Python Reticulatus Wallace Progression!

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Originally Posted by Gio

Thanks brother.
Get your crew out for some outdoor shots. The prop seems to keep the from fleeing.
I have to get the boa, carpet and royal out soon.

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Will do after it warms back up again, in the middle of a rainy cool streak here in mid Missouri. I'll definitely need a helping hand to get photos of Phyllis anymore. She's definitely a two hands and over the shoulder snake at this point. Sturdy 7' and approaching just shy of the thickness of my wrist at her widest girth.
Gerald is pretty content to just cling to my hand when he's out so he's much easier to photograph. I may try your perch prop method with him. No way I'm setting him down anywhere, he'd be gone before I could blink lol
Geoffrey the royal would much rather be under his hide than do anything else, let alone picture sessions haha. Last night he did eat for the second week in a row since November, so maybe he'll be back to his normal self for the spring/summer soon.


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Will do after it warms back up again, in the middle of a rainy cool streak here in mid Missouri. I'll definitely need a helping hand to get photos of Phyllis anymore. She's definitely a two hands and over the shoulder snake at this point. Sturdy 7' and approaching just shy of the thickness of my wrist at her widest girth.
Gerald is pretty content to just cling to my hand when he's out so he's much easier to photograph. I may try your perch prop method with him. No way I'm setting him down anywhere, he'd be gone before I could blink lol
Geoffrey the royal would much rather be under his hide than do anything else, let alone picture sessions haha. Last night he did eat for the second week in a row since November, so maybe he'll be back to his normal self for the spring/summer soon.


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I'll keep my eyes open. We are in a warm streak here although day before yesterday it was snowing.

I'm very pleased with the prop I used. I didn't think I'd get this guy outside without him being a bolter.

He even allowed for some photo variation and let my try a few different views. Too bad this one is a tad blurry.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4759.jpeg


I don't think I'll lay him in the grass any time soon though. I still feel he'd make a break for it. The perch will do for a while yet.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_475a.jpeg

Things are going very well.

Wallace seems to be growing at the desired pace I was shooting for and what I was told he'd likely progress at.

He's a 1 year old snake, June, 1st. I am still feeding small rats every 10-14 days with zero behavior problems. Only today has he finally started reacting to movements in front of the cage. I will be bumping him up to medium rats and quail when he hits his 1st B-day.

Warmer weather, increased daylight and age are getting him going.

He has be wonderful to handle since a few spraying incidents early on. The only accidental, defensive bite was not a bad experience. I actually am better having gone through incident, as I know what to expect and how BIG his mouth opens. The species certainly has one of the, if not the, largest mouth gapes in the snake world. The little ones are quite capable of opening wide.

He's 5+ feet. Maybe 5.5, though he's not really measurable so I'm a bit on the give or take there, but not by a lot.

The combination of SD and dwarf blood seem to be working in concert with his male, gender and keeping him very manageable as far as the size. He is a mover when he's being handled, but there are times when he sits still. I find he either starts out a bit crazy and settles, or he starts out mellow and gets antsy after 15-20 minutes.

I will be curious to see what the start of his second year brings. Another 3-4 feet and some thickness is what I'm expecting.

The guy takes a nice picture when he's ready to pose. Here are a couple in the evening light from yesterday.

This one brings out his SD green coloring. These guys do tend to change color a bit throughout the day it seems.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4778.jpeg

This one shows some nice head scales and another look at the peepers, well one of them anyhow.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4772.jpeg

Nice write up Gio. You really seem to have a handle on things with Wallace. Kind of like y'all have an understanding of one another. Beautiful animal!

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Nice write up Gio. You really seem to have a handle on things with Wallace. Kind of like y'all have an understanding of one another. Beautiful animal!

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Thank you sir!
I'm working with him and learning the species. I certainly want to keep him manageable as I have to look 20, maybe more years down the road. My kids won't be here to help eventually and my wife just isn't into the reptile scene.

I think I have a nice variety of species here and Wallace is the most "advanced" keep I have here.

I missed one other picture I wanted to post. This shows the other side of his head.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4776.jpeg

I will say with the right lighting conditions and shot distance, the I-Phone 7+ takes some nice photos.

The switch has flicked.

I've been trying to keep Wallace on small rats for his first year. Tonight he is on the 7 day mark, and I'm upping him to two smalls. These will be the last small rats he eats. His 1st Birthday is June, 1 and I feel I've done an adequate job keeping him healthy and feeding him smaller sized prey. It is important to me that he does not get too large. He is a snake I have to look at keeping 20 years down the road. So far he seems on target for 8-10" which I feel is handleable if the girth is 40 pounds or so. I'd be secure with a 50 pound boa constrictor, but retics are a different bag of tricks. Those of you who own them know what I'm speaking of.

They are not bad, or mean. Wallace is actually quite social these days however with the speed of these guys a mistake is more serious than a mistake with a boa or carpet.

I don't anticipate Wallace needing more than 1 large rat every 10-14 days or a large quail equivalent.

After a long go on smalls I'm bumping him to two rats tonight and then after June, 1, medium rats. The new large rats I get here are much smaller than the old ones so large is an option as well.

He's doing great, its time to feed him a bit more now.

Sounds like he's right on schedule Gio. Time flies and they grow fast. You're doing a great job with him bud. I'm looking forward to seeing him thrive for many years to come. ;)

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Sounds like he's right on schedule Gio. Time flies and they grow fast. You're doing a great job with him bud. I'm looking forward to seeing him thrive for many years to come. ;)

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Nice comment Zig and encouraging.
Thank you sir!

The boy skipped medium rats and plunged into larges yesterday.

I was planning on feeding the smalls for a little longer, but after the royal refused, yet again, I sent the rat over to the carpet who refused as well. I was not up for feeding the boa another live large rat so I let Wallace have a go at it. It was over quickly and he was fine with the size.

I won't necessarily keep the larges going every time, but the option is there now.

He hits a year old June 1 and after I drain the remaining small rats here, I'll be feeding large rats and the quail equivalent probably every 14 days.

Dang! They grow up so quickly lol! Wallace is such a great looking animal. I'm sure he looks like he tanked a football about now hahah


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