Trip to Ben Renick's facility (MAJOR DUW)

This last weekend I went up to St. Louis, and Ben Renick was kind enough to let some us come visit his facility. It was very nice, and we got to see some incredible snakes! He has several great BP morphs, and also has some amazing retics and anacondas. All of his snakes are very well cared for, and he was more than willing to field a bunch of newb questions!

Here are a couple of shots of my first time seeing a pied up close:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ed1_996561.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../GAL-pied2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../GAL-pied3.jpg


No matter how many times it's been said, the pics just DO NOT do them justice! here is my attempt at showing how bright this pastel was!


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...AL-pastel1.jpg


And I know this is a BP pictures forum, but I wanted the BPnetters who haven't really been around larger snakes to see these:

This albino retic is still growing at ~12 feet and over 100 pounds!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...womanretic.jpg

I was amazed at just how strong she was!!! Ben said they pretty much do what they want, when they want, and hopefully it matches what you're trying to do!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...GAL-shutup.jpg

And again, just to show the sheer size of this animal!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ron-retic2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ron-retic1.jpg

As you can see, I'm not a small guy, but it was everything I could do at times to 'control' her! At one point she was sort of around my neck and across my chest, and just with her holding on (similar to what my BP does) it was a lot of pressure! It just makes me appreciate how magnificent the larger snakes really are!

Another thing I had never heard about is how smooth their scales are... they feel a lot silkier (for lack of a better term) than BPs do.

We also got to see a spider, some cinnies, and a fire! I have to say that the pastel was the most visually stunning... seriously, if you haven't seen one in person, it's worth it!

Ben also has anacondas, and while they were not very friendly (there was no handling attemped!), they look really cool! I didn't know there was so much variety in retics or anacondas... my new avatar pic is a supertiger retic (someone correct me if I'm off on that!).

So, many thanks to Ben for his hospitality! He will definitely be getting some business from us as we start building our collection!

those are some awesome pics dude :D
that snake is ridiculous ahaha

Wow! It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your pics with us. I'm not into giants, but that is a prime example of an albino retic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swingline0.0.1

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../GAL-pied3.jpg

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"X" marks the spot where I would kiss it and hug it and wuv it 4eva - just sayin. :wuv:


dr del

Great pictures! +rep for those :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alice

Wow! It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your pics with us. I'm not into giants, but that is a prime example of an albino retic.

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I THINK that's a white phase.... they are my fav. giant!

Great Pix! Ben was kind to let you visit.... and it looks like you had a BLAST!!!! :D

That is a beautiful pied!

And that snake is massive! Must have been hard to hold because it looks like its moving around a lot.

Very nice pictures and it must have been a blast getting to see so many awsome animals up close. :rockon:

Bens a real awesome dude, I love his snakes. He is the reason I love big constritors so mcuh.:gj:

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. That snake is HUGE! Looks like a great visit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

"X" marks the spot where I would kiss it and hug it and wuv it 4eva - just sayin. :wuv:


dr del

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Yeah, no kidding! :)