General care on retics and experiences with these amazing animals

Hi everyone

For interest sake, how hard is it to take care of a retic?

How often would you feed it from baby to adult?

Well tempered or not? Very intelligent so i am guessing quite moody at times

What makes them so intelligent?

On average how long and what sized girth do they get to?

And finally what are your experiences with retics?

I know they are very fast, intelligent, well tempered when handled correctly, they can remember bad experiences with their owner.

I am asking so many questions as i am very fascinated with these stunning animals.

All pictures, videos and comments welcome!

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I am no expert from from what I have found: Harder to take care of than a ball python or cat but easier than a dog. Others have described them as studying things and owners”. And one of mine certainly does. He likes stimuli and activity. He also seems to remember things. The other is harder to read because she is nervous. They are hands down my favorite species in looks and activity levels but I am glad I have dwarfs. I have heard stories of personality changes but am not sure how often that occurs and if it occurs in snakes that get a lot of handling.

Seems like they are pretty intelligent, would they look you in the eye or something. Oh and they also have huge eyes which may show a sign of intelligence

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I as well wouldn't consider myself expert either, and also work only with SD and SD crosses. Definitely way more work than a ball python in terms of cleaning and such. My male is very squirrelly and nervous coming out of the cage but never has offered a strike at me. My female pure SD is quick to charge the door when it opens but immediately changes her tune when she gets a light tap with her hook. She seems to enjoy interaction and outside of the cage time more than the other. Very inquisitive, they definitely look you right in the eyes when working with them


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Are there any other giant python owners out there or not really?

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I can't speak directly as I only have limited experience at this time but my bf and his dad have been keeping retics for years (and bred for the last few years).

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

For interest sake, how hard is it to take care of a retic?

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They are more challenging than some other snakes mainly due to the size and their fast metabolisms (got to clean more often).

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How often would you feed it from baby to adult?

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Pretty much same as any snake, every 7-10 days or so as babies and as they age, depending on the size of the food, every 1-3 weeks or so.

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Well tempered or not? Very intelligent so i am guessing quite moody at times

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Depends. It really depends on the animal and their mood. Some are just snappy jerks, some are so laid back they don't care if you squeeze their face. Depends if the snake *wants* to be bothered or was startled and woken up. Some laid back snakes can have an off day or males may be in breeding mode. I will say that retics can be determined. If a retic wants to go somewhere, they can be very single-minded about that goal lol

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What makes them so intelligent?

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Good question, I wish I could answer that.

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On average how long and what sized girth do they get to?

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That really depends if it's a mainland or has any dwarf or super dwarf and what percentage, etc.

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All pictures, videos and comments welcome!

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posted a bunch here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...dom-Retic-Pics

:gj:

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

What makes them so intelligent?

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Reticulated pythons known to play chess, read philosophy books, and enjoy fine glasses of Port when left alone....

So I am in no way even close to an expert, I just got my first retic not too long ago, and am still working with her. After she gets rubbed with the hook I can go in and pick her up with no issue. She is usually pretty laid back, and loves to just cruise around up and down my arms, over my head and just smell things. One thing i have noticed is a distinct change when food is around and even after shes eaten she turns into a hormonal teenager, all intelligence goes out the window and she just wants food haha. My burm is very very laid back, I have no need for a hook with him at all, and as soon as hes eaten hes back to his chill self almost as soon as the rat goes down the hatch. whereas the retic is still hunting and flying around looking for more food. Hope this helps

I dont use a hook for any of my snakes. I can just reach in and pick them up with no issues. Now if food is around, all bets are off. I wouldnt get near the bitey end. And all my snakes stay in 'food' mode for about an hour.

Also baby retics are hungry 24/7. Caesar was a terror for food until he hit about a year old. Now he's 18 months old and doesnt go into 'food' mode until you dangle a rat or guinea pig in the cage.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I dont use a hook for any of my snakes. I can just reach in and pick them up with no issues. Now if food is around, all bets are off. I wouldnt get near the bitey end. And all my snakes stay in 'food' mode for about an hour.

Also baby retics are hungry 24/7. Caesar was a terror for food until he hit about a year old. Now he's 18 months old and doesnt go into 'food' mode until you dangle a rat or guinea pig in the cage.

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This is where Id like to get to with my retic. Just to reach in and pick her up with my hand and not get bit. i havent tried since she did it to me when I got her. Id sure like to though. i can with all my other snakes

Hmmm this makes me want a retic even more!. I really want a snake that is intelligent, quite a handful and a manageable size with 2 people of course. If i do get a retic it may be my last snake. Thats why i want something that is quite challenging. But i am still going to do a heck tonne of research and experience with handling at one of my friends houses. What do you guys think?

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A super dwarf morph is easily handled by one person. Caesar is 7' or a little more and i can handle him alone easily. He isnt the biggest fan of being carried around though but picking him up after he has climbed out of his cage and played around on the floor isnt an issue.

I found that my female retic had a very fast metabolism when young, I would feed multiple rats every few days and within 2-3 days she looked anorexic. I fed pretty heavy until she reached about 8 months old, her metabolism slowed down and she finally kept the weight on. I think by feeding her what she needed when young her personality improved, she is really a sweetheart.

When she was young if I waited a week or more before feeding she would get super food aggressive. Now I feed her a jumbo rat once a week, I actually skipped the last couple weeks and you couldn't even tell by her body condition or temperament. I know a lot of people disagree with feeding that heavy as a young retic but it has worked wonders for me. I totally feed only by body condition, if they are super skinny they get more food, if they get too fat I'll hold back the food for weeks or months if needed. I'd say she is about 35-40 pounds now and about two years old.

I keep both of my retics on coconut husk in ARS boa tubs and I find they are no more work than my ball pythons. I check on them every day and spot clean as needed and change out the substrate once a month. I enjoy them very much and they have the job of using up all my old breeder rats that are too big for my ball pythons LOL.

So retics are very food aggressive when young but get better as they mature.

See my one friend said that he'd give me a retic for free. I know that is a HUGE commitment but as i have already said i need to do a tonne of research and experience to get one of these animals

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

So retics are very food aggressive when young but get better as they mature.

See my one friend said that he'd give me a retic for free. I know that is a HUGE commitment but as i have already said i need to do a tonne of research and experience to get one of these animals

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Some are, some arent. Gio's retic wasnt that food driven while mine and Jacob's are.

The biggest thing you need to know is if your friend is giving you a mainland, it can grow big, like 14' big for males or 18' big for females. Be sure you are ready for a snake that size as they need large housing, lots of food and help when you are handling it.

My retics were all stupidly food aggressive when young. My daughter did a science project on a few of ours from age 3-6 months old where she tracked the weights of each feeder they got, and then we weighed the snake after each bowel movement, to see how efficiently they were digesting. About 33% of what they ate became snake; they grow insanely fast when young.

I can handle the SD and 50% SD's by myself, mainly because if they need an enclosure clean-out I have an empty tub to secure them while I clean. The mainland critters are too big for that so they are a two-person job, even if one person just has to babysit the snake while it free-roams the house, to ensure it doesn't disappear under a bed or behind the piano.

I used to try to free range my retic while cleaning, it was an impossible task a lot of times and she would get into trouble and climb everything. I finally ended up getting a third enclosure (for my two retics). I don't move them back and forth for cleaning now, I just move them once to a different enclosure. Makes life a lot easier.

Thanks guys for all your advice.
I would love to see any pics of your retics

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With Caesar, it depends on if he can free roam or not. Some days he is content to just sit under the blankets and chill. Other days, he is on the move and a few times, i heard him pushing stuff around in the bathroom which he wandered into when i wasnt looking and had him on the bed. Here are a few pics of Caesar.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...77333f1d_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7cb73a52_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...40a0e615_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...d45f2aff_h.jpg

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

With Caesar, it depends on if he can free roam or not. Some days he is content to just sit under the blankets and chill. Other days, he is on the move and a few times, i heard him pushing stuff around in the bathroom which he wandered into when i wasnt looking and had him on the bed. Here are a few pics of Caesar.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...77333f1d_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7cb73a52_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...40a0e615_h.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...d45f2aff_h.jpg

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He's beautiful. Definitely inquisitive animals that love to explore. Not like pet rocks.

What would be the minimum cage size for a retic male. I won't be keeping him in a bland cage that has only newspaper and a water bowl. I would like my refic to have a naturalistic home. Like branches and peat as a substrate. I don't want him to be bored.

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Oh and is Caesar fully grown and what does he eat?

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If you want to know what it's like to take care of several retics watch this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD6yUoFwYR8&t=20s

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

He's beautiful. Definitely inquisitive animals that love to explore. Not like pet rocks.

What would be the minimum cage size for a retic male. I won't be keeping him in a bland cage that has only newspaper and a water bowl. I would like my refic to have a naturalistic home. Like branches and peat as a substrate. I don't want him to be bored.

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I have Caesar in a Animal Plastics T25 72x30x18 with a 10" shelf running across the back. I might upgrade him to a T65 this summer which is a 96x30x18 with the 10" shelf depending how much more he grows over the winter. He should be done with his fast growth as he doesnt shed nearly as much as when he was a baby and isnt as food driven anymore.

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Oh and is Caesar fully grown and what does he eat?

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He gets a jumbo rat, quail or guinea pig every 14 days. And yes he is probably close to 'full' grown but snakes grow their whole lives. He is done with his baby/fast growth i believe. he has put on a lot more bulk and not really that much more length and hasnt shed in a while.

But like i said, he is a 37.5% SD 31.5% dwarf and his dad was 6' and mom was 8-9'. So even though he is 31% mainland, tiger, and was fairly heavily fed, it seems he didnt pull from the mainland gene pool too much as like i said, he is 7' ish at 18 months old.

My friend says that when his hatchlings have hatched, hed give me a mainland lavender albino. Will the mainland grow much bigger than yours or not. I will be feeding him gradually and not for breeding purposes. It is a he btw

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

My friend says that when his hatchlings have hatched, hed give me a mainland lavender albino. Will the mainland grow much bigger than yours or not. I will be feeding him gradually and not for breeding purposes. It is a he btw

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Yes, a mianland male will probably be close to double my retics size on the larger on end. I would personally guess anywhere from 10-14' but you need to see how big the parents are and that should give you a general idea.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Yes, a mianland male will probably be close to double my retics size on the larger on end. I would personally guess anywhere from 10-14' but you need to see how big the parents are and that should give you a general idea.

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How long is yours in feet?

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What would be a good substrate for retics. I am going to try peat moss and i also heard that reptibark can also work.

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

My friend says that when his hatchlings have hatched, hed give me a mainland lavender albino. Will the mainland grow much bigger than yours or not. I will be feeding him gradually and not for breeding purposes. It is a he btw

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A Mainland reticulated python is the biggest snake on the planet. If you want to get an idea of the size potential check out this video:

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

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I found that my female retic had a very fast metabolism when young, I would feed multiple rats every few days and within 2-3 days she looked anorexic. I fed pretty heavy until she reached about 8 months old, her metabolism slowed down and she finally kept the weight on. I think by feeding her what she needed when young her personality improved, she is really a sweetheart.

When she was young if I waited a week or more before feeding she would get super food aggressive. Now I feed her a jumbo rat once a week, I actually skipped the last couple weeks and you couldn't even tell by her body condition or temperament. I know a lot of people disagree with feeding that heavy as a young retic but it has worked wonders for me. I totally feed only by body condition, if they are super skinny they get more food, if they get too fat I'll hold back the food for weeks or months if needed. I'd say she is about 35-40 pounds now and about two years old.

I keep both of my retics on coconut husk in ARS boa tubs and I find they are no more work than my ball pythons. I check on them every day and spot clean as needed and change out the substrate once a month. I enjoy them very much and they have the job of using up all my old breeder rats that are too big for my ball pythons LOL.

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I do the same thing with mine, i don't see any problems with it.

I doubt a male that i dont powerfeed or feed to often will reach that size. I dont intend to breed in the future.

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

I doubt a male that i dont powerfeed or feed to often will reach that size. I dont intend to breed in the future.

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I would not bank on that with a mainland, nor would I go into having a mainland thinking you don't need to feed them too often. Parent size will give you a good indicator. Most "breeder males" are smaller because they tend to eat less throughout the year and are maintenance fed, and are also using a lot of energy breeding. If you are never looking to breed and have your male as solely a pet, it will very likely get much bigger than Sauzo's Caesar. Is it possible to have an 8 foot male mainland? Sure. Is it likely in the grand scheme of things? Not so much. Look at how big mom and dad are, and that should give you a relative estimate with a moderate feeding schedule of what to expect size wise. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, but I wouldn't take that to the bank personally. This is also coming from someone who has had/has mainlands, dwarfs and super dwarf crosses for what it's worth.

As a general side note, I would be more worried about the bite of a male when he wants to breed over the size of the animal. I am always hesitant to recommend mainland males as an entrance into retics, because when they bite during breeding mode it can do some serious damage. I'd take 2-3 feet more in length of a female over breeding bites from males any day of the week.

Some things to think about then.

I like males because they wont get as big as females and may eat smaller meals.

Females on the other hand are your monsters. I dont want a retic that can reach 25feet or more. Plus they may require much bigger food

1 question will females get huge and at what size will they max out at?

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Some things to think about then.

I like males because they wont get as big as females and may eat smaller meals.

Females on the other hand are your monsters. I dont want a retic that can reach 25feet or more. Plus they may require much bigger food

1 question will females get huge and at what size will they max out at?

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There is no hard and fast rule to a size for the snake. On average though, you are probably looking at around 18' for a mainland female. They wont get 25' and i would honestly be kind of surprised if it got over 20'.

As for food, well a bigger snake will need bigger food. Thats a given. A guy here who builds local PVC cages and is one of the main guys at the local herp club and does rescues and stuff has lots of monitors and snakes and he an 18' female retic named Kitty who he feeds adult rabbits too. F/T of course.

Also any snake over 10', i would have a helper standing by or at least within screaming distance if something did go wrong. Caesar is only 7'+ but when he decides he wants to explore, there honestly isnt too much i can do other than to shove him back in his cage lol. He is just too long and too determined to wander that i cant reel him in fast enough and next thing i know, he is off me and wandering across the floor lol. He doesnt move super fast but he could. He just goes at retic speed lol.

And some males can get large too. An example is pertaining to boas. Gio who got his male Barranquilla BCI the same time i got my girl, is now larger than my girl. His male is 7' while my female is 6.5' and they are about the same age. So again like i mentioned before, you need to see the parents to get an rough idea of what you might be looking at.

My friend says his female is 6metres and males 3 metres

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

My friend says his female is 6metres and males 3 metres

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The male may grow another foot or so depending on his age. My mainland males are all 12-14 feet. The female your friend has likely won't get a lot bigger.

Something else to consider is that a placid large female will be safer to work with than a male half her size that is willing to go through you because he's got lust on his mind. The former can hurt you but it's not likely unless you screw up while feeding her or do something really stupid, while the latter will put you in the ER if you don't read him right.

For a pet retic I would get a high percentage SD female over a male any day.

But how long will an adult female get? What will i have to feed?

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This will also be my only retic, no other males or females. Will that have an impact or not?

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

But how long will an adult female get? What will i have to feed?

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A rought guesstimate on a female mainland retic would be 18 feet. It might be smaller or it might be larger but that is the size i would plan for.

As for food, an 18 foot retic is going to be eating adult rabbits, very large guinea pigs, goats, small pigs etc.

What does your friend who you plan on getting a retic from feed his females? He would probably be the best person to ask as he will have the parents and should/can give you much more accurate info as well....he has the parents who are adults.

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

This will also be my only retic, no other males or females. Will that have an impact or not?

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Shouldnt if its a female. Some males when adults and ready to breed will get cranky or antsy during breeding season as they want a girlfriend. Some wont care. It's not something that you can just look at a baby male retic and say yes or no to. You would just have to wait until he becomes an adult and then see how it goes.

Plus males generally stay smaller and leaner while females get larger in both length and girth.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

If you want to know what it's like to take care of several retics watch this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD6yUoFwYR8&t=20s

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I'm sorry, but it is so inhumane keeping snakes that size cooped up in little racks like that... :(

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Shouldnt if its a female. Some males when adults and ready to breed will get cranky or antsy during breeding season as they want a girlfriend. Some wont care. It's not something that you can just look at a baby male retic and say yes or no to. You would just have to wait until he becomes an adult and then see how it goes.

Plus males generally stay smaller and leaner while females get larger in both length and girth.

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Time will tell

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

I'm sorry, but it is so inhumane keeping snakes that size cooped up in little racks like that... :(

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I have smaller retics in larger enclosures than that, but it's not unusual to find them coiled up under a hide or crammed in a corner for security. They may be big snakes but they don't like big spaces, and the more defensive they are the more they hate to be out.

I would plan on a female mainland potentially needing an 8'x3'x2' enclosure eventually. It may not happen for a few years but if she's never bred she'll get larger than females that are used as breeders since they put energy into producing eggs rather than growth.

If you want a female that stays smaller get a 50% or higher SD combo, at three years old my girls are just under 10 feet and thickening up so I don't expect them to get too much longer or ever need anything bigger than a 6'x2' enclosure. Yes it will cost more than a pure mainland but you'll save on caging and food expenses over the course of her life.

Guys, what size would a 75% dwarf female or male get to

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Guys, what size would a 75% dwarf female or male get to

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Depends on the locale, parent's sizes, feeding schedule... even "dwarf" females can still get big. I believe Bcr has a genetic stripe female, which is originated from a dwarf locale, and it's about 14'.


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Depends on the locale, parent's sizes, feeding schedule... even "dwarf" females can still get big. I believe Bcr has a genetic stripe female, which is originated from a dwarf locale, and it's about 14'.

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Yes, I do. And yes, she is. She's a two-person slither for feeding or cage cleaning as she's cage defensive.

Wow, so it all comes down to how you feed, parent sizes and what not. Thanks guys

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Wow, so it all comes down to how you feed, parent sizes and what not. Thanks guysSent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

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I saw this the other day and I thought it was interesting. I trust what Jay says because he test his theories.https://youtu.be/8PJklQQoo9Y

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Wow, so it all comes down to how you feed, parent sizes and what not. Thanks guys

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More or less. Parent size i think will make the biggest difference. Like i've said before, with Gio, Jacob, Steve and I all comparing out retics combined with our feeding schedules and genetics, you can see there is a lot to factor in. I mean Pyhllis is pure kalatoa female is almost 9 feet, Gene is 50% dwarf and 50% mainland and he's around 8 feet i think. Caesar is 37.5% SD 31.5% dwarf and 31% mainland and he's just over 7 feet and Wallace is around 35% SD 40% dwarf and 25% mainland and is around 6 feet.

Also like i said with feeding, not sure how Gene was fed growing up but Phyllis and Caesar were heavily fed while Wallace was very conservatively fed. That combined with Wallace being more dwarf and less mainland only landed him about a foot short than Caesar. So to me, i dont see feeding as being a BIG factor in the size. Like i said, it will affect it but if your snake is genetically programmed to be large at birth with its genes, it will be large even if you starve it into a stunted growth. That might shave off a foot or so but you arent going to starve a snake generically programmed at birth to be 10 feet into a 2 foot snake.

I personally think the genetics play the biggest part and even more so, which genes said snake uses in it's programming. That is the reason you want to stack the deck in your favor by going with the highest SD percents you can. Then highest dwarf percents. That way you have a good chance the snake will be 'programmed' from the SD pool which will get you a smaller snake but again, we are talking mother nature and anything can happen like i said. It's not so black and white.

Again, my advice is if you are really worried about ending up with a really big snake, i would probably advise against getting a retic. Even SD ones arent little tiny cornsnakes. If you get a high percent SD, just plan for a 10' snake and you wont have an unpleasant surprise. I planned for 10' from Caesar even though Kris at Vital Exotics told me he should top out around 7 feet with normal feedings. Well Kris called it well as Caesar is just over 7 feet and that was with heavy feeding.