Baby SD/Dwarf 1st feeding.

After letting this baby retic get comfortable for the last two days I decided to feed him. I was a bit worried because he's in shed and because he's my first retic and reading of their insane food response had me a bit anxious. I warmed a F/T small rat. He picked up the scent almost immediately and missed his first strike. Took a second strike and grabbed the rat by the tail. I moved the rat a bit to simulate the rat fighting and realized his grip was too loose. I ended up with the rat on my hemostats but to my surprise my retic had his own body in his tight grip. He remained biting himself for about 3 minutes. Once he released I offered the rat again but this time rather than strike he took it gently. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...64da57c37a.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...41e61b7dfd.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats on the first successful feeding Ram. Very nice retic.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Congrats on the first successful feeding Ram. Very nice retic.

---

Thanks EL-Ziggy. I just hope he didn't hurt himself. I'm avoiding stressing him since he seemed to have arrived stressed and defensive. I tried tapping him with the rat to se if he would release but he only coiled more as if constricting prey so I just left him until he released. All in all I feel great knowing he fed. Hopefully a sign that he's settling in and not just the Retic appetite.

Outstanding!!

He looks a lot more stripey than his his brother here and looks great!

Just a funny handling story here. I hooked my fella mid body and he squirmed a little. I reached in and grab him and was met with a literal fountain of piss and musk. my shirt, the top of his cage and our carpet. Thankfully my wife is out of town on business and I'm on day 3 of 4 off so I have time to get the little room squared away.

I kept on my mission and brought him out for some chill time. I'm sure he was not thrilled, but I'm the leader here LOL!

He took a half hearted shot at my hand and then figured he'd ride it out. I think I handled him a little too early after his last feed so it is my error.

All went well but I was a tad annoyed as I'm still learning the species.

This is still a very new and very young snake. He's a very thin/lean and timid 3 footer but he settles fast.

You look to be doing well. Don't get intimidated by anything he does at this age. They are often flighty, scared and small when we get them. We rule their world at the moment and once they get comfy I'm certain they will be the most interactive and rewarding of our captives.

Congrats on the new noodle! Almost looks super tiger with the striping but not as light colored. Keep the updates coming!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

Outstanding!!

He looks a lot more stripey than his his brother here and looks great!

Just a funny handling story here. I hooked my fella mid body and he squirmed a little. I reached in and grab him and was met with a literal fountain of piss and musk. my shirt, the top of his cage and our carpet. Thankfully my wife is out of town on business and I'm on day 3 of 4 off so I have time to get the little room squared away.

I kept on my mission and brought him out for some chill time. I'm sure he was not thrilled, but I'm the leader here LOL!

He took a half hearted shot at my hand and then figured he'd ride it out. I think I handled him a little too early after his last feed so it is my error.

All went well but I was a tad annoyed as I'm still learning the species.

This is still a very new and very young snake. He's a very thin/lean and timid 3 footer but he settles fast.

You look to be doing well. Don't get intimidated by anything he does at this age. They are often flighty, scared and small when we get them. We rule their world at the moment and once they get comfy I'm certain they will be the most interactive and rewarding of our captives.

---

Oh wow. I have never been musked:colbert: lol. Although he did attempt to make a run for it and escape his tub today, I'm surprised I didn't get musked when I grabbed him to guide him back in his tub. I think my confidence is building with him. He is so active as soon as his tub opens up, and that's something I'm not used to with the Ball python. I had successful feedings with all three of my "Captives" (I like that):gj:.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmcrook

Congrats on the new noodle! Almost looks super tiger with the striping but not as light colored. Keep the updates coming!

---

Thanks. I will surely update my progress as I hope you, Sauzo and Gio do as well. It certainly is a relief to share the experience with others.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

Outstanding!!

He looks a lot more stripey than his his brother here and looks great!

Just a funny handling story here. I hooked my fella mid body and he squirmed a little. I reached in and grab him and was met with a literal fountain of piss and musk. my shirt, the top of his cage and our carpet. Thankfully my wife is out of town on business and I'm on day 3 of 4 off so I have time to get the little room squared away.

I kept on my mission and brought him out for some chill time. I'm sure he was not thrilled, but I'm the leader here LOL!

He took a half hearted shot at my hand and then figured he'd ride it out. I think I handled him a little too early after his last feed so it is my error.

All went well but I was a tad annoyed as I'm still learning the species.

This is still a very new and very young snake. He's a very thin/lean and timid 3 footer but he settles fast.

You look to be doing well. Don't get intimidated by anything he does at this age. They are often flighty, scared and small when we get them. We rule their world at the moment and once they get comfy I'm certain they will be the most interactive and rewarding of our captives.

---

Lol I hope mine doesn't piss all over me. He seems more mellow when I pick him up with my hand. I tried using a thin pvc pipe I had since I don't have a hook and he actually got kind of mad at that lol. After I went in with my hand, he was fine with that haha.

@OP-Nice looking little retic. You get him from Vital Exotics too?

And I think i'm finally going to get a cheap camera beginning of next month!! So i'll be able to post pictures. Got all my UniHeats, Mr Heater Big Buddy and propane tanks ready for emergency power outages for my galls and guy. So I can get a camera and then I need to set aside another $1200 for 3 more AP cages for the dumerils, bp and jcp. Then I will finally be done...for now.

@OP- I'm bouncing all over but not sure if you have a hide for him but you should give him one. I noticed when I gave Caesar his cool and warm RBI hides, he became really laid back and much more open to being picked up and coming out without getting all flighty. He has become a lot more inquisitive and spends a lot of his time either perched up on his shelf looking outside or sitting at the front of the cage looking outside or sitting on the rim of his water dish......yep looking out front lol. Of course after dinner, he usually sleeps all day in one of his hides and sits with his head and about 1/4 of his body poking out of his hide at night.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

Lol I hope mine doesn't piss all over me.

---

Hahaha be prepared to be peed on! Mine has voided herself on me or while out of her cage more than any snake I've kept. If you know to be on the lookout for it (sausage butt) you can catch it before the floodgates open but trust me, you're gonna get hosed eventually ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lol yeah I've been lucky with my JCP. A lot of people say their carpets have pee'd on them too. And oh I know about sausage butt, I try to time complete cage cleaning when I don't see sausage butt but somehow the snakes seems to find somewhere to dig out a nice watery urate the day after I do a nice cleaning.

Hey, how are things coming along??

Just want to see some other snaps of this chap.

Anything?

You doing OK with him?

No shame if it wasn't your bag or there were problems. I'm sincerely interested good or bad.

Likewise, just curious how things are going. And as Gio stated, no shame if it turned out not to be your cup of tea. Just looking to share SD/Dwarf retic experience with other folks on here. Hope all is well!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well looks like the snake ate him.....maybe not.....or maybe so hmmmmmmmm :)

I've never been peed or pooped on by River. lmao Even if her butt is bursting with poop, I have yet to have her do it anywhere but in her enclosure. *knock on wood*

It hasn't been too long so OP may be back with more updates at some point. I know I take more than a month to update my threads sometimes.

Any updates RamMac? Just curious to compare growth rates and temperaments among all of us SD/Dwarf keepers on here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No one can beat The Caesar for growth. He will out eat, out poop, and out grow any of the competition!! Then he will probably eat me :rage:

And I still haven't been pooped or peed on either Jmcrook!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

No one can beat The Caesar for growth. He will out eat, out poop, and out grow any of the competition!! Then he will probably eat me :rage:

And I still haven't been pooped or peed on either Jmcrook!!

---

lol I don't know man... if I fed Phyllis as much as she actually wanted to eat she'd probably give Caesar a run for his money hahaha!
Congrats on the zero piss shower record too hahaha!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha thanks. Caesar did create a waterfall of piss last night I guess. I woke up to a nice dried puddle of piss on his shelf which dribbled down onto the top of his warm hide and ended up at the doorway to the warm hide with a big fat pile of urate. So I'm guessing the tsunami of pee liquid washed the urate off the shelf, onto the warm hide and then off that onto the floor lol.

And if I fed Caesar what he really wanted, he would be bigger than he is now I bet lol. He ate a medium rat Wednesday and today when I was cleaning his dried waterfall of pee, he decided to come over and investigate. After that I snatched him up and made him come out and hang out with me lol. He hung out for about 30 mins and then got all antsy so let him crawl back in his cage and he just stared at me. I know he wants more food lol. When I got away he lays back down or goes to the back. When I come by his cage, he is out front and looking at me haha. Such a beggar haha.

Sauzo- I love that description, tsunami of pee, that's hilarious! :clap:

It's amazing as something like feeding that we think should be so simple due to instinct can turn in to a major snake SNAFU. I have no idea how many rats Ginger has eaten backwards, lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pbyeerts

It's amazing as something like feeding that we think should be so simple due to instinct can turn in to a major snake SNAFU. I have no idea how many rats Ginger has eaten backwards, lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Wait until one of the snakes folds a rat in half like a sandwich. I watched a couple mine do that and holy, it looked like they were swallowing a pool ball. Funny part is after eating like that, they have slowly crawled off, not even looking for seconds hahaha.

Hey,

I've seen you posting in threads. The latest was January 15th of this year. I noticed in your profile there was no retic.

NO SHAME man, what happened?

Not your bag, health issues, mean and nasty or what??


I don't think anybody here will judge you for giving up, or placing your animal.

I have his brother and he is still around 4 feet long. A bit shy and NOT a food machine at this point. He's great to handle but is a little frisky getting out of the cage.

Similar to Sauzo's retic, he'll bite the snake hook, but if I grab him mid body, he'll come out and chill.

Anyhow, I know you are still around and am just interested in what happened with the retic. I will not rip you in the slightest if you just didn't care for the species or were nervous about the end size.

We are all here to learn and share bud.

Don't be ashamed if you ditched it. I ditched my carpet because...well....I freakin got tired of getting bit or worrying about getting bit every time I opened the cage. If a certain snake is not your cup of tea, better to rehome to someone who will enjoy it rather than keeping it and having it end up getting neglected.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

Don't be ashamed if you ditched it. I ditched my carpet because...well....I freakin got tired of getting bit or worrying about getting bit every time I opened the cage. If a certain snake is not your cup of tea, better to rehome to someone who will enjoy it rather than keeping it and having it end up getting neglected.

---

Exactly!

If you are constantly being assaulted by an animal and working with it becomes joyless and a chore it may be time to move on. I've been lucky to a certain extent. My retic is the snake that challenges me the most but I'm up for it.

Sauzo is a boa lover as am I. I had the green light for ANY type of snake, and I really struggled when it came down to a retic, a Suri BCC or a locality carpet.

If John1982 had any Papuan olives to sell I'd have strongly considered one and I actually was moments away from buying a scrubby from DM Exotics.

I'm thrilled with my choice as I LOVE the tiger pattern on retics, and it didn't hurt to have Sauzo follow my lead and JMcrook lead the way with his girl.

Hey, even if you have to PM me, I'd like to hear what is going on.

Again,,,, the species is NOT for everyone and there are many reasons to pass if you feel long term care would be a potential issue.