he's not the best example of the morph, like i said, i have no intentions to breed and just thought he was a beautiful animal for a pet. plus we talked the guy down quite a bit.

these are some crappy iphone pictures, but a lady friend of mine is gonna come by in the next week or so with her DSLR and get some good shots of him. these pictures really dont do his purple justice.

without rambling any more, here is my new addition, a male "purple tiger" retic i named "Snoop."

[Mike41793]

Not to be a jerk, but are you sure you're ready for one? "Kicking around the idea" doesn't really translate to "did plenty of research and know all the responsibilities involved". They can make wonderful pets, but going from a ball to a retic is a big jump. It was nice of him to get him for you, but does he know how big they get? Just food for thought...

Regardless, he's beautiful!

[Rob]

Sweet! They are such Beautiful animals.

[TheSnakeGeek]

Not to be a jerk, but are you sure you're ready for one? "Kicking around the idea" doesn't really translate to "did plenty of research and know all the responsibilities involved". They can make wonderful pets, but going from a ball to a retic is a big jump. It was nice of him to get him for you, but does he know how big they get? Just food for thought...

Regardless, he's beautiful!

no offense taken. lol i've done quite a bit of research on keeping them and handled a couple adults. i'm very well aware of what they are capable of. just because i've been "kicking around" the idea does not mean i haven't done my research. i've just been kicking around the idea of actually taking the plunge and getting one. lol i've done a lot of research on hots too, but i have yet to kick around the idea of obtaining one.

[Gerardo]

Thats an amazing animal. Congratulations on your new pet.

[Mike41793]

no offense taken. lol i've done quite a bit of research on keeping them and handled a couple adults. i'm very well aware of what they are capable of. just because i've been "kicking around" the idea does not mean i haven't done my research. i've just been kicking around the idea of actually taking the plunge and getting one. lol i've done a lot of research on hots too, but i have yet to kick around the idea of obtaining one.

Ok, that makes me feel a lot better. I was only concerned about the snakes wellbeing. Glad to see you're NOT going in blind like a lot of people. I too love these guys. I'd probably opt for one of the dwarf varieties if i got one though.

[TheSnakeGeek]

Ok, that makes me feel a lot better. I was only concerned about the snakes wellbeing. Glad to see you're NOT going in blind like a lot of people. I too love these guys. I'd probably opt for one of the dwarf varieties if i got one though.

thanks for your concern. lol if more people actually cared about ANYTHING the world would be much better off. i prefer to be enlightened on anything i choose to get involved in (not just with animals.. but ESPECIALLY with animals). living in the light is much better than walking around in the dark. you can't see anything in there.

[SK_Exotics]

Sweet retic!
LOVE HIM!!!

[Burzurk]

Amazing great colors love it !

[reptileexperts]

Nice pick up! Be ready for their wicked fast growth and amazing feeding response - i.e. feeding aggression. My mainland male is actually the most laxed in feeding in comparison to super dwarfs and dwarfs even. Heck my mainland grabs his food slow now, and my super dwarfs about attack me for opening the cage with rats in the room just to get them fed :-). Welcome to the giant owner kingdom! As with research that has suggestively been done. Remember a few things.

1) Feed feed feed feed. Not to overdue it and cause obesity by any means. But make sure you keep it fed. A well fed retic is a calm and happy retic. A hungry retic is VERY aggressive IMO. They let me know when I miss a feeding by 1 day.

2) Lead by example! With all the legislation bull attacking the community, be a responsible keeper from day one. Get in good practices and keep a well mannered properly housed snake. You'll need at least a 4x2 enclosure by the end of the year. I'm assuming it's a male? So you can actually house it it's entire life very comfortably in a 6x3x1.5 vision 632. Or one of the 6' Animal.

3) Forever means forever. A lot of people are under this odd assumption that when a retic grows too large they can simply move it on to another keeper or heck a zoo! It's not always easy finding homes for giants. I've seen more giants on kingsnakes that were 11-13' with no where to go and a $75 price tag just because the person needed it gone. Perhaps it was food cost, or housing capabilities. A retic is a commitment.

4) Use easy to change substrate. When these guys pee. . . its like Moses parting the red sea except it went all over your cage. A pile of feces is easy to clean, but its the pee that will keep you changing the substrate so make it easy on yourself! My bigger retics are kept on newspaper or recycled composite paper that I buy in rolls. Fast and sanitary!

5) Always respect. Always learn. Watch your snake. Grow with him as he grows. Get to know what his postures mean, how he reacts to certain conditions. These guys are one of, if not the, most intelligent species of snake. They are always inquiring around them. And they will read you so to speak. So read him. Learn how he says no to avoid accidents, and respect him when he says no.

6) Last one I promise, ask questions. Anytime something comes up just ask a question someone can help. Denial keeps retics on this forum and while he doesn't respond too often now, he's a good source. As is the retic nation group. These guys are passionate about retics and it shows. The support community that revolves around these giants is amazing.

and yes - genetically its a Tiger mutation and Albino Mutation combined.

cheers