So this happened

Went to the Sacramento Reptile Expo and came home with this guy, one of my two bucket list snakes
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/cOYjn7r.png
Hes a male purple albino from ESP, weighed in at 155, he's already super tolerant of handling and very inquisitive. The other on my list was/is a hypo granite burm, and there was one at the show, but i just wasnt quite ready to drop $800 on a snake that i will never breed. But anyways here he is, his temporary 4ft boaphile should be on my doorstep any day now, and looks like ill be ordering an 8 foot in a couple months.
Still trying to think of a bad ass name, suggestions are welcome.

Beautiful retic! Purples are my favorite too alongside mocchinos. I want a super dwarf though so I'm waiting to find the perfect one.

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Beautiful boy!! I personally think the name Topaz suits him :)

That's a good looking snake! I'd have to name him Supernova. Congrats!

Name him 'Bottomless Pit' because that is what he will probably become haha. My little super dwarf white albino tiger het snow boy started out little and cute like that and then 2 hours later, he started eating and didnt quit.....now a year later and he's 7' lol.

Great snake! A purple male is def on my list. I'd always thought I might name him Audrey II. "Feed Me!!!"

Congrats on the very nice Retic! You could name him Rambo, Brutus, John Wick, Shredder, or Stryker. Those are the first badass names that came to my mind. :)

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Congrats on the very nice Retic! You could name him Rambo, Brutus, John Wick, Shredder, or Stryker. Those are the first badass names that came to my mind. :)

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Thanks! Haha ive got a blood named rambo already!

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Name him 'Bottomless Pit' because that is what he will probably become haha. My little super dwarf white albino tiger het snow boy started out little and cute like that and then 2 hours later, he started eating and didnt quit.....now a year later and he's 7' lol.

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Thats what i figured, ive lurked on quite a few of your threads, caesar looks awesome!

Awesome pickup!! Gorgeous snake! Congrats!

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Originally Posted by Alexiel03

Beautiful retic! Purples are my favorite too alongside mocchinos. I want a super dwarf though so I'm waiting to find the perfect one.

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I do love the look of mocchinos. I was eyeing a 75% super dwarf 25% dwarf at the expo and the dealer kept trying to sell me two for a bargain. I was tempted but i figured id just go all out and get one of my all time favorites

Congrats! I was at the sac show too and there were some real beautiful retics there.

So whats his name? Adonis?

Can you all stop making me want a retic!-)

What about Tyson, Rocky, Rossi, klitchko, champ, Mr T, Murdock, trooper, crusher, neegan, rex, Indiana Jones, diesel, bana, bane, Batman, Thor,.....

Diesel is cool...

Really amazing pickup! Grats. :gj:

You guys are killing me with all these nice retics. I want one bad.!

Sorry i just kind of disappeared! Updates: This is now yet another progression thread! I still have yet to name him, so far the only option my significant other says is decent is Thor, i like it but am not sold on it yet so, for now he still has no name. Keep the suggestions coming!
His new (temporary) home came in though, and i rearranged my whole set up and think it looks pretty nice all things considered. Ive had him a month and he seems to have put on some length already, he seems to be a few inches (6-8) shy of 4 feet long. I havent weighed him since his initial weigh in, which was 150 something grams (i wrote it down and lost it). He hasn't refuse a meal yet, but took some convincing to eat the first week, and again today since it was his first feed in the new enclosure. Also, ive tried F/T and he will strike and wrap but not eat, unless i give him a live rodent first. Hopefully in the next feeding or two we can just do without the live.

*Also, im aware i should quarantine for 6 months, but placing the cage in a separate room isn't an option right now so im being sure to wash hands/materials before they come into contact with any of my other pets.
*Second also, the rhp was still warming up in the pictures, his tempos are at 90 under the rhp and 77-78 at the far cool side now.

https://i.imgur.com/I2iGgGr.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vlMpbAu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JHkbNbQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4tbweuC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FSO0d3G.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tPWFYJO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NmuLTn3.jpg

I love the yawning picture! I can never get one of those. What about the name Logan? Or Ryder?

Hey all, still no name on this guy yet. I feel like a terrible person lol. Anyways i was curious to hear if my experience with his behavior relates to anyone else's. I have yet to see him cruise his cage looking for food. I was feeding him two small mice, you could barely notice he'd eaten. I was doing this because i could not get him to eat frozen without enticing him with a live first. We've finally gotten past that and he's completely on f/t now, and i've bumped him up from small mice to young rats (sausages? the size where they first begin to open their eyes) and now on to small rats. The small rat (honestly tad smaller than what i would consider a small, at lest compared to my usual supplier) left a decent size bulge, nothing crazy but you could tell he had a big meal. Even with the large meal its completely indistinguishable about a day and a half later. I assume he's finished digesting as well because he moves from his 90 degree hot spot to his 77 degree hide. Its been 5 days since he fed, 3.5 of which he's been just hanging out in his cool side hide. Is this normal? It seems like most people post about theirs being out roaming for food, i've yet to see it. I suppose it could be i'm just missing it but his substrate looks undisturbed and i also check on him when i leave for work at 3 am, when all my other snakes are usually out and about. Any thoughts? Am i just paranoid?
Just to note he is about 4 feet long ( maybe a couple inches under, and i'm guessing 200-300 grams (my scale broke)) is the feeder size i'm using appropriate? After seeing a'lot of other posts and pictures i'm more concerned that i'm underfeeding. What do you all think?

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Originally Posted by Dxw425

Hey all, still no name on this guy yet. I feel like a terrible person lol. Anyways i was curious to hear if my experience with his behavior relates to anyone else's. I have yet to see him cruise his cage looking for food. I was feeding him two small mice, you could barely notice he'd eaten. I was doing this because i could not get him to eat frozen without enticing him with a live first. We've finally gotten past that and he's completely on f/t now, and i've bumped him up from small mice to young rats (sausages? the size where they first begin to open their eyes) and now on to small rats. The small rat (honestly tad smaller than what i would consider a small, at lest compared to my usual supplier) left a decent size bulge, nothing crazy but you could tell he had a big meal. Even with the large meal its completely indistinguishable about a day and a half later. I assume he's finished digesting as well because he moves from his 90 degree hot spot to his 77 degree hide. Its been 5 days since he fed, 3.5 of which he's been just hanging out in his cool side hide. Is this normal? It seems like most people post about theirs being out roaming for food, i've yet to see it. I suppose it could be i'm just missing it but his substrate looks undisturbed and i also check on him when i leave for work at 3 am, when all my other snakes are usually out and about. Any thoughts? Am i just paranoid?
Just to note he is about 4 feet long ( maybe a couple inches under, and i'm guessing 200-300 grams (my scale broke)) is the feeder size i'm using appropriate? After seeing a'lot of other posts and pictures i'm more concerned that i'm underfeeding. What do you all think?

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As long as it's got good muscle tone and a good body shape/proportions I'd say you're doing fine. They have crazy fast metabolisms so seeing that lump disappear in a few days is normal. Some of them just don't push and roam like others. They can take a huge meal but don't necessarily need to. You'll know if it starts pushing, they'll destroy the cage, get a fat lip, scrapes on the jaw, it will be noticeable.


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Beautiful Retic :)

Would you consider swapping to Orchid bark ??

It looks far more natural than the stuff you have down plus it holds as much ( or little ) humidity as you want AND the darker colour makes Albinos even MORE amazing looking !
Here's mine https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9d2ece1f1a.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...81a3d2eed1.jpg
Poor phone pix sadly ..


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Thanks JMcrook, appreciate the insight. Ill hold off on his next meal for another day or two to keep him in the 6-7 day range and give me more handling time. He's not super fond of me getting him out of the enclosure, though he has only struck once or twice. I just want to help him grow out of that asap if i can. Other than that handling has been going great, he loves to explore and even lets me touch his head/neck without much fuss. Im hoping with consistency he will be as tame and predictable as my boas in regards to handling. Again, thanks for the input!

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Beautiful Retic :)

Would you consider swapping to Orchid bark ??

It looks far more natural than the stuff you have down plus it holds as much ( or little ) humidity as you want AND the darker colour makes Albinos even MORE amazing looking !
Here's mine https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...9d2ece1f1a.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...81a3d2eed1.jpg
Poor phone pix sadly ..


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Thanks! Yeah ill have to check it out, humidity on the hot side could definitely go up a tad and that does look really nice. What brand do you use and is it fairly dust free? Currently i just have aspen shreds down as i had a bunch already, But i was planning on laying down an exact cut of corrugate paper down and placing substrate on top at least while he's smaller.
That retic looks awesome! If the bark helps the color pop im definitel going to give it a shot at least, the aspen does kind of take away from my guy

I used Reptichips for a while and honestly, it holds humidity really well, too much actually but my snakes all seem to like aspen more. I went back to it as i've used to for years.

As for feeding, Caesar at that size was eating medium rats i believe. He was/is a garbage can though and eats anything. You can also try quail and chicks. Caesar LOVED quail. Now at around 7', he eats a jumbo rat or 2XL guinea pig every 10-14 days. He was eating every 3-7 days until he got to about a year old. During the baby times, he pushed like no tomorrow unless he was kept fed. Now he only pushes in the evening when he wakes up and wants attention. Then i have to slide a door open and stand there and pet him a while while he checks me out and hangs out lol. He is by far the most 'needy' snake i have haha. And here are their set ups. I just use aspen like i said and offer 2 jumbo RB hides in AP T25s. You can see Caesar in the top cage sleeping in his hide haha. Rosey is down on the bottom there looking out the front.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...5bfddd0f_h.jpg

When I switched from aspen to cypress mulch, I was amazed! It holds moisture much better, as well as odors. Cypress is amazing at odor control, and I bet orchid is the same. When I used aspen, the smell of poo or pee was horrendous, but now that I switched to cypress mulch, I can't even tell sometimes and I have to poke around to make sure they didn't urinate anywhere.
Of course, humidity control is much better as well.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I used Reptichips for a while and honestly, it holds humidity really well, too much actually but my snakes all seem to like aspen more. I went back to it as i've used to for years.

As for feeding, Caesar at that size was eating medium rats i believe. He was/is a garbage can though and eats anything. You can also try quail and chicks. Caesar LOVED quail. Now at around 7', he eats a jumbo rat or 2XL guinea pig every 10-14 days. He was eating every 3-7 days until he got to about a year old. During the baby times, he pushed like no tomorrow unless he was kept fed. Now he only pushes in the evening when he wakes up and wants attention. Then i have to slide a door open and stand there and pet him a while while he checks me out and hangs out lol. He is by far the most 'needy' snake i have haha. And here are their set ups. I just use aspen like i said and offer 2 jumbo RB hides in AP T25s. You can see Caesar in the top cage sleeping in his hide haha. Rosey is down on the bottom there looking out the front.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...5bfddd0f_h.jpg

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As far as your snakes liking aspen more, did having them on the bark reduce their activity or likeliness to be roaming? I know my boas and blood absolutely love the aspen which is why i use it, half the time they don't even bother with their hides because the feel secure enough just in the aspen shreds. Do you have any feeding pictures from when he was about 4 ft by any chance, to get a visual size comparison? Or even know about that the weights on your mediums were? It seems like theres sometimes some variability in what people consider certain sizes, i'm wondering if my rat supplier isnt off a bit because what he sells as mediums seem pretty dang big and i could'nt picture my tic getting one down.
Also im fairly familiar with your setups, they look great and i hope all my snakes would behave the way Caesar does haha

btw, I personally think Retics are the most beautiful snakes on earth! I just don't have the space to keep one currently, the ones pictured in this thread are SPLENDID!:snake::gj:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

When I switched from aspen to cypress mulch, I was amazed! It holds moisture much better, as well as odors. Cypress is amazing at odor control, and I bet orchid is the same. When I used aspen, the smell of poo or pee was horrendous, but now that I switched to cypress mulch, I can't even tell sometimes and I have to poke around to make sure they didn't urinate anywhere.
Of course, humidity control is much better as well.

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Thats funny because i actually like the smell of the aspen better. To me it doesnt hold the poo/pee smell once you spot clean it. It's easy to see where to spot clean and it seems to soak it up better than Reptichips. Problem i ran into with Reptichips is it smelled like a swamp after a couple weeks and for a retic, it was made even worse by the amount of pee. I couldnt really see exactly where to spot clean unless it had urate in it and being the Reptichips were bigger chunks, the liquid would easily seep down to the cage floor and spread. The aspen seems to soak it up quicker with very little spread so i just use my hand like a crane and scoop up the wet/discolored spot and its good. No more smell.

Cypress works well to but from i have been told, once cypress dries out, it is next to impossible to get it to reabsorb water so you cant let it ever dry completely out. And as for aspen molding like so many people say, i have yet to see it happen and i mist the aspen once a week. I think it depends on the cage. I dont have issues with humidity with aspen as long as i mist it once a week. In fact it's easier to control for me than Reptichips as that stuff would peg the humidity and create so much, i had water on the sides and roof of the cage for days. Then it would dry out and be too dry. And then trying to find poops in it was a chore as my snakes always buried their poops in the stuff or it just sank down between the pieces.

Reptichips still is good stuff but for me, it was a lot more work to deal with than aspen and with either i didnt have a low humidity issue which is why i went back to aspen. Easier for me to deal with plus i dont have to prep it to use it, just throw it in the cages, mist it down initially and im good to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

When I switched from aspen to cypress mulch, I was amazed! It holds moisture much better, as well as odors. Cypress is amazing at odor control, and I bet orchid is the same. When I used aspen, the smell of poo or pee was horrendous, but now that I switched to cypress mulch, I can't even tell sometimes and I have to poke around to make sure they didn't urinate anywhere.
Of course, humidity control is much better as well.

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I was using cypress mulch with my blood for some time and i did love it, the only issue i had was how wet it was. I would have to dry it out in the oven for quite some time otherwise it was just far too wet. It seems like its extremely easy to get the humidity in the boaphiles to skyrocket, which is why i have continued using aspen but i agree aspen doesnt do much as for as odor control. I think i'm going to try a few different things pretty soon here to see what works best for me as far as both aesthetics, functionality and if possible what it seems like the snake takes to best.

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

btw, I personally think Retics are the most beautiful snakes on earth! I just don't have the space to keep one currently, the ones pictured in this thread are SPLENDID!:snake::gj:

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Retics are awesome and have such personality. Caesar is a total 'needy' snake that loves attention. This is is his first bath and he sat there with his head on the rim of the tub while i washed him down with a wet paper towel. He looked up at me and yawned which i didnt catch on the camera as i had a handful of wet paper towel lol.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...77333f1d_h.jpg

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Thats funny because i actually like the smell of the aspen better. To me it doesnt hold the poo/pee smell once you spot clean it. It's easy to see where to spot clean and it seems to soak it up better than Reptichips. Problem i ran into with Reptichips is it smelled like a swamp after a couple weeks and for a retic, it was made even worse by the amount of pee. I couldnt really see exactly where to spot clean unless it had urate in it and being the Reptichips were bigger chunks, the liquid would easily seep down to the cage floor and spread. The aspen seems to soak it up quicker with very little spread so i just use my hand like a crane and scoop up the wet/discolored spot and its good. No more smell.

Cypress works well to but from i have been told, once cypress dries out, it is next to impossible to get it to reabsorb water so you cant let it ever dry completely out. And as for aspen molding like so many people say, i have yet to see it happen and i mist the aspen once a week. I think it depends on the cage. I dont have issues with humidity with aspen as long as i mist it once a week. In fact it's easier to control for me than Reptichips as that stuff would peg the humidity and create so much, i had water on the sides and roof of the cage for days. Then it would dry out and be too dry. And then trying to find poops in it was a chore as my snakes always buried their poops in the stuff or it just sank down between the pieces.

Reptichips still is good stuff but for me, it was a lot more work to deal with than aspen and with either i didnt have a low humidity issue which is why i went back to aspen. Easier for me to deal with plus i dont have to prep it to use it, just throw it in the cages, mist it down initially and im good to go.

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Youve got some great points there. I have had some aspen mold, but its always been in my bloods enclosure because he's notorious for dumping his water, but even then i check it so often id never noticed more than a small speckling of mold just starting up.And your point about the reptichips not soaking up pee as well really makes me want to stick to aspen haha. I dont have a great sense of smell so to me aspen itself doesnt smell like anything, and smells strange when its wet/peed on. I was thinking that with reptichips maybe pee smell wouldnt be there but then again if im trying to clean maybe thats not a good thing. I do like how easy it is to spot clean the aspen. So many choices to make haha

I agree Sauzo, they seem to be the most interesting species in behavior as well as appearance. I admit I would be a bit fearful at first of their ferocity, but I'm sure I would learn to handle them quickly.

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Originally Posted by Dxw425

Youve got some great points there. I have had some aspen mold, but its always been in my bloods enclosure because he's notorious for dumping his water, but even then i check it so often id never noticed more than a small speckling of mold just starting up.And your point about the reptichips not soaking up pee as well really makes me want to stick to aspen haha. I dont have a great sense of smell so to me aspen itself doesnt smell like anything, and smells strange when its wet/peed on. I was thinking that with reptichips maybe pee smell wouldnt be there but then again if im trying to clean maybe thats not a good thing. I do like how easy it is to spot clean the aspen. So many choices to make haha

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Yeah you can definitely smell a difference when they pee or poop on aspen which I like as well as it lets me know without even looking. Like I said, the Reptichips just smelled like a swamp to me after a couple week. Order a bag and try it yourself and see if you like it. I know Jacob and Steve like the stuff for their retics. Just wasn't for me really.

And as for aspen molding, it will mold if you have any waste on it. So if you do miss a spot while spot cleaning and then it gets soaked like a water bowl dumped, it can/will mold.

I've personally tried Eco Earth, Reptichips, Plantit/Growit coco husk, and aspen and I still love aspen and have used to for years with no issues.

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

I agree Sauzo, they seem to be the most interesting species in behavior as well as appearance. I admit I would be a bit fearful at first of their ferocity, but I'm sure I would learn to handle them quickly.

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I don't think I would call them ferocious lol. It seems if you are nervous, the snake is nervous. I know with Caesar when I got him, I was worried about getting bit and it showed with him too as he was kind of cautious when I got near him. He never tried to bite though. Now its been over a year and I just reach in and pet him and then move him if needed and in the evenings, he comes right out and right up to me with no hesitation and climbs on my arm or sits his head on my arm or under my arm while I pet him. He doesn't really like to be carried around though. He loves to sit next to me or climb out of his cage and play all over the floor and stuff but like I said, he not like my big boas who seem to like to sit on me.

Yeah , the orchid bark has a little dust at the start but I sieve all that out before using. It's known as orchid bark over here in the UK but I think it's called Reptibark in the states !?!?

All mine are brightly coloured display snakes so need the dark background to set their colours off . I have one Mexican Black Kingskake who's the opposite and he's on light coloured Beech chippings [emoji4]

I abhor Aspen with a vengeance as it looks so fake , it drains all the colour away ( not literally lol) and it somehow gets all over the house and carpets which drive my wife bonkers [emoji4]


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Yeah , the orchid bark has a little dust at the start but I sieve all that out before using. It's known as orchid bark over here in the UK but I think it's called Reptibark in the states !?!?

All mine are brightly coloured display snakes so need the dark background to set their colours off . I have one Mexican Black Kingskake who's the opposite and he's on light coloured Beech chippings [emoji4]

I abhor Aspen with a vengeance as it looks so fake , it drains all the colour away ( not literally lol) and it somehow gets all over the house and carpets which drive my wife bonkers [emoji4]


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I agree, aspen is not the best stuff to show off light colored snakes but for me, bottom line is the welfare of the animal first and foremost. And for me, aspen is much easier to keep clean and sanitary. It does get everywhere but so does ReptiChips. And aspen is much easier to vacuum up than giant chunks of Reptichips lol.

Plus i also watch my snakes on different stuff and with the ReptChips, they would all push it aside and lay on the cage floor. They also didnt seem to want to move around much. When i put them back on aspen, you could clearly see they enjoyed it more. They would burrow, climb all over and finally when bed time came, they would curl up on top of it and sleep in their hides. The babies showed the most enjoyment as they spent hours digging around and poking their heads out to look around and then dig around some more lol.

Orchid bark here is called orchid bark too. Maybe the pet shop has a different name for it. I havent checked the pet shops but i know hardware stores have/had orchid bark for sale.

But i think the OP should order a brick of the RpetiChips and try it for a month and see how they like it. Everyone has a preference for substrate as well as the snakes. Try different stuff and see how you and your snakes like it. Then when you find the perfect median for you and the snakes, there you go :)

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I agree, aspen is not the best stuff to show off light colored snakes but for me, bottom line is the welfare of the animal first and foremost. And for me, aspen is much easier to keep clean and sanitary. It does get everywhere but so does ReptiChips. And aspen is much easier to vacuum up than giant chunks of Reptichips lol.

Plus i also watch my snakes on different stuff and with the ReptChips, they would all push it aside and lay on the cage floor. They also didnt seem to want to move around much. When i put them back on aspen, you could clearly see they enjoyed it more. They would burrow, climb all over and finally when bed time came, they would curl up on top of it and sleep in their hides. The babies showed the most enjoyment as they spent hours digging around and poking their heads out to look around and then dig around some more lol.

Orchid bark here is called orchid bark too. Maybe the pet shop has a different name for it. I havent checked the pet shops but i know hardware stores have/had orchid bark for sale.

But i think the OP should order a brick of the RpetiChips and try it for a month and see how they like it. Everyone has a preference for substrate as well as the snakes. Try different stuff and see how you and your snakes like it. Then when you find the perfect median for you and the snakes, there you go :)

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Sounds like a plan :)

Although .... Aspen used to get mouldy and smelly rather quick for my liking and Retics can get messy on occasion ;)


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call him tempest. he has the colors of nature. looks like a thunderstorm

Beautiful snake! If you are looking for a 'tough' name and in keeping with your movie tough-guy theme, how about Maximus? A nice Gladiator reference. :P

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Originally Posted by hilabeans

Beautiful snake! If you are looking for a 'tough' name and in keeping with your movie tough-guy theme, how about Maximus? A nice Gladiator reference. :P

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It had come across my mind, i do love that movie, but it's too similar to my brothers name haha

So it looks like the tough name may be out. Me and the girlfriend could only agree on two that we liked, Thor and Sonny. I think Sonny has it, he is such a mild tempered easy going snake it just seems to fit. And the word play on sunny, as he's bright yellow...
but anyway here is a photo dump.
https://i.imgur.com/N1c9i3d.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ED3BZZT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EIdqJ4i.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kgcm7ra.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/lnjS7x7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/o2mlTy8.jpg

He still isn't super active, i've caught him roaming once or twice around 2 am but he's usually curled up in his hide at 3 am when i leave for work. Im thinking about adding more clutter to his boaphile tomorrow, not sure why it never occurred to me that maybe he feels a little insecure. Im 6'2" and have pretty long legs, to give a general idea of how long he is now. I tried weighing him, but my scale broke (the adhesive on the plate gave and its hard to get accurate measurements when the snakes wont sit still) but he's somewhere around 350g now. He's up to f/t small rats every 5-6 days, and doing great! He's also becoming a lot less head-shy, we've been doing regular handling and it seems like he's definitely getting comfortable with me. Before he would jerk his head back quickly if i so much as came close to his face, whereas now i can lightly rub his head with my finger without so much as a second glance. Soon enough he'll be as comfortable with it as my boas!

Congratulations on your new friend! Is he a pure mainland? I decided to get a pair of 25% Kalatoas, but I have to wait a month or two to get them paid off... :( My male is a Lavender Motley and the girl is a Purple Goldenchild. I can't wait to get them! Just hoping that i'll be able to keep their sizes manageable...

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

Congratulations on your new friend! Is he a pure mainland? I decided to get a pair of 25% Kalatoas, but I have to wait a month or two to get them paid off... :( My male is a Lavender Motley and the girl is a Purple Goldenchild. I can't wait to get them! Just hoping that i'll be able to keep their sizes manageable...

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It wasn't specified on his display when i got him, whereas other snakes had percentages, so i'm assuming that he is full mainland. Super dwarfs are awesome, the guy a my local shop has a pure SD snow, it's pretty damn magnificent. Are you planning on breeding? And do you have breeder pictures? I'd like to see them. As far as keeping the sizes manageable it seems like (and this is not personal experience of course but stuff ive seen on the forums and youtube) the only way to ensure they don't get massive is to have a high percentage sd, and even then it really comes down to the individual snakes feeding and genetics. I'm looking forward to having a big boy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dxw425

It wasn't specified on his display when i got him, whereas other snakes had percentages, so i'm assuming that he is full mainland. Super dwarfs are awesome, the guy a my local shop has a pure SD snow, it's pretty damn magnificent. Are you planning on breeding? And do you have breeder pictures? I'd like to see them. As far as keeping the sizes manageable it seems like (and this is not personal experience of course but stuff ive seen on the forums and youtube) the only way to ensure they don't get massive is to have a high percentage sd, and even then it really comes down to the individual snakes feeding and genetics. I'm looking forward to having a big boy.

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Here is a thread I started here about them with photos:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-(25-Kalatoas)

Actually, the popular consensus seems to be that percentages have very little to do with their size in a lot of cases. I have talked to people here on the forum with 100% pure Kalatoa super dwarfs that are 9' and i've seen a lot of Youtube videos with 50% - 75% super dwarfs that are 14'. It seems to be that parental sizes have a lot to do with how large they will be as adults. But, their size can be controlled a lot through smaller prey items and longer periods between feedings, especially during breeding cycles. I have come to believe that it's ultimately going to come down to how relentlessly they push in between feedings...

I did decided to get this pair with intentions of breeding them someday. I don't think that it's necessarily the wisest plan from a business standpoint, but I have to try it and just hope that a few of the breeders out there, who are way over producing Retics don't have the market completely cornered. If the breeder has been completely honest with me and I can get these guys to stay as small as he claims that i'll be able to, maybe i'll have a line with smaller, more sought after sizes...

BREATHTAKING great pick up congratulations hope you and your noodles have a fantastic holiday season :P

Sonny weighed in at 439 grams tonight! He also shed 3 days ago, so his colors are on fire! Im gunna get the lightbox out and the good camera tomorrow to try and get some real nice shots of the gang. Itll be his first round so im sure they will look awesome. Its gunna be hard getting him to sit still though

He wouldnt sit still
https://i.imgur.com/8PfvT2g.png
https://i.imgur.com/xoC1CwD.png
https://i.imgur.com/XScpBIZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/IlqO0D6.png
https://i.imgur.com/Bf9Q9z8.png
https://i.imgur.com/bzy80V2.png
https://i.imgur.com/xFlnurj.png
https://i.imgur.com/vFTMD1N.png

Stunning lil snake :)

A photographer suggested to me to cover the snake with a plastic washing up bowl or something , hold it in place for 20 seconds or so , have the camera ready and in place ( tripod or whatever ) then when you lift the cover or bowl you will normally get a few seconds where the snake is motionless ... it worked for my King snakes anyways ..


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He is gorgeous! Snakes are sooo hard to photograph! :( Since they won't ever sit still it always causes the photos to be blurry, because the camera can't focus. Photos never do them justice anyway, because cameras and unnatural lighting just don't come close to capturing their true colors. Flashes are definitely a huge no-no! I'm actually going to be setting up a little designated photo shoot set soon for taking professional pictures of my snakes and i'm going to heavily light the set with full spectrum bulbs...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

He is gorgeous! Snakes are sooo hard to photograph! :( Since they won't ever sit still it always causes the photos to be blurry, because the camera can't focus. Photos never do them justice anyway, because cameras and unnatural lighting just don't come close to capturing their true colors. Flashes are definitely a huge no-no! I'm actually going to be setting up a little designated photo shoot set soon for taking professional pictures of my snakes and i'm going to heavily light the set with full spectrum bulbs...

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Try the tip I was given - details in my previous post ..


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