Python Reticulatus Wallace Progression!

I've been a little lax on posting pictures of this beautiful snake. Wallace is doing very well here and is growing rapidly like most retics.

I shot these pictures earlier today.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3152.jpeg

I wish the first couple came out a little sharper.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3153.jpeg

I learned a little something today about these guys. I had Wallace out and he is always good for me once out of his cage. I let him curl around my wrist and he is pretty chill. Today I let him go to floor. Bad idea! He was off like a shot. I was lucky to have the last bit of him in my hand or he would have been off to the races. This species is one of the, if not the, fastest moving python there is. He is best kept in hand while he is small. He's a few clicks over 4 feet long these days. Maybe 4.5 feet. I am not able to measure this guy.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3159.jpeg

The species is just sensational, and I love the Tiger pattern, This guy is SD X Dwarf and a small percentage of mainland.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01818.jpg

I really like the last two shots here. He is improving in color with age. Retics are one species that actually always gets better as they age.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3157.jpeg

Thanks for looking.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3155.jpeg

Looks good. Was wondering what happened to you. Lol I haven't had the privilege of seeing Caesar take off at top speed. He must be going at half speed haha. The one and only time I've had a snake escape and I was lucky and found Caesar curled up on the floor under a swivel chair by his cage lol. He just looked at me and went back to sleep like nothing had happened.

Looking great, Gio! Thanks for the updates and the pics. He's quite the stunner!


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I really like tigers as well. Glad you're enjoying him! I let my retic on the floor sometimes but only in areas where he can't get away or stuck in anything. Interesting to watch them slither around, climbing etc. And yes, they are very fast lol

Wallace looks great Gio, good shots of him. I agree, Tigers are tough to beat, my favorite.

Though Sauzo's Caesar's color grows on me a bit more every time I see him.

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Wallace looks great Gio, good shots of him. I agree, Tigers are tough to beat, my favorite.

Though Sauzo's Caesar's color grows on me a bit more every time I see him.

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Thanks Bud!

I think retics have wonderful morph patterns as well. The Tiger pattern is I guess technically a morph too. Wallace has some other goodies in his genetic package. He is Het Snow (purple albino & anery) to boot. The SD adds some greens to him and his head is starting to go yellow more with each shed.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_315b.jpeg


This particular web site has LOADS of locality retic examples. Most are wild specimens and I can't lie, Mother Nature still makes the best paint jobs. There are some stunners here.

https://localityretics.wordpress.com


Wallace is a fun snake, but he is twitchy coming out of his cage. He'll still musk me now and then and he makes and effort to get away from me. I've only been bitten once which is good. You could drive a truck into his mouth it opens so wide LOL!

I have 4 very different species here and enjoy them all.

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Originally Posted by Gio

Thanks Bud!

I think retics have wonderful morph patterns as well. The Tiger pattern is I guess technically a morph too. Wallace has some other goodies in his genetic package. He is Het Snow (purple albino & anery) to boot. The SD adds some greens to him and his head is starting to go yellow more with each shed.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...tput_315b.jpeg


This particular web site has LOADS of locality retic examples. Most are wild specimens and I can't lie, Mother Nature still makes the best paint jobs. There are some stunners here.

https://localityretics.wordpress.com


Wallace is a fun snake, but he is twitchy coming out of his cage. He'll still musk me now and then and he makes and effort to get away from me. I've only been bitten once which is good. You could drive a truck into his mouth it opens so wide LOL!

I have 4 very different species here and enjoy them all.

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Yeah, I have felt that Nature turns out the prettiest colors/patterns as well,
with all snakes.

That's a great link you provided. Loads of examples is an understatement!
Can't pick a favorite, it's so hard to narrow it down; Sulawesi, Java, Borneo??

That link is dangerous. It can hook you in in a hurry! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Yeah, I have felt that Nature turns out the prettiest colors/patterns as well,
with all snakes.

That's a great link you provided. Loads of examples is an understatement!
Can't pick a favorite, it's so hard to narrow it down; Sulawesi, Java, Borneo??

That link is dangerous. It can hook you in in a hurry! :)

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YES!

The Java is stunning, then you hit the big yellow heads, there are so many out there. There is a bit of science to retic localities. I wish Cody was still around to comment, but I think his interests/program headed in a different direction.

There certainly is something to be said about where the animals are from and why some grow very large and others don't. They have quite a range and obviously swim quite well.

WTG Gio!!! Wallace is one smokin' hot Retic. Great pics too bud!

Very nice! Great pics. Retics have the coolest eyes.

Wallace is one beautiful animal. Those eyes are amazing!


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I was able to somewhat measure Wallace this morning.
He's a June 1st 2016 hatchie and that puts him at just over 8 months old now. Its funny how this works,

I've always wanted my son's royal to grow large and hit the 5 foot mark. She is maybe 4.5 feet and about 6 years old.

I wanted my boa constrictor to get big, he has and is somewhere between 6-6.5 feet long and thick yet very lean and muscular.
I wanted the carpet python to be large, she is closing in on 7 feet if not already there, but is really slender.

ALL of the already mentioned snakes were constantly over estimated in size when I was "guessing" where they were at throughout their growth stages.

I figured Wallace was about a 4 footer, and he's actually about 5 feet long. Just like Sauzo's Caesar.
One thing the other snakes I have did do VS. Wallace was stay fairly still and straight for measurements.

Wallace was not easy, and after I laid down the tape, I was able to get him stretched out for a very brief moment before he started climbing upward.

He is 5 feet long, give maybe 1 inch or take maybe 2 inches. I've been underestimating his size which is funny because I want him to stay in the 9 foot range. Funny how that works LOL!

I will say he fits into hides that the 4 plus foot royal could never fit into.

This just reconfirms that actual size has 2 components. Length alone isn't always something to worry about if you are looking for a manageable pet. The combination of girth/thickness and length is what makes a snake BIG.

Wallace at 6 feet will look tiny compared to a 5 foot blood python.

I guess I'll post one picture. This was one of my "throw aways" from the last session. The same as the others but a bit more blurry. It looks like he's in the jungle, or maybe posing for school pictures.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01818.jpg

All of my snakes are in constant motion, even the BP and Boas. Every time I reach for the tape measure they start squirming.

I can get a very close estimate when they stretch out along the length of the enclosures.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...687204c40a.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reinz

All of my snakes are in constant motion, even the BP and Boas. Every time I reach for the tape measure they start squirming.

I can get a very close estimate when they stretch out along the length of the enclosures.

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I got an almost exact measurement on the boa yesterday. 6' 3". I'm suspect he'll have a little spurt of growth when he resumes his spring/summer feeding schedule, but I'm thinking he's about to slow to maybe an inch or two a year from here on out.

Wow, Wallace is gorgeous!!

I love their derpy baby faces, and you captured a decent few in this thread. lol

Both your's and Gio's SDs are growing a lot faster than I've seen to be expected of SDs, their growth is closely matching a "standard" mainland retic's growth when not power fed. They're far outstripping River's growth already, and she's now 8' at 2.5 years old. I'll have to see where she tops out at (around 5-6 years of age), but I'm thinking you guys may have bigger snakes than you planned on your hands if they're already growing faster than my (assumed) mainland.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I love their derpy baby faces, and you captured a decent few in this thread. lol

Both your's and Gio's SDs are growing a lot faster than I've seen to be expected of SDs, their growth is closely matching a "standard" mainland retic's growth when not power fed. They're far outstripping River's growth already, and she's now 8' at 2.5 years old. I'll have to see where she tops out at (around 5-6 years of age), but I'm thinking you guys may have bigger snakes than you planned on your hands if they're already growing faster than my (assumed) mainland.

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Lol I'm guessing you mean me? Yeah Caesar is growing like a weed and now he needs large rats to keep him quiet or else he smushes his face up. I'm going to give him a 'toy' and with the paper towels he's on now, he seems to have fun playing around under them and pushing them. I'm hoping maybe he slows down growing once he hits 1 year old. He hasn't shed in about a month or so, so maybe he will slow down on the growth haha. I just hope he doesn't turn into a 14' snake. I wont get rid of him as for the most part, he is a sweetie that hasn't bit me, pee'd on me, or pooped on me.

And maybe your mainland is really a SD!!!! :D

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Lol I'm guessing you mean me? Yeah Caesar is growing like a weed and now he needs large rats to keep him quiet or else he smushes his face up. I'm going to give him a 'toy' and with the paper towels he's on now, he seems to have fun playing around under them and pushing them. I'm hoping maybe he slows down growing once he hits 1 year old. He hasn't shed in about a month or so, so maybe he will slow down on the growth haha. I just hope he doesn't turn into a 14' snake. I wont get rid of him as for the most part, he is a sweetie that hasn't bit me, pee'd on me, or pooped on me.

And maybe your mainland is really a SD!!!! :D

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Yeah both you and Gio's are growing fast. Lol

I'm starting to think she may be, but I've seen similar growth in another keeper's tiger retic but she reached like 15'+ or so at around 5+ years I think it was. Unfortunately she died from cancer so we won't see how big she'll end up.

I suppose most of the SDs are fed to stay smaller longer but I'd expect yearlings to still only be 3' from what little I've seen discussed.


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Well I think Gio feeds his smaller food longer periods where as I feed Caesar big food on a shorter period and both are about 5'. Well Caesar I guess could be bigger but I don't know. I am just guesstimating on his size from when he stretches out lol. And both of ours have the same SD percent but his has more dwarf in it where as mine has more mainland in it.

And Jmcrooks Phyllis is a pure SD and I think she is over 5' and just over a year old. So who knows lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Well I think Gio feeds his smaller food longer periods where as I feed Caesar big food on a shorter period and both are about 5'. Well Caesar I guess could be bigger but I don't know. I am just guesstimating on his size from when he stretches out lol. And both of ours have the same SD percent but his has more dwarf in it where as mine has more mainland in it.

And Jmcrooks Phyllis is a pure SD and I think she is over 5' and just over a year old. So who knows lol.

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Yeah, Phyllis turns 1 year old in a couple days and is a solid 6'.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ffc214681a.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I love their derpy baby faces, and you captured a decent few in this thread. lol

Both your's and Gio's SDs are growing a lot faster than I've seen to be expected of SDs, their growth is closely matching a "standard" mainland retic's growth when not power fed. They're far outstripping River's growth already, and she's now 8' at 2.5 years old. I'll have to see where she tops out at (around 5-6 years of age), but I'm thinking you guys may have bigger snakes than you planned on your hands if they're already growing faster than my (assumed) mainland.

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You know I was thinking the same thing. Levi is a mainland hatched 6/19/16 and he's about 5' just under 2 pounds and eats weekly. His meals average 120-130 grams. Maybe I've been underfeeding him a little? Never had a pushing issue but he is ALWAYS hungry. Thought that was just retics though.

Or maybe they all grow quickly while young regardless of SD/D/Mainland percentage to make them less vulnerable to predators? They all just top out at different sizes due to their natural environment, conditions and resources based on locality? Never owned a SD/D so just throwing thoughts out there. Regardless, you all have some good looking retics:sweeet::sweeet::sweeet:

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Originally Posted by ShaneSilva

You know I was thinking the same thing. Levi is a mainland hatched 6/19/16 and he's about 5' just under 2 pounds and eats weekly. His meals average 120-130 grams. Maybe I've been underfeeding him a little? Never had a pushing issue but he is ALWAYS hungry. Thought that was just retics though.

Or maybe they all grow quickly while young regardless of SD/D/Mainland percentage to make them less vulnerable to predators? They all just top out at different sizes due to their natural environment, conditions and resources based on locality? Never owned a SD/D so just throwing thoughts out there. Regardless, you all have some good looking retics:sweeet::sweeet::sweeet:

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There was a small experiment done with different retics, and it showed even when fed as heavily as a mainland SDs simply do not grow as fast. http://mahn001.tripod.com/id28.html

I was feeding River rat pups and weaned rats every 10-14 days and she went from 3' at 6 months to 4'-4.5' at 1 year. Now she's ~8' at 2.5. For a time after that she was eating rats weekly until she got on larges. She's currently getting colossal rats or .5-1 lb rabbits every 2 weeks. Eventually I plan on feeding her monthly, most likely when she's eating rabbits only.


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That was interesting to see. Never looked into it before.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShaneSilva

You know I was thinking the same thing. Levi is a mainland hatched 6/19/16 and he's about 5' just under 2 pounds and eats weekly. His meals average 120-130 grams. Maybe I've been underfeeding him a little? Never had a pushing issue but he is ALWAYS hungry. Thought that was just retics though.

Or maybe they all grow quickly while young regardless of SD/D/Mainland percentage to make them less vulnerable to predators? They all just top out at different sizes due to their natural environment, conditions and resources based on locality? Never owned a SD/D so just throwing thoughts out there. Regardless, you all have some good looking retics:sweeet::sweeet::sweeet:

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Caesar was the same way about always being hungry but he was more expressive about it by pushing and generally making lots of noise and messes like "look at me!!". Every one the retic boards told me I was seriously underfeeding him was the bottom line.

Caesar is about 5' also and I was feeding him 150g medium rats. I was told to upsize him to 1-2 large rats or a rabbit or gpig as a 5' retic should easily be eating that that. I argued with the guy lol and he said I still had the boa mind thought about small prey. I finally gave him after a few other people backed him and told me the guy really does know his stuff about retics. I gave Caesar his first large rat about 260g and he ate it like a candy bar. It was gone in about 2 mins and Caesar was definitely happier.

Its not been 3 days and Caesar is starting to move around but still pretty calm, doesn't seem like he's starving like on the medium rats.

So bottom line is throw everything boa about these snakes out the window. They eat BIG food and like big food.

And they grow lots too. I mean your is a mainland that was born 6/2016 and is 5'. Caesar is SD/D born 5/2016 and is also 5'. Gio's is SD/D born I believe 6/2016 and is 5' and Jmcrooks is pure SD born 2/2016 and is 6'. So it seems no matter what they are or feeding, they seem to grow at about the same rate. And Gio feeds his less on longer periods and I feed mine more on shorter periods and they are both about 5'

I don't really think it's all that necessary to feed them bigger meals. I can understand it in Caesar's case as he seems like a bottomless pit. But I wasn't feeding River larges at 5'. She's not as food driven though.

The other keeper I mentioned with the 15' retic feeds in a way that person would describe as underfeeding and she still reached 15'+ before her death. Feeding in this way just means they reach adult size at 5-6+ years rather than 2-3.


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Yeah each snake is probably different. Like I said, if kept Caesar on medium rats, I would have had to have packed stuff all the way around his doors on his AP cage. Plus he was digging and would strike the glass a couple times if I came by fast. Then once he saw me, he would just follow me and stuff. You clearly tell he was really hungry and that was after only 4 days on medium rats.

But I mean with my 4 day feeding schedules and then trying 7 day feeding schedules using medium rats or quails or chicks and sometimes doubling up, Caesar still only grew to about 5' while Gio feeds his once every 10 days on a small rat. So it's just weird how much of difference that was in food intake but about the same growth.

Yup. Better to feed him a little more than him mess himself up. He should calm down about the food as he ages, unless he's like my garter Demigod. >.> No matter how much I feed that little bugger he's like your Caesar. I finally just cut his food back again, but he doesn't get an increased feeding response with less food luckily.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Caesar was the same way about always being hungry but he was more expressive about it by pushing and generally making lots of noise and messes like "look at me!!". Every one the retic boards told me I was seriously underfeeding him was the bottom line.

Caesar is about 5' also and I was feeding him 150g medium rats. I was told to upsize him to 1-2 large rats or a rabbit or gpig as a 5' retic should easily be eating that that. I argued with the guy lol and he said I still had the boa mind thought about small prey. I finally gave him after a few other people backed him and told me the guy really does know his stuff about retics. I gave Caesar his first large rat about 260g and he ate it like a candy bar. It was gone in about 2 mins and Caesar was definitely happier.

Its not been 3 days and Caesar is starting to move around but still pretty calm, doesn't seem like he's starving like on the medium rats.

So bottom line is throw everything boa about these snakes out the window. They eat BIG food and like big food.

And they grow lots too. I mean your is a mainland that was born 6/2016 and is 5'. Caesar is SD/D born 5/2016 and is also 5'. Gio's is SD/D born I believe 6/2016 and is 5' and Jmcrooks is pure SD born 2/2016 and is 6'. So it seems no matter what they are or feeding, they seem to grow at about the same rate. And Gio feeds his less on longer periods and I feed mine more on shorter periods and they are both about 5'

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That's what made me think I was underfeeding since Levi is a mainland. He can easily take 2 100+ gram rats. I just don't know when it would be considered power feeding with these guys so I've been giving him one. Never tried a large rat but I might up his feeding and see how he does. I'd just hate to take some years off my favorite snakes life :o

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Originally Posted by ShaneSilva

That's what made me think I was underfeeding since Levi is a mainland. He can easily take 2 100+ gram rats. I just don't know when it would be considered power feeding with these guys so I've been giving him one. Never tried a large rat but I might up his feeding and see how he does. I'd just hate to take some years off my favorite snakes life :o

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If he's taking 2 100 gram rats just bump him to larges. Even though the rats are equal in weight to a mid-sized large rat, a single large will be less food than 2 100 gram rats. River grew 1.5' in about 3 weeks eating 2 small rats once every 2 weeks and I haven't seen growth like that before or since that incident, even when she's eating a single rat/rabbit that leaves a bulge twice as large. I've noticed similar increased growth in my other snakes (not at the same level of course), so nowadays I just avoid feeding multiples completely.

As long as he isn't as hellbent on food as Caesar is, it shouldn't hurt to feed them a little less so long as you're ready to wait a little longer for him to get big


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I love their derpy baby faces, and you captured a decent few in this thread. lol

Both your's and Gio's SDs are growing a lot faster than I've seen to be expected of SDs, their growth is closely matching a "standard" mainland retic's growth when not power fed. They're far outstripping River's growth already, and she's now 8' at 2.5 years old. I'll have to see where she tops out at (around 5-6 years of age), but I'm thinking you guys may have bigger snakes than you planned on your hands if they're already growing faster than my (assumed) mainland.

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Great comments from all. My retic buddy who is as knowledgable as anybody on Retic Nation and has kept and bred everything from mainland retics to king cobras and about everything in between said our SD X Dwarf retics will grow rapidly for the first 2 years and may easily hit 7 feet. Then they will slow DRAMATICALLY after that. He thinks it will be a stretch if Wallace gets close to 10'. At 5' Wallace fits in the palm of my hand.

Caesar may be a tad larger and may end up bigger especially if pushed with food, but Sauzo is sensible and isn't looking for a giant.

River is awesome and looks a lot thicker and much more mature. We are all doing great with these guys.

Well from what I was told by some of the retic guys was they really don't have a set schedule. They just feed them something that leave a huge lump and then let the snake go on that until he/she gets hungry again which one guy told me is about every 2 weeks. You will know when they are hungry and need more food. Or at least that's what I was told. So far it seems pretty accurate as like I said, Caesar is the quietest after I fed him the large rat since when I got him. So I'll probably go off what those guys told me and just feed Caesar a large rat whenever he starts pacing around and looking hungry.

I wouldn't call that powerfeeding. I would call that just normal retic feeding. They digest and have a much faster metabolism than boas which is why those guys told me to throw out the mindset of keeping boas. Retics are a whole different beast. Now if you fed him a large rat every 2-3 days, so he had a lump 24/7 365 days a year, yeah you are powerfeeding but it's perfectly normal for them to eat a big meal and then go lazy until they are hungry again which is when they would go looking.

And like Cloud said, I would do 1 large rat over 2 medium rats. Whenever possible, I prefer to feed 1 appropriate sized item than 2 smaller items. At 5', your guy could easily take a large rat. Caesar did it no problem and it was like a 250g rat. The same size rats I feed Rosey who is 7'

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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Yeah, Phyllis turns 1 year old in a couple days and is a solid 6'.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ffc214681a.jpg


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Damn brother you are both looking great!

She has one of those Mother Nature patterns that is unbeatable!

Well done sir!

Yeah guess it just depends on how you feed them, perhaps the smaller ones I've seen the owners have just been feeding them less from the get-go and that's why they're so much smaller.

River is actually currently in another thin gangly teenager phase as she recently hit another growth spurt. She'll go months of building nothing but weight and girth and then explode in length and look like a piece of rope for awhile. I'm feeding her heavier than I do my boas but she still doesn't need all that much food herself. She doesn't get antsy and grows just fine the way I've been feeding her. I didn't put her on larges until she was 6'+ but she did quickly make the jump to colossals. Now, I know she doesn't have a whole lot of girth right now because she's 8' and the colossals leave a gigantic lump for 3-4 days, when they'd probably leave little to no bulge under normal circumstances. Luckily the rats don't seem to drag her down as much as the rabbits. A rabbit that size and she starts looking at food with disdain after a couple meals. Lol

She has a truly low feeding response for a retic.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Yeah guess it just depends on how you feed them, perhaps the smaller ones I've seen the owners have just been feeding them less from the get-go and that's why they're so much smaller.

River is actually currently in another thin gangly teenager phase as she recently hit another growth spurt. She'll go months of building nothing but weight and girth and then explode in length and look like a piece of rope for awhile. I'm feeding her heavier than I do my boas but she still doesn't need all that much food herself. She doesn't get antsy and grows just fine the way I've been feeding her. I didn't put her on larges until she was 6'+ but she did quickly make the jump to colossals. Now, I know she doesn't have a whole lot of girth right now because she's 8' and the colossals leave a gigantic lump for 3-4 days, when they'd probably leave little to no bulge under normal circumstances. Luckily the rats don't seem to drag her down as much as the rabbits. A rabbit that size and she starts looking at food with disdain after a couple meals. Lol

She has a truly low feeding response for a retic.


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Yeah rabbits are much more dense so that's to be expected. I'd like to get Caesar on rabbits as that might lower his food drive for longer and maybe I can go a solid 2 weeks for him on rabbits.

And heck, i'd be happy to give River some of Caesar's food drive lol although like I said, I might have been underfeeding him this whole time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Yeah guess it just depends on how you feed them, perhaps the smaller ones I've seen the owners have just been feeding them less from the get-go and that's why they're so much smaller.

River is actually currently in another thin gangly teenager phase as she recently hit another growth spurt. She'll go months of building nothing but weight and girth and then explode in length and look like a piece of rope for awhile. I'm feeding her heavier than I do my boas but she still doesn't need all that much food herself. She doesn't get antsy and grows just fine the way I've been feeding her. I didn't put her on larges until she was 6'+ but she did quickly make the jump to colossals. Now, I know she doesn't have a whole lot of girth right now because she's 8' and the colossals leave a gigantic lump for 3-4 days, when they'd probably leave little to no bulge under normal circumstances. Luckily the rats don't seem to drag her down as much as the rabbits. A rabbit that size and she starts looking at food with disdain after a couple meals. Lol

She has a truly low feeding response for a retic.


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I really dig Cloud because she came here slightly over feeding and then completely went for the Russo, Rentfro approach to feeding snakes.

I don't care what the species is, if you listen to the radio show that Nick Mutton does, you can hear both Nick and Vin say almost ALL snakes in captivity are overfed.

That doesn't mean we are all over feeding. Wild VS captive is a very different ball game for sure, but River seems to have a healthy FEMALE retic that is growing well and slow.

Reptile Experts (Cody) is an actual schooled biologist/herpetologist if I'm not mistaken and he seems to feed on the conservative side unless he is pushing some growth on purpose.

With all snakes, and for that matter most wild animals, feeding is feast or famine. Their bodies are designed for it and after millions of years, a couple hundred years (if that) of captive breeding and feeding, won't change their habits and genetic patterns.

Thanks to all for the great comments and additions to this thread. I'll keep the Wallace photos coming here like Sauzo does with his Caesar thread.

Well I think Cody was feeding some of his retics every 4 days too and some he fed on a longer schedule and they both grew the same. I believe it was on his post about SD retics on this forum. I do agree a lot of people do overfeed but I also think one schedule is not something that should be set in stone as each animal is different and will carry the weight different just like people. Some people have a much faster metabolism and can eat anything and not gain an ounce while others eat a donut and balloon out.

Heck even Kris at Vital said a good starting point is 4-6 days. And again each snake is different. Like River doesn't have a strong feeding response yet Caesar has struck the glass 2 or 3 times now after 4 days with medium rats if I walk by fast or a shadow was cast. He only strikes when he is hungry and the one time I tried to hook train him where he hissed, reared up and opened his mouth at the hook lol.

And again, like I said before and was told by retic people, you cant compare a boa to a retic. They have way different metabolisms and abilities for food. Something a retic can eat easily would cause an instant regurgitation in a boa. Feeding schedule for snakes cant be a blanket time frame. Its like boas eat once every 3-6 weeks. A retic would slowly starve on that kind of a schedule.

Here we go, I found Cody's how to feed section on SD retics. This copy pasted from him exactly on this thread https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...nd-Information

Feeding schedules kind of vary with keepers and even with snakes. Pure SD will come out of the egg and be ready to feed on adult mice right off the bat, 50% SD crosses, will come out and be taking Rat pups readily, and Dwarfs may come out ready to take on Weanling rats. For myself this is the feeding schedule that I used, and it worked VERY well, but it did have varying results across individuals. . . For the first 6-12 months, they were fed once every 4 days until they made it to Medium rats. Once they hit medium rats they were dropped to every 7 days. Once they hit rabbits males were dropped to every 14 days and females every 7-10 days. Many keepers will only feed SD retics mice for the first few months, and try and keep them as small, but as healthy, as they can for extended periods. After all, you are getting an SD retic to be amazed at how small it is. This is fine, and its arguable that this is “healthier” than a 4 day feeding schedule. But my 20 month old who was raised on this schedule did absolutely perfect, and is trim, and now growing very slowly at 8-9’ and eating 1.5lb rabbits every week. Likewise, my two Dwarf Girls, 4 months age difference, had very different results. Both were started on the same feeding schedule and method, but the Purple Albino took off and is sitting around 12-13’ currently, and feeding on 4lb rabbits weekly. Meanwhile, the genetic stripe het purple is still under 5’ and pounding a single Large rat a week and putting on weight slowly. Whatever fits your retic (keeps them trim, not pushing, and giving you regular feces) go with that. Some times you have to test the waters, try feeding every 4 days, try feeding weekly, weigh the pros and cons, and the way your snake will behave. Keep in mind these are not Ball Pythons, they WILL and DO eat always. Most retics are vicious feeders, and will eat any and every time food enters the cage. Most will never need to see live food, but a few will and can be picky eaters.

Now Gio and my retic fall kind into a grey area as neither of ours are 50% SD. I believe his is the same as mine at 37.5% SD while his is 43% dwarf and mine is 31.5% dwarf but I consider that a wash as dwarf and mainland seem to be pretty close overall in size potential.

I never started this out properly since I titled it "Progression".

These are going to be repeat pictures, but I feel the need to post them to actually show the progression of Wallace.

Sauzo, Jmcrook and others have 1 solid thread for their retics and I have multiple threads and photos.

I want to package this into a solo thread although other photos are available in different threads.

This is the real progression of Wallace. Not all of his photos, but a nice steady progression.

Before shipping. (Photo by Kristopher Brown, Vital Exotics)
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3537.jpg


Arrival:
27, September, 2016.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3559.jpg

First introduction: Complete with the "Acclimation Branch".
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1790.jpg

The branch was a very gentle way to get him used to handling. It seemed to help him feel secure.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1795.jpg

We moved into free handling within a few days and he was pretty mellow.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3598.jpg

A trait that retics have that really make them beautiful. Mr. Rainbow Head.
The iridescence of Python Reticulatus.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3600.jpg

The first meal:
A small rat taken with no problem.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3616.jpg

Posing for "School Pics":
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_30e3.jpeg

The other side.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_30e7.jpeg

Getting more color and once again a taste of the rainbow.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3104.jpeg
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3105.jpeg

Out of quarantine and into his new/current cage.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3119.jpeg

No cage stress. He ate immediately.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_311b.jpeg

The Penthouse:
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3116.jpeg

He's whizzed on me a few times, but this was our first and ONLY real disagreement.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3141.jpeg

He was a brat that day, and he seems to be pouting in the corner here LOL!
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...ut_3145_1.jpeg

Despite some resistance to come out of the cage now and then, he is doing very well. He's close to 5 feet long maybe a tad less, and very lean.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3152.jpeg

He's been a super captive and an exciting jump into another species.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_3155.jpeg

We should be up to date here:
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_315b.jpeg

Now there is some "progression" to the Wallace thread.

Nice photo show Gio!

I love that photo of him peeking through his coils during the wrap of his "kill".

I also wanted this thread from another board in my thread.

It's been posted/linked here before. It fits my preference for display caging to a T. Though I could never have an enclosure like the on here.

http://www.reptilescanada.com/showth...thon-behaviour

My favorite snake species are the semi arboreal types.

Boa constrictors, carpets, retics, scrubs,,, and so on.

If you think big retics aren't into climbing and perching, think again.

I will provide Wallace with a much ceiling space as I can.

^{I'd have to say that I'm in the same camp as Chris as far as enclosures are concerned.}

I weighed the small rats Wallace eats. 50 grams.

Now the larges are 250 plus.

Mediums are 190.

So far he is totally fine with smalls every 7 days. His shed pushed him out to 15 days and that included a refusal so I know he's good to go. I will probably bump him up a size in the spring and push him out 7-10 days.

I see no reason for him to have more than 1 large every 7-10.

That said I will introduce quail and also smallish rabbits that are equal to the large rats.

He should slow in growth rather dramatically after the 2nd year. My bet is an 8-9' snake with similar girth to my coastal carpet python, maybe a tad thicker.

So far so good with this guy.

Wow your mediums are a lot larger than the ones I get. Mine seem to average around 140-170g. Your larges are a little bigger too. Mine average about 180-220. Now that's for the place close to me. I reptile shop where they have all the quails, rabbits, gpigs and chicks seems to run about the same as yours. No idea on the smalls as I have never weighed those.

I honestly think your snake is going to smaller than 8-9' with that feeding schedule. I'd guess he tops out at 7' but who knows really as half seems to be food intake and the other half seems to be how the genetics play out.

Problem I see with ours is they aren't full SD. So I personally think it is hard to really put a number on their size. I mean Gene is a perfect example. He's 25% SD, 25% dwarf and 50% mainland and he is like 5'. But anyways, it will be interesting to see how all guys' and gals turn out in 2 years.

You could do quails now. I was feeding Caesar like 3 week old quails I think when he was on small rats. They are about the same size as baby chicks. Last time I looked at the shop, the 7 week old quails were about the size of a large rat but I doubt meatwise, just purely on the thickness of them when I was feeling them up. I'll have to pay more attention to the age when I get there. I usually just look at the bags and say "Yeah, that one there" lol.

The rabbits and gpigs, the smallest ones I saw were way to big for Caesar. I mean he probably could have downed it and I was told by a lot of retic guys on Retic Nation FB that a 5' SD can easily eat 2 large rats or a baby rabbit or gpig but I didn't want to chance it.

Oh and stay away from the Retic Nation FB page. I got scolded for feeding Caesar medium rats when he was 5'. Everyone pretty much said I was underfeeding and starving my retic which was why he was pushing and scraped his chin up. Or he was looking for a girlfriend but since he is only 9 months old, they said I was starving him. With feeding yours smalls, I'm sure they would rip you apart on that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

Wow your mediums are a lot larger than the ones I get. Mine seem to average around 140-170g. Your larges are a little bigger too. Mine average about 180-220. Now that's for the place close to me. I reptile shop where they have all the quails, rabbits, gpigs and chicks seems to run about the same as yours. No idea on the smalls as I have never weighed those.

I honestly think your snake is going to smaller than 8-9' with that feeding schedule. I'd guess he tops out at 7' but who knows really as half seems to be food intake and the other half seems to be how the genetics play out.

Problem I see with ours is they aren't full SD. So I personally think it is hard to really put a number on their size. I mean Gene is a perfect example. He's 25% SD, 25% dwarf and 50% mainland and he is like 5'. But anyways, it will be interesting to see how all guys' and gals turn out in 2 years.

You could do quails now. I was feeding Caesar like 3 week old quails I think when he was on small rats. They are about the same size as baby chicks. Last time I looked at the shop, the 7 week old quails were about the size of a large rat but I doubt meatwise, just purely on the thickness of them when I was feeling them up. I'll have to pay more attention to the age when I get there. I usually just look at the bags and say "Yeah, that one there" lol.

The rabbits and gpigs, the smallest ones I saw were way to big for Caesar. I mean he probably could have downed it and I was told by a lot of retic guys on Retic Nation FB that a 5' SD can easily eat 2 large rats or a baby rabbit or gpig but I didn't want to chance it.

---

I want quail now but the shop only has really large quail. Too much for him now. They are harder to eat than rats too LOL. They have quite a time finding that floppy head.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

I want quail now but the shop only has really large quail. Too much for him now. They are harder to eat than rats too LOL. They have quite a time finding that floppy head.

---

Haha not Caesar or Vicky. They are pro poultry eaters. They actually eat them quicker than rats. Now Rosey, she has a heck of a time eating poultry. Like you said, the floppy head throws her off. Last time I gave her one, she kind of folded it and had a wing hanging out. It took her like 45 mins to eat it haha. I quit offering poultry as she has 'failed' on like 3 of them now. I'll just stick to her rats and rabbits as she is pro at eating those.

And yeah, the same here. The shop has pretty big ones. I mean they might be smaller now as Caesar is bigger but back then, they were too big imo for him.

I hate to post without pictures in a progression thread,

However Wallace has been doing well lately. He's growing, but is lean as can be. He's been MUCH easier to remove from the cage, and he's FULLY utilizing his perches and cage decor.

I will set his last enclosure up to be the ultimate display cage. I have some ideas and it will be interesting watching him hunt and feed from ambush points and perch areas in the final cage. My joy in the hobby is based more on observing the behaviors of a few animals VS having a large collection that I can't monitor.

If you want to talk about real, wild retics and their behaviors, include Wallace in the conversation. He is perched right above his water bowl. Similar to what the younger retics do when they perch above streams in the wild. When threatened they drop into the water and make a run for it.

Wallace has a different idea though. He poops and pees in his bowl. I just changed it out last night, and low and behold, this morning it was filled again with poop and urates LOL!

He hits several climate zones by being able to perch.

Just an update.

Nice. At least yours does it in an easy place to see and clean. Mine like to drop deuces behind stuff like their hides or the water bowl so I have to go searching for it. And when I used ReptiChips, the boas loved to bury their tails in the stuff and drop a big urate under the substrate like a cat. Nothing quite like the feeling of a coldish still moist and semi soft urate as you poke it with your finger while digging through substrate :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

I hate to post without pictures in a progression thread,

However Wallace has been doing well lately. He's growing, but is lean as can be. He's been MUCH easier to remove from the cage, and he's FULLY utilizing his perches and cage decor.

I will set his last enclosure up to be the ultimate display cage. I have some ideas and it will be interesting watching him hunt and feed from ambush points and perch areas in the final cage. My joy in the hobby is based more on observing the behaviors of a few animals VS having a large collection that I can't monitor.

If you want to talk about real, wild retics and their behaviors, include Wallace in the conversation. He is perched right above his water bowl. Similar to what the younger retics do when they perch above streams in the wild. When threatened they drop into the water and make a run for it.

Wallace has a different idea though. He poops and pees in his bowl. I just changed it out last night, and low and behold, this morning it was filled again with poop and urates LOL!

He hits several climate zones by being able to perch.

Just an update.

---

We definitely need some picture updates!

Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk

Quite the bowl movement right there....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT39YkPhZwA

I said I'd take some outdoor pictures but given the spirit of the day, and my new I-phone 7 plus, I figured I'd pop a quick 3 pictures in different modes.

Wallace on his upside down stool.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4087.jpeg

The same type of picture pose with some indoor adjusted lighting and zoomed in a bit.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4088.jpeg

And,,,, Finally a picture with the flash on and zoomed in.

I like the camera on the 7-Plus. It's almost as good as the Sony high end camera we have in certain instances.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...tput_4089.jpeg

The boy is coloring up nicely and you can see a bit of the rainbow toward the back of his head and sides with the flash.

For reference the in the top picture the distance from the crossbar to the tip of the leg on the chair is roughly 9-10 inches.

Thanks for checking in on Wallace.