SD retic

Hello, I am considering getting a SD retic.
How much would it cost and where would I get one?
I would like it to be about 50% SD and %50 normal.
It doesn't have to be a fancy morph.
Thanks.

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Didn't you just say last month that you didn't have the money for a thermostat for a ball python? Now you are considering a retic? A retic is not a snake for a beginner that is cash strapped .

I'm going to second what JordanOrNoDan said. Thermostat is actually a relatively small expense in the grand scheme of these animals lifespans. A SD retic is going to eat a LOT more than a ball python, mess its cage a LOT more, and be a MUCH bigger handful in general as well as becoming a MUCH larger animal. Even a 50% SD can reach an impressive size in a short time and requires an enclosure to match. They are a significant investment to a collection, albeit very rewarding, but require a lot more experience, planning, preparation... wait until you're squared away with ball pythons and other more introductory type species before branching out. I've kept reptiles for 22 year and just got my first SD retics in the last year and a half and while I was prepared for more work, they exceeded my expectations but I was ready for an intense learning experience.


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You are 15 and the sum total of your snake experience is six months with a ball python.

You can't afford the $30 for a thermostat and you want an SD retic? I have one and the enclosure + RHP + thermostat set me back about $300, found locally used.

The food bill for them is also higher, mine gets a jumbo rat about every 10 days.

What are you planning on doing with it when you get a job and move out, or go to college, or go into the military, when the snake can live for 20+ years? You can probably talk a landlord into letting you keep a ball python, a retic not so much.

As others have said, retics arent cheap. Caesar my SD is a freakin pig that eats a jumbo rat every 7-10 days and poops and pees like the world is ending soon. And that is just the food part. That's not mentioning the $700 cage i just bought him as well a $460 thermostat not to mention all the substrate he goes through. Then factor in my time. Retics are nothing like a ball python aka pet rock.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

You are 15 and the sum total of your snake experience is six months with a ball python.

You can't afford the $30 for a thermostat and you want an SD retic? I have one and the enclosure + RHP + thermostat set me back about $300, found locally used.

The food bill for them is also higher, mine gets a jumbo rat about every 10 days.

What are you planning on doing with it when you get a job and move out, or go to college, or go into the military, when the snake can live for 20+ years? You can probably talk a landlord into letting you keep a ball python, a retic not so much.

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I see this a lot. Actually too often.

While I support the fascination many younger folks have for reptiles, I don't agree with the accommodation of multiple animals, or more than 1 in such a short time by young and inexperienced folks. 6 months of owning a royal python with no or limited quality equipment and now looking into retics sends red flags up as you can see here. Most commentators here are established adults trying to help you.

If I go back even 3 years on this board I can find names of people who came into the hobby unprepared, went all out with purchases and sold or placed them or worse, killed them due to poor care. Typically they are never heard from again.

Your age is actually not the best for much more than what you have. Schooling, life changes, girl/boyfriends, jobs moving, driving, everything coming in life is right around the corner for you.

As neat as snakes are, they can take a quick back seat to teenage life excitement and your age is more unpredictable at this stage than say a person 5 years younger

I know this because I'm the primary care giver for mine son's 6 year old royal.

I happen to love the hobby and have a SD x Dwarf retic along with a coastal carpet and boa.

Every setup cost ME, not my 14 year old a fair amount of cash.

You may want to properly set up your royal and reconsider this.

None of us want to read a "Help me!" Thread 3 weeks from now.

No offense or knock on you, but too many knowledgeable folks are echoing the same massage here.

Oh and forgot to mention, not sure if others' retics are very social but Caesar loves when one of his doors is left open in the evening and to be petted and just socialized with. During the day, he sleeps for the most part so he's quiet but at night, if you dont open a door and leave it open, he will push most of the time. Once its open, he just relaxes at the open door and waits for petting haha. With you being so young as i didnt follow your first post so i know nothing about you, you would have to dedicate a lot of time not just to cleaning and upkeep. And i know when i was a late teenager, I had my hands pretty full with my 5' Nile Monitor which i ended up having to rehome as i couldnt take care of it anymore. Really miss him still. He was awesome.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Oh and forgot to mention, not sure if others' retics are very social but Caesar loves when one of his doors is left open in the evening and to be petted and just socialized with. During the day, he sleeps for the most part so he's quiet but at night, if you dont open a door and leave it open, he will push most of the time. Once its open, he just relaxes at the open door and waits for petting haha. With you being so young as i didnt follow your first post so i know nothing about you, you would have to dedicate a lot of time not just to cleaning and upkeep. And i know when i was a late teenager, I had my hands pretty full with my 5' Nile Monitor which i ended up having to rehome as i couldnt take care of it anymore. Really miss him still. He was awesome.

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Dude, you need to shut-up about all these Hallmark moments with Caesar, you're gonna get me into so much trouble when i finally crack and get one of my own. (to the OP: See, even at 35 one should agonize over the choice to get such an animal)

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Dude, you need to shut-up about all these Hallmark moments with Caesar, you're gonna get me into so much trouble when i finally crack and get one of my own. (to the OP: See, even at 35 one should agonize over the choice to get such an animal)

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Haha. He is pretty awesome. The one downside is he isnt so much into being carried around like the boas. He seems to really love his cage or his new skill he learned is he hangs down to the floor and then lets go with his tail and wanders off. I've caught him sitting on the floor a couple times lol. Here he is tonight doing what he loves to do in the evening. I walk by and just reach in and give him some petting and he just sits there haha. You can see Vicky in the cage below wandering around too haha.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...e4595897_h.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Dude, you need to shut-up about all these Hallmark moments with Caesar, you're gonna get me into so much trouble when i finally crack and get one of my own. (to the OP: See, even at 35 one should agonize over the choice to get such an animal)

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LMAO - Sauzo certainly is a bad example to those of us trying to show some self restraint....(says the guy that started with "just a ball python" and now has a Caulkers Cay, Sunglow, and a Columbian coming next week, and sights on more eventually) LMAO