Kalatoa 100% Pure SD Retic Progression (Pic heavy...)

Switched all the kids to aspen this week. So far I kinda like it. Very fine dust though. Phyllis sneezed like a dozen time or more after she ate tonight, wonder if she got a nose full of aspen dust while eating. Otherwise makes the cages look brighter, the one piss I've had to clean was very well absorbed and easy to spot. Humidity has plummeted though which is probably attributed to both a drier substrate as well as drier air from the heat being on in the house. Sitting around 40~50% down from 60~70% with coco chips.
Also got Phyllis a pink camo bowl and upgraded Gerald to her old regular camo bowl.
Also Phyllis ate tonight after a ten day gap between feedings and didn't completely destroy her cage or face. Let's hope she'll go another ten... I feel like she's gotten a bit chunky so I'm trying to stretch out her feeding schedule
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fc4c0271de.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a02f3fdfd8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a7ca1a0a34.jpg



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What i do is mist the aspen right after i change it to get rid of the dust. Then i usually mist it once or twice a week in the winter. I've never had it mold and it even got soaked from Luna plopping her big bottom in her water bowl and flooding the cage.

And yeah, aspen is much easier to work with imo than the coco stuff. The coco stuff does hold humidity well but from what i read on the chondro boards which seems to apply to all snakes really, is that as long as the snake is hydrated by drinking water, they really dont need to live in a constant wet cage. All that does is create an awesome breeding ground for bacteria, fungi and mold. All of the chondro guys seem to mist and let it spike, then let it dry completely out down to around 40% and then spike it again. Recently that is what i have been doing with all the snakes but mostly because i have been lazy and havent been misting their cages lol. They all seem fine and Rosey even had a perfect shed and her humidity has been around 50%.

Caesar sometimes gets a piece or 2 of aspen stuck in his throat here and there. You hear him coughing, then he goes over and takes a huge drink of water and is fine again lol. I try and feed everyone on cardboard now but half the time they drag it off and through the aspen :(

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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Switched all the kids to aspen this week. So far I kinda like it. Very fine dust though. Phyllis sneezed like a dozen time or more after she ate tonight, wonder if she got a nose full of aspen dust while eating. Otherwise makes the cages look brighter, the one piss I've had to clean was very well absorbed and easy to spot. Humidity has plummeted though which is probably attributed to both a drier substrate as well as drier air from the heat being on in the house. Sitting around 40~50% down from 60~70% with coco chips.
Also got Phyllis a pink camo bowl and upgraded Gerald to her old regular camo bowl.
Also Phyllis ate tonight after a ten day gap between feedings and didn't completely destroy her cage or face. Let's hope she'll go another ten... I feel like she's gotten a bit chunky so I'm trying to stretch out her feeding schedule
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fc4c0271de.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a02f3fdfd8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a7ca1a0a34.jpg



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Looks great brother!

Nearly got a good measurement on Phyllis tonight but couldn't say her exact length for certain. Pretty confident that she is 9' if not 9'6" at most. Certainly much larger than was anticipated for a super dwarf but honestly, is in every way a very manageable snake. Handles easily, not an unreasonable amount of maintenance, well mannered, and gorgeous to boot. Just wish she didn't push so much as it stresses me out. She turns two years old on February 14th. Really very lucky to get to care for this awesome critter.
To give a sense of scale/proportion, that blue hook is just about 3'6"
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...aeb15fe2ea.jpg


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She's a looker - little larger than I would anticipate for a SD but like you said, still manageable is a good thing. Think she'll put more length on? (Understanding snakes grow until they die, but drastically slows with age)

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Originally Posted by BR8080

She's a looker - little larger than I would anticipate for a SD but like you said, still manageable is a good thing. Think she'll put more length on? (Understanding snakes grow until they die, but drastically slows with age)

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I really can't say for sure. Supposedly her parents were pure WC Kalatoa ~7' mom and ~5-6' dad. A year ago I said I wouldn't be surprised if she got close to 10'. She's about there but has put on significantly more weight rather than length in the last 4-5 months. Probably a foot or more in length since August but has doubled in weight in the same amount of time. Was about 7'6" weighing 7.5lbs in August and is now ~9' and 15lbs. I guess I should prepare for a 12' snake at this point... that is one "Super" dwarf I suppose... love her though


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Nearly got a good measurement on Phyllis tonight but couldn't say her exact length for certain. Pretty confident that she is 9' if not 9'6" at most. Certainly much larger than was anticipated for a super dwarf but honestly, is in every way a very manageable snake. Handles easily, not an unreasonable amount of maintenance, well mannered, and gorgeous to boot. Just wish she didn't push so much as it stresses me out. She turns two years old on February 14th. Really very lucky to get to care for this awesome critter.
To give a sense of scale/proportion, that blue hook is just about 3'6"
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...aeb15fe2ea.jpg
9 feet does sound very manageable. Sometimes i wonder if i got in over my heat with my male mainland........ but dang, i am in love with him and theres no way i could ever let him go. Regardless of his size. He has grown out of being a pusher so i think i will get him a good 10-14 feet or so and then just maintaience feed him.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Nearly got a good measurement on Phyllis tonight but couldn't say her exact length for certain. Pretty confident that she is 9' if not 9'6" at most. Certainly much larger than was anticipated for a super dwarf but honestly, is in every way a very manageable snake. Handles easily, not an unreasonable amount of maintenance, well mannered, and gorgeous to boot. Just wish she didn't push so much as it stresses me out. She turns two years old on February 14th. Really very lucky to get to care for this awesome critter.
To give a sense of scale/proportion, that blue hook is just about 3'6"
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...aeb15fe2ea.jpg


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She's getting big!


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This young lady turns two years old next month! Can't believe it's been that long. She shed last night is getting enormous. Every bit of 9'+. Using coco chips with her again because I didn't like how the aspen was roughing up her belly scales when she pushed.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cb776006c9.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d1826ec0d1.jpg
RBI jumbo hides in an Animal plastics T25 and the shelf with the same footprint for scale reference. Not a super dwarf, a SUPER dwarf hahah


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Definitely getting big. I went back to ReptiChips for Caesar after you mentioned the rough scales to me. It's weird, the boas and everyone else is fine on it, just Caesar from his pushing I'm assuming. He never had that issue as a baby, only started fairly recently. Didnt really thing much about it until you mentioned it for Phyllis. Guess the retics need their ReptiChips haha.