Jampeas - how big do they really get and what are they like?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cchardwick

Personally I think this snake is way too thin. That's what my retic looked like when I first got her and I fed her a small to medium rat twice a week until she beefed up. Now she weights in at five pounds and I feed her a large rat once a week. I found that if I fed too small of a food item it really doesn't satisfy, even if I feed several small mice they get really food aggressive and pace the cage. When feeding a larger prey item that gives a nice big noticeable bump in their belly they will sit on the heat for a longer time digesting and will never pace the cage like that. Typically I'll feed a food item big enough to see a pretty big bump in their belly, one that will be noticeable for several days, then once the bump is gone I'll have a few days to handle her before I feed again.

I also found that when they are young like this they metabolize the food much quicker, so the bump is noticeable and then gone and a couple days later they looks super skinny again. I try to feed before they look skinny again. After a few months they will put on enough weight to where they slow down a bit growth wise and can go much longer after a feeding before even starting to look thin. I totally feed based on the body condition of the snake. I have a King snake that I over fed when I first started and realized how fat she was. In the last two months I've only fed two small mice and she is still fat LOL. You can fast your snake for a long time if they are fat, or beef them up quickly if they are thin, especially with retics that have a huge appetite.

It also helps to watch some videos of retics feeding, it's amazing how big of a rodent they can pound down. My five pounder can probably take a jumbo rat.

---

He eats a small rat every 4-5 days. Males are always thinner. He only paces on the 4th-5th day. Also he is only 3 days over 6 months old so he is still a baby. A small rat leaves a noticeable lump and he is quiet after he eats his rat. He ate 2 large mice when I got him Oct 10th from kris over at Vital Exotics. He was about 3'. Now in a month, hes just about 4'.

I personally don't like to feed my snakes the max size prey they can eat every feeding. If I fed him to where he didn't look skinny, I would be feeding him a small rat every other day lol.

Also you do know male retics aren't a huge bodied snake like boas, dumerils, ball pythons and blood pythons. Males aren't supposed to be big fat blobs lol. Females get thicker. its pretty much the same with boas. Females get the girth while males stay more streamline unless you overfeed them.

Also if your snake actually gets so obese you notice it on the outside, the damage on the inside like the liver has already been done. They don't gain the weight outside in, it's inside out so by the time you see it, the damage is already done. fasting them will help but the damage is already done.

And yeah he looks thin when compared to my sunglow who is about 1' longer but from other retic people I've shared pictures with, they say he looks pretty good. I do feed him every 4-5 days right now and then will go to once a week when he is up to medium rats like Cody's SD guide says.

Like here is a picture of my sunglow BCI who is almost 3 years old and 5' long
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6a2b23_z_d.jpg
And then a few other angle pictures of Caesar
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...a9b0d9_z_d.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...026ffb_z_d.jpg

He has good muscle tone and you cant see his spine. And he's shed twice in the month I've had him so I must be doing something right lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cchardwick

Personally I think this snake is way too thin. That's what my retic looked like when I first got her and I fed her a small to medium rat twice a week until she beefed up. Now she weights in at five pounds and I feed her a large rat once a week. I found that if I fed too small of a food item it really doesn't satisfy, even if I feed several small mice they get really food aggressive and pace the cage. When feeding a larger prey item that gives a nice big noticeable bump in their belly they will sit on the heat for a longer time digesting and will never pace the cage like that. Typically I'll feed a food item big enough to see a pretty big bump in their belly, one that will be noticeable for several days, then once the bump is gone I'll have a few days to handle her before I feed again.

I also found that when they are young like this they metabolize the food much quicker, so the bump is noticeable and then gone and a couple days later they looks super skinny again. I try to feed before they look skinny again. After a few months they will put on enough weight to where they slow down a bit growth wise and can go much longer after a feeding before even starting to look thin. I totally feed based on the body condition of the snake. I have a King snake that I over fed when I first started and realized how fat she was. In the last two months I've only fed two small mice and she is still fat LOL. You can fast your snake for a long time if they are fat, or beef them up quickly if they are thin, especially with retics that have a huge appetite.

It also helps to watch some videos of retics feeding, it's amazing how big of a rodent they can pound down. My five pounder can probably take a jumbo rat.

---

I don't quite agree here.

First off you have a female that is not SD and only 50% Jamp.

Sauzo's snake has percentages of super dwarf and dwarf, is a male and is very young. As a species, even the mainland retics, including females should be lean and agile. It becomes painful to see captive snakes always provided with food. Even with the faster metabolism of a reticulated python, the system still needs a break. There are physical, internal changes that go on during digestion that need to complete a process and return to a normal state before feeding again. Though the retic has been known to forage/hunt, it is still primarily an ambush predator. Their evolution is similar to other boas and pythons. They are equipped to go without food for long periods.

When you add a captive environment to their lifestyle, you add many good things. A constant, healthy climate, shelter and safety from predators and acts of nature. You provide a steady food source and water source. You also take away much the their exercise, their famine periods, which is a normal event for them. Most folks don't provide nearly the variety of prey, or change the size of the prey that a wild snake would have exposure to.

In any event, the healthy but conservative approach is always better IMO. The prey in nature has its own challenges and is far leaner and probably healthier than our fat, farm raised rats and rabbits.

The fact that Sauzo bought a male animal with the SD and dwarf percentages somewhat signals he doesn't want an overly large snake. It's the same reason I purchased my animal a couple of weeks before he bought his. There was a lot of discussion with the breeder and others here about end size and a dietary course of action to keep things pointed in the "manageable" direction.

Reticulated pythons ARE NOT supposed to be of large girth compared to the other large pythons. They may be the fastest growing and have the fastest metabolisms of the pythons, but I'd be very concerned if I saw a young, male SD X dwarf with substantial body mass. Typically the length comes on first and the body fills out later toward adulthood.

In Reptileexperts videos you can see all of his snakes are very lean in the early videos. They become thicker in the later videos but still maintain what I believe to be a more "wild body type".

I'm not trying to dissuade you from feeding as you wish, but I don't think that Sauzo's snake is at all too thin, he is feeding what the breeder recommended if not a little more.

Feeding a snake is a great interaction, probably the most exciting for us as keepers. It is also the easiest part of the hobby to get carried away with.