Another question for you guys.

[Sauzo]

Ok so I was over at Retic Nation FB page. Asked the same question as here about the marks on Caesar. One of the guys who I guess is supposedly someone who knows retics very well said it looks like smash marks. He said either the retic is looking for a GF or cage issues or wants more food. I told him I was feeding him a medium rat every 5 days. He told me I was way underfeeding it and that was the problem with the smashing. He said I should be feeding Caesar who is about 5' a large rat or small rabbit or gpig, not medium rats or chicks or quails. He said I was completely underfeeding the guy and that I need to start feeding him correctly and to throw everything I know about boas out the window when it comes to retics and food. He said a 1.5" thick snake(Caesar) can easily handle a large rat or 2. What do you guys who have retic think? I'm looking at you bcr as you seem to have retics longer than the rest of us here.

[Gio]

Ok so I was over at Retic Nation FB page. Asked the same question as here about the marks on Caesar. One of the guys who I guess is supposedly someone who knows retics very well said it looks like smash marks. He said either the retic is looking for a GF or cage issues or wants more food. I told him I was feeding him a medium rat every 5 days. He told me I was way underfeeding it and that was the problem with the smashing. He said I should be feeding Caesar who is about 5' a large rat or small rabbit or gpig, not medium rats or chicks or quails. He said I was completely underfeeding the guy and that I need to start feeding him correctly and to throw everything I know about boas out the window when it comes to retics and food. He said a 1.5" thick snake(Caesar) can easily handle a large rat or 2. What do you guys who have retic think? I'm looking at you bcr as you seem to have retics longer than the rest of us here.

When you asked that question where they aware of the super dwarf and dwarf percentages in your snake?
Personally I would feed as you were instructed by the breeder. Kris knows his stuff! Also if you look at what Cody, otherwise known as Reptile Experts says, you can feed according to his method which is similar to what Kris says. I don't know that I would go into rabbits for your snake unless you want something huge. I am still feeding small rats and I have had zero issues with rubbing or anything.

[jmcrook]

I'm sure Caesar is just hungry. Having said that I don't think he needs a large rat or guinea pig by any means. From all the research and reading I've done it seems that some will just push a lot unless kept in a food coma. I'd still try filling the gap by the right door of the cage with something and see how things go. Probably won't stop pushing but at least there will be less opportunities for creating new wounds.


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[Gio]

My carpet pushes a lot and it has nothing to do with food. Try what Jmcrook said with the gaps. Try putting a half full water bottle in the cage to give Caesar something He can push around. Maybe the snake will do better in a smaller cage. It can happen. Try dropping temps 1 degree. I would not stray too far off the feeding advice you got from the breeder. Actually you should email Kris.

[Gio]

http://www.vitalexotics.com/reticula...on-care-sheet/

Very well written caresheet.

Feeding specifics and a section on pushing.

[bcr229]

A "toy" to push around is a good idea. I would make it soft and too big to be eaten. Retics are pretty smart and while most snakes and even baby retics don't really need more than a full belly, correct heat and humidity, and a hide to keep them content, I think many adult retics do benefit somewhat from a bit of mental stimulation. I'm not saying that they need a job like a high-drive dog does, but my adults all tend to be more interactive/social than my other snakes. At the very least getting them out for exercise - not necessarily handling, just the chance to move around in the snake room - keeps them happier in their enclosures.

The info from Vital Exotics is great but there is one thing they left out of the pushing issue based on personal experience with two of mine: an abscessed tooth that gets painful. Sometimes the retic pushes and the abscess bursts and drains, the snake seems ok for a while because the pain is gone, but then it heals over, pressure slowly starts building up which eventually causes pain, and the pushing starts again. This can take place over months which is why keepers think it's related to breeding cycles, and it requires a vet visit to resolve.

[Sauzo]

Thanks all. Yeah Caesar is definitely much more social than my other snakes. He is always busy watching me do stuff. I usually open his doors and let him look outside and if he wants, I take him out and mess with him. I am kind of thinking he might need more food though as he only seems to become a menace a couple days after the food lump disappears. With a medium rat, he gets a slight lump and its gone in 2 days tops. Maybe a small large? I'm going to get him dinner today so we'll see. He is about 1.5" thick or so.

And the toy is a good idea. Think I'll give him a 20oz water bottle. I got a few laying around I use for ReptiChips so I'll half fill one and lay it in there to give him something to mess with.

[Gio]

Thanks all. Yeah Caesar is definitely much more social than my other snakes. He is always busy watching me do stuff. I usually open his doors and let him look outside and if he wants, I take him out and mess with him. I am kind of thinking he might need more food though as he only seems to become a menace a couple days after the food lump disappears. With a medium rat, he gets a slight lump and its gone in 2 days tops. Maybe a small large? I'm going to get him dinner today so we'll see. He is about 1.5" thick or so.

And the toy is a good idea. Think I'll give him a 20oz water bottle. I got a few laying around I use for ReptiChips so I'll half fill one and lay it in there to give him something to mess with.

I'd try everything before you kick up that food intake. I know my guy has more SD in him than your fella does, but I wouldn't suspect it would make that much difference. I feed 1 small rat every 7 days and he's good to go. He's not totally food driven at this point so I'm staying with the current program.

If you are not planning on a maintenance schedule, then maybe give him what you want. I have read in many places that an adult male would do just fine on 1 large rat a week for life.

Obviously they can have more, but just be aware of the end size potential. I don't want to tell you what to do, I just don't want to see you with something you have to place due to size.

Try adding some perches, which have a different appeal than a shelf, try the big, half full water bottle, try Jmcrook's gap filler.

My carpet simply knows where the cage opens and from time to time loves to push. She's a real picky eater and food simply isn't her motivation for pushing. I wish I could ask her what she thinks she's doing. She pushes for a long while when goes into her water dish and blows bubbles. Seriously she submerges her head as blows bubbles.

I will say her pushing has never caused any facial damage which it nice.

Maybe Caesar is just a busy guy LOL!

Keep us posted.

[Sauzo]

Wait. I thought ours were the same percents. Caesar is 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf and 31% mainland.

And yeah I'll give him more toys. he does get out of the cage a lot for play time which he seems to enjoy lol.

And also I looked at the large rat I bought today and compared it to his thickness and honestly I think he is due for an upsize. The medium rat I also bought for Dottie today is about as thick around as Caesar and the large is about a little thicker than him, maybe like half and inch or slightly more. Its weird cause I don't really notice the growth in him as I see him everyday. Then one day like today, it's "wham!!", dang Caesar you have grown a ton.

I'll never get rid of him even if he gets over 10'. I was kind of scared at first about having a huge snake and the attitude but honestly, Caesar is really mellow in temperament. He just likes to explore lol. About the worst he does like today when I changed his paper towels after he took a piss on them and had to remove him, he just used his body to push my hand away while sitting in his curled up ball with his head looking at me lol. After trying to push my hand away and seeing it wasn't working, he tried to crawl over to the cool side as I was sliding him out haha. Once out, he was changed and got excited about being out and looked all over, stretched out and crawled all over me.

And Caesar is a busy guy. He is always checking something out haha And the scrapes he got are the first I've noticed in 4 months. But like I said, I had him on a 4-5 feeding schedule and I tried stretching out to 7 days and this is what happened haha. He just loves food and loves to come out.

My boas are my laid back relax gals and guy and Caesar is my busy body, 'lets see if you can keep up with me old man' guy.

Haha Caesar doesn't blow bubbles or at least I haven't caught him but he does like to dunk his head in the water bowl and splash around haha. Vicky does that too while Luna just crawls all the way in and sits there for hours after lights out and every once in awhile dunks her head and then pops up.

[Gio]

Wait. I thought ours were the same percents. Caesar is 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf and 31% mainland.

And yeah I'll give him more toys. he does get out of the cage a lot for play time which he seems to enjoy lol.

And also I looked at the large rat I bought today and compared it to his thickness and honestly I think he is due for an upsize. The medium rat I also bought for Dottie today is about as thick around as Caesar and the large is about a little thicker than him, maybe like half and inch or slightly more. Its weird cause I don't really notice the growth in him as I see him everyday. Then one day like today, it's "wham!!", dang Caesar you have grown a ton.

I'll never get rid of him even if he gets over 10'. I was kind of scared at first about having a huge snake and the attitude but honestly, Caesar is really mellow in temperament. He just likes to explore lol. About the worst he does like today when I changed his paper towels after he took a piss on them and had to remove him, he just used his body to push my hand away while sitting in his curled up ball with his head looking at me lol. After trying to push my hand away and seeing it wasn't working, he tried to crawl over to the cool side as I was sliding him out haha. Once out, he was changed and got excited about being out and looked all over, stretched out and crawled all over me.

And Caesar is a busy guy. He is always checking something out haha And the scrapes he got are the first I've noticed in 4 months. But like I said, I had him on a 4-5 feeding schedule and I tried stretching out to 7 days and this is what happened haha. He just loves food and loves to come out.

My boas are my laid back relax gals and guy and Caesar is my busy body, 'lets see if you can keep up with me old man' guy.

Haha Caesar doesn't blow bubbles or at least I haven't caught him but he does like to dunk his head in the water bowl and splash around haha. Vicky does that too while Luna just crawls all the way in and sits there for hours after lights out and every once in awhile dunks her head and then pops up.

Actually you are exactly right on the SD percentage. Wallace is more dwarf than Caesar. Wallace is only 20% mainland. His dwarf percentage is 43.75.

Another thing I have been thinking is my small rats may be the size of your mediums. The place I get my rats from tends to have larger sizes compared to other places. The larges I get are really big, and the XLs are enormous. I actually use rabbits for my boa and skip the XL rats.

10 feet is not big if he stays lean. My carpet is 7ish feet and I can easily one hand handle her.

I'll bet our retics are close in size to be honest. I just can't measure Wallace because he's a freak.