Caesar progression thread.

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

You've utterly disappointed him Sauzo, how could you?

Lol River does that, too. "Food? Where food?"

*No food*

*Lays head on ground or nearby object and lays there, maybe twitching in excitement at movement but always being disappointed*

We can only be glad they're not following Demigod's example and latching onto limbs every time you open the tank (ok maybe not every time but I feed him literally as much as he will eat and it doesn't help and it's been 1.5 years).


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Haha yeah. He's been laying there this whole time. I don't think I could feed him as much as he will eat. Like I said, I think he has a hollow tail he hides food in lol. I think I did reach his limit a while ago when he ate a small rat, weaned rat and large mouse but he was younger then. Now he easily eats 2 small rats. Gonna see if the reptile shop has a small enough quail for him tomorrow. I'll post some pics of his adventure there if I get one lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Haha yeah. He's been laying there this whole time. I don't think I could feed him as much as he will eat. Like I said, I think he has a hollow tail he hides food in lol. I think I did reach his limit a while ago when he ate a small rat, weaned rat and large mouse but he was younger then. Now he easily eats 2 small rats. Gonna see if the reptile shop has a small enough quail for him tomorrow. I'll post some pics of his adventure there if I get one lol.

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Yeah Demi is on a diet now because clearly giving him extra food is not going to curb his appetite and he's gotten chunky. Nobody else in this house is a bottomless pit like that snake...

Looking forward to the update! River at least gets excited about variety, hopefully Caesar does, too.


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Freshly shed Caesar growing like a weed.
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Looking good man! That's a helluva paint job on him!


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Thanks man. Think i'm going to cut his feeding to once a week instead of every 4 days. He's starting to get retic hips lol. Think I might be overfeeding him a little bit haha.

Caesar waiting for dinner like he usually does lol.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...878901ca_b.jpg

And I'm still poop free!! I have been accident free for 68 days :D

lol good track record on the lack of poo bombs! Phyllis hasn't gotten me but maybe twice, however, I have had to clean up her cage every day for the last three days and three times total on the first of those three days. Reticulated sewage line lol


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Haha. Yeah Caesar poops on the cool side of his cage in the back corner so i'm pretty lucky its really only in one spot. he did drop a little dollop of urate on the warm side which was surprising. Also his poop is pretty solid, not like a watery mess thank god. Seems he has "cleaner, more solid poops" with quails and chicks. Rats gave him pretty stinky poop that was more soft. Cant believe i'm analyzing snake poop now :rolleye2:

I wish Phyllis would just pick a spot and use it. She's all over the place, big watery piss over here, giant stinking turd over there, a pile of urate over there... seems like it never ends lol. Full time snake janitor and I've only got two snakes haha


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Haha. Yup. It's a glamorous life for sure. I'm usually clean something up off someone every couple days. That's why I went with the basic set up for everyone. Makes spotting and cleaning up urates or turds easier. But like I said, I am kind of lucky I guess cause most of my snakes drop a deuce or piss in one of 4 corners of their cages. The boas are usually in one of two back corners, the retic is back left corner. The dumerils just drops a deuce anywhere lol. I found one about 4" long inside her cool hide haha. She's only about 18" yet dropped a 4" deuce haha. The BP drops em anywhere, the JCP drops em on her cool side. And Princess Harley my beardie wont go poop unless she's in her little bathtub. She jumps off her hammock and sits on the cool side scratching at the glass when she has to poop. She's like a dog I swear haha.

Lol and just after typing what I typed above, I looked over to see Allison cruising all over. I wander over there and she dropped a huge deuce. So today it was Rosey's urate this morning and now Allison's deuce, what a glamorous job :gj:

Caesar doing his BP periscope imitation ;)
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Omg those last two pics are priceless [emoji38] so cute!


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He's looking good!

Wallace is a steady eater every 7 and I'll bet I can take him to 10 with no issues. He's a stealthy fellow as well.

Caesar seems a bit more outgoing and hungry which is cool.

I'm certainly OK with a 7-9 footer here.

Yeah I've changed Caesar to every 7 days. He seems fairly ok with it now. He's not so food driven as when I got him.

And yeah he is definitely outgoing. He loves to watch what's going on outside the cage and anytime I slide open Rosey or Vicky's door, he is immediately poking his head out of his hide or raising his head up to see what's going on lol. And once the lights go out, he usually will sit on top of a hide or sit with his head resting on the litter dam, looking outside.

As for size, I really am not sure how big Caesar will get. I'm going to plan for 10' so anything smaller and I will for sure be prepared. Not too worried really as long as he keeps his laid back mellow personality.

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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

Omg those last two pics are priceless [emoji38] so cute!


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Lol yeah I thought so too. I was sitting on the chair by his cage eating a cheeseburger and looked over to see his head poking above the litter dam as his cage is level with the chair. I had to get up and snap a picture of him lol. He was a good boy and sat there for the photo session. Then afterwards, when I sat down to finish my burger, I guess he figured no food, no need to stay here and he back peddled into his head and readjusted his head so just his nose and eyes poked out of the cool hide haha.

Also here's an older picture of him after a rat. Guess he wanted seconds haha. Not a very clear picture though :(
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Love retics. So comical and full of personality.

Yup that's retics in a nut shell. I haven't posted about it on this site but I recently had a fridge failure, so between a shed cycle, the fridge failing, and waiting to get a chest freezer/new food River and several other snakes have gone over a month without food....I feel bad for her but she's taking it well. Beyond the usual excited outburst from her hide she's not misbehaving or showing any extreme hunger behavior. I should have more food in by Thursday as I ordered it last week, and these poor hungry snakes will be able to eat. Hopefully a chest freezer will help me to save the snake food in the future because this is the third failure in 2 years. :/

Caesar is a cute guy! He gives you more of a "food plz" look than the "food!!!! Oh ok no food *hangs head*" look I get from River.


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He used to be really food driven but like I said, he seems to have mellowed out on it after being packed with quail, rats and chicks every 4 days for a month or so. He still loves to eat and go bonkers when he does smell food but yeah he more "food plz" now than "FOOD!!"

And that sucks about the frig failing with all the food. I need to pick me up a little chest freezer too and stock up on food for everyone.

And oh man, one month with no food!! If my snakes went that long, I'm sure there would be a headline of man eaten by his snakes lol. The boas get worked up after 2 weeks with no food. By 3 weeks they are good and hungry. Everyone else is following my finger around after a week haha.

Here's Caesar about 15 mins ago. Think he's waiting for food haha. He was on top of his hides and now he's camping the door.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...b80bf160_b.jpg

And thanks. Yeah Caesar is pretty awesome. Total laid back retic. He's kind of like a thinner, longer, more active boa with a touch more interactive personality.

Lol. The most dramatic my snakes get is staring at me if I walk in. No bites, or grumpiness or anything. The ball python has luckily passed his "strike at anything that moves" phase for a few months now. Very few of my snakes are eating more often than 2 weeks at this point.

I love the retics, too. Definitely plan on adding a few more, most likely SDs though as standard retics take up a lot of room. Haha. They're definitely great interactive display snakes.


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Yeah, I want a SD pied tiger but they haven't been made yet and when they are, I'm sure they will cost a kidney or 2 lol. I also do like platinum tiger SDs.

About the only snake I got that would qualify as display for me is my JCP as she is still kind of excitable easily but is calming down. The rest of my snakes I try and get out at least a few times a week even if only for 15 mins or so just so they are used to being handled. Seems to make them less shy and skittish. My vet and the nurses were actually pretty surprised how tame Rosey is. All Rosey wanted to do was get back to me when the vet or nurses held her lol. They like my reptiles except Allison did take a few shots at the vet haha.

And the food begging begins....
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LOL, who could resist that face? :)

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

LOL, who could resist that face? :)

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Haha I know. He plays the "cute look" card every time.

I'm such a huge fan of Caesar and his adorable food begging snoot ☺

Here he is the night before dinner. I think he is preparing himself for tomorrow lol.
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Also, not sure if anyone else has had this but when I feed Caesar chicken or quail, his poops aren't as stinky. He has much stinkier poop when he eats rats. I think this opposite of most people lol.

Caesar relaxing on his shelf. This guy rivals the boas for champion lounger :P
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Such a sharp looking critter! I love how clean the tiger pattern looks with the white albino coloration. Someday I really want a lavender tiger high % SD or snow tiger high % SD. Retics have hands down the best paint jobs out there in my opinion.


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Thanks. Kris said he picked out a sweet male for me although i'm starting to think he just grabbed Caesar cause he was probably eating all the profits hahaha. The stripe is almost complete except like 2 breaks and his temperament is crazy. He's so freakin mellow haha except when food is around. He seems to love to curl up on me and just lounge. Only other snakes I got that like to sit on me that much are big Rosey and Luna. And yeah I like the paint jobs on retics too.

Really nice shelf pics!


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Thanks. He did perk up a little when I got close. I was assuming he was thinking it was dinner time but after no smell of food, he laid back down lol.

Alright guys, at what size you did guys start feeding your retics medium rats? Caesar is now eating 2 small rats or 2 chicks or 2 quails every week and within 1.5-2 days, his lump is gone and he is staring out the front again. Even after 2 of them, he still doesn't seem "full" as in he doesn't retreat to hide and digest. He will sit on top of the hide and stare out the door or put his body behind his warm hide and lay his head and neck on top of the warm hide and look outside. He's probably just over 4' and probably close to 1.5 inches thick.

According to my records, Phyllis started eating medium rats in late October-early November at about 9ish months old close to 5'. She had been taking big smalls/small mediums for a bit previous to that. Even after taking her biggest meal (medium and a small that Geoffrey turned down in the same feeding) she didn't have much for a lump after 2 days. I bet Caesar could tackle a medium at this point. Phyllis's last meal was a small rat and she had completely passed it through her in 4 days. Now after I had her out for a while earlier she's back to smashing her cage up hah. Tomorrow is feeding day and she's for sure getting a medium rat.


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Lol yeah, I might try Caesar on a medium next feeding. It's pretty apparent even 2 small rats really aren't doing the job anymore for him. I'll probably up his poultry size too since he seems to love them more than rats. And also January 18 will 8 months for Caesar so yeah he is close to when Phyllis took her medium rat.

According to my records River started on medium rats sometime between 4.5' and 6', only a month before she hit 6' so probably safe to say 5'-6'. She was immediately bumped to larges as I saw the mediums weren't enough. Lol

She had 5-6 meals of doubled up small rats since hitting 4.5' then 2 meals of mediums before being bumped to larges at 6'. This was over the span of maybe 3 months, but I didn't record any of the length measurements in between.


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Ok cool, yeah it sounds like Caesar might be ready for medium rats and probably next size up quails and chicks. I believe I was buying her 3 week old quails and small chicks. He is growing like a freakin weed. He's passed up Dottie in size and getting close to overtaking Vicky in size. Only one larger than him is Rosey at 7 ft but shes also just over 4 years old vs Caesar at almost 8 months haha.

River has hit spurts and periods of zero growth. I'm fairly sure she hit the 6' mark at 1.5-2 months after she was recorded at 4.5' but I didn't record it. After that her growth stagnated and took ~7 months to get to 7' and only went up two sizes in rat and took a few 1 lb rabbits. She's now on colossals at over 7' at 2.5 years old and once she sheds I may try to get another length measurement. It's hard to tell if she's grown any she may surprise me. Lol


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Lol yeah same. Caesar looks pretty much the same until I take him out and let him sit on me. Then its like "dang Caesar! you've gotten huge". Then he either stretches out on the bed or will curl up on me somewhere and go to sleep or sometimes he will stretch out in front me and either stare at the floor or stare at the tv lol.

I still have a perfect record of not being pissed or pooped on lol. Been almost 3 months now!!

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Lol yeah same. Caesar looks pretty much the same until I take him out and let him sit on me. Then its like "dang Caesar! you've gotten huge". Then he either stretches out on the bed or will curl up on me somewhere and go to sleep or sometimes he will stretch out in front me and either stare at the floor or stare at the tv lol.

I still have a perfect record of not being pissed or pooped on lol. Been almost 3 months now!!

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Very brave letting the retic on the bed. I've already been peed on twice this year.


Reading this makes me wonder if I've been underfeeding my guy. He's a little over 4 feet as well but only getting one small. I've been thinking about feeding him 2 but didn't want to over do it. But seeing that you've been feeding Caesar 2 smalls no problem and they're about the same size I'll give it a try today. Do you know about how heavy the smalls you feed him are? I've small rats vary a lot in size from different rat breeders

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Originally Posted by ShaneSilva

Very brave letting the retic on the bed. I've already been peed on twice this year.


Reading this makes me wonder if I've been underfeeding my guy. He's a little over 4 feet as well but only getting one small. I've been thinking about feeding him 2 but didn't want to over do it. But seeing that you've been feeding Caesar 2 smalls no problem and they're about the same size I'll give it a try today. Do you know about how heavy the smalls you feed him are? I've small rats vary a lot in size from different rat breeders

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Lol yeah I know but Caesar seems really mellow verging on being lazy haha. Although if he does piss on the bed, I'm going to be in a mess literally and figuratively :P.

If I fed Caesar one small a week, he would tear his cage apart. He already sticks his head out with mouth open and flails his head around after finishing his first meal and smelling the 2nd one lol. I think up to one year old, they are bottomless pits. That's why I feed him on a generous schedule plus it seems to keep laid back. After a year old, i'll cut him back and see how it goes.

As for weight, no I don't got a weight. I generally don't weigh the food anymore. I did the whole 10% body weight stuff for Dottie but really to me its a waste of time. I just feed them something that leave a noticeable lump and makes them wander off which I assume means they are full and happy. As for size, a rough guess would be about 4 inches or so from nose to butt and probably around 1-1.5 inch thick at the rear hips.

Caesar has grown a ton though. I got him back on Oct 10th and he was about 2 ft. Now at last guesstimate, he is just over 4 ft. and I think he might be going into shed as it's starting to look like his neck is getting wrinkly and he's not his usual social self.

Thanks for the info. Definitely going to start feeding more than one small. He ate two and was still looking for more tonight.

And 2 feet in 3 months is quite a bit of growth. You must be doing something right

Yeah Caesar usually stills looks for more food even after 2 smalls. Heck he looks for food 2 days after eating. Tonight, I slid open his door to change his water. He popped his head out of his cool hide and looked at me. I reached in, grabbed his water bowl and went and washed it and refilled it. Came back and he was sitting on the warm side which is the door and side he gets fed on. He was all looking at my hand and the water bowl lol. After being all excited for about 5 secs and then seeing no food was coming, just a water bowl, he turned around and went back into his cool hide lol. He is shedding so he's not too social at the moment but he is social enough for food.

Lol he's way more food oriented than River. Once River goes blue she wants nothing to do with anything. She slowly starts poking her head out less and less from the beginning of her shed cycle until she finally goes blue.

I can just picture Caesar's food face though. And the disappointment after he didn't get anything. Lol Some retics are such characters. Guess he's gotta fuel his growth somehow. :P


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Gotta love how intelligent they are

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Alright guys, at what size you did guys start feeding your retics medium rats? Caesar is now eating 2 small rats or 2 chicks or 2 quails every week and within 1.5-2 days, his lump is gone and he is staring out the front again. Even after 2 of them, he still doesn't seem "full" as in he doesn't retreat to hide and digest. He will sit on top of the hide and stare out the door or put his body behind his warm hide and lay his head and neck on top of the warm hide and look outside. He's probably just over 4' and probably close to 1.5 inches thick.

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According to this the rats I've been feeding Levi are considered medium. He is also just over 4' so about the same size as Caesar. With that said I'm sure he'll have no problem taking a medium

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

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Yeah, today I bought everyone rats and decided to weigh them all so I know exactly what I'm dealing with and if I need to give the owner of my reptile shop a bunch of grief for selling me undersized rats for overcharged prices haha. Anyways, her rats are pretty much right in the middle. Her larges are 255g, medium is 117g, and the smalls were 65g and the adult mouse I feed my dumerils was 20g. So she is safe from my rage plus she always lets me rummage through the bags of frozen feeders and pick out the ones I want lol.

And yeah I'll give Caesar a medium next feeding. He's going into shed so I'm skipping his feeding this week as he is quiet and just sitting in his hide. I decided to give him a bigger tub so he can soak in it too and also added a silk vine above his shelf so he can have a little hiding spot up high if wanted. He popped his head out to look at the stuff and then went back in the hide lol.

You can see the stuff here. I also gave Rosey and Vicky and Dot bigger tubs too so they can soak also if wanted. Sorry about the reflection from my beardies cage in the picture there lol.
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Very nice setups Sauzo. Your critters have it good! :)

Sauzo, This is what works great for my snakes: I size my soaking bowls as if they are hides, maybe you did too, I can't tell. And I believe it makes my snakes feel more secure, plus they can easily see 170 degrees and another 90 degrees with a slight turn of the head. This way they always know what's going on which is a good defense or for ambush. They also use the bowls even after they have splashed all of the water out.

That's why I believe the bowls are dual purpose, soaking and as a pseudo-hide.

I also believe the round shape helps with feeling more secure than the RB hides.

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Mack

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Butch
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Elvira
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Lizzy on the bottom, Mack in the middle

I guess the 2 rat breeders I been buying from are both very generous with the weight of their rats. Some of the "smalls" I been feeding were over 100g

You do have nice set ups. I just upgraded a couple tubs today as well. Does Caesar not eat when he's in shed?

I'm digging your setup too Reinz! Are those 6ft enclosures? Where did you find the larger water bowls and are they spill proof?

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Very nice setups Sauzo. Your critters have it good! :)

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Thanks. I try to take the best care of them I can :)