Dwarf Retic

I'm just looking around and saw a couple things on dwarf retics, I know that theres a couple different dwarves out there, but which ones stay the smallest. Have they proven to stay at that size.

Super dwarf Retic. Bob Clark is working with some right now. He claims they will stay under 2 meters as adults.
http://www.bobclark.com/

Mike Willbanks has Dwarf Tiger, Dwarf Tiger Albino and Dwarf Jampeas available. I think dwarf Jamps top out at 9ft.

http://www.constrictors.com/Pythons.html

Jamps can get over 12'.. I've heard of some 15' ones.. and the morph jamps are crossed with normal full sized retics, so they have even more potential for growth I believe.

Im looking at super dwarves right now. I've emailed Bob Clark.

They are gorgeous snakes. I saw a lavender albino superdwarf on kingsnake. Silver eyes.. just breathtaking.

Garrick at CrestedGecko.com is currently working on some super dwarf projects and will have some available in 07' I believe. The line he is working on at 5-6 years of age were five to six 1/2 feet in length.

It'd be sweet to have a dwarf retic, but all that I've read about the dwarfs is that they have real nasty temperments.

I've seen that they have a better temperment than other retics.

I am sure babies can be live wires, but I have heard nothing negative about their temperament.. quite the opposite. I've heard of a number of tame ones.

The latest consensus is that female Jamps will top out between 12 and 15 feet depending on how they were fed, especially as young snakes. I would never recommend anyone hold back food to keep a Retic small. But you can still feed a sensible amount. Jim Gasper (the guy with the 15 foot female Jamps) admittedly feeds his animals A LOT!!! We have a 4-5 year old female Jamp that we feed a LOT and she is only 12 1/2 feet and like 65 pounds.

So far, the 1/2 Jamp 1/2 Mainlands, like the 'dwarf hets' and 'dwarf tigers' are actually staying smaller than full blooded Jamps. I can't promise that this will stay true and always be true, but Steve Gooch (1st ever to produce dwarf Super Tigers and Bob Clark Photographer) has a 4 or 5 year old 1/2 Jamp 1/2 Mainland Tiger that is a proven female at only 12 or 13 feet. She dropped over 40 eggs this year!

Last year we had a Mainland Albino and a 1/2 Jamp 1/2 Mainland Het hatch around the same time. The albino was 154 Grams and the 1/2 Jamp was 72 Grams! That little 1/2 Jamp eats like a champ and is still really small.

As far as temperment, I don't really think Retics are nasty at all. We have more nasty Balls than we do Retics. You just don't worry about a nasty Ball. We have 12 adult Retics not including any juveniles or sub-adults and only one big female is ever at all aggresive, and even she is really very handleable if you have the experience. Super Dwarfs, Kayuadis, etc can be flighty/bitey if they're wild caught, but so can everything else. I think they are very similar to Carpets. Jamps and Mainlands require a higher skill level to safely work in my opinion, but I think the same thing about Burms and big BCC's. I'm not talking Master Herper, just some good experience.

Here is some growth data on Superdwarfs
http://mahn001.tripod.com/id28.html

Here is one of our adult female Super Dwarfs. She is under 5 feet and under 12 pounds!
http://mahn001.tripod.com/sitebuilde...ures/1sdw2.jpg

End Rant.

Beautiful animal there, thanks for sharing.

Out of curiosity.. what is the average length/weight of a mainland male retic?

Thanks! Here is a 2 1/2 year old (at the time) proven male with my wife. 12 1/2 feet and around 30 - 35 pounds. It's been 6 mos or so and he hasnt grown much. I'd say avg for mainland males is 13-15 feet at full adulthood (5+ years old), but much leaner than a female. Maybe 40 pounds on avg. Some do get bigger though.


I recently had a friend tell me they didn't think they could handle anything over 8 feet. When they saw our 12+ foot albino from the pic, they couldn't believe he was 12 feet. Don't get hung up on weights in lengths arbitrarily. Hang out with some bigger snakes and decide from experience what your size limits are.

http://mahn001.tripod.com/sitebuilde...res/1mahn5.jpg

That's a beautiful albino. There's something about albino retics..

I've hung out with lots of big snakes. I used to work at a reptile zoo and I held a 10'+ burm daily. They have the world's largest snake at that zoo and some monster female retics.

I've got a male burm right now. He's just a young guy.. but I expect him to get 10-15' and most likely over 40lbs.

Perhaps someday when I have my own house I'd get a male lavender albino.

Albino Retics are my favorite snake of all time. Lavs and purples are amazing, but the whites are really cool too. Especially as they get older. The white expands.

Yeah I like all three phases a lot. Hard to pick a favorite really.

Gosh darn it now you've made me want a male mainland.. oh well it'll have to wait. I don't have any room for more giants while I'm living here. lol

Great snake and nice posters on the walls. =)

Thanks :)

I don't think I've ever seen an albino snake with such a cool pattern! I'm generally biased towards the darker colorations, especially with high contrast, but wow... that's just lovely.

Im bringing up a dead thread now that I have the resources for a dwarf. I want to make I understand everything. The jampeas can get 10'+ but the dwarves that bob clark advertises as dwarf jampeas top out at 8' max. Are the ones he has true super dwarves that he just calls them jampea dwarves.

No, dwarf Jampea and Jampea are the same. I would expect a male Jamp to max out in the 8 foot range ( a little more if you feed heavily), but females will get to around 12ish feet give or take.

Super Dwarves are the snakes that are maxing out at 8 feet and under. We have 4 year old Super Dwarves that are under 6 feet, but I'm sure you could pound a Kayuadi or Kalatoa island dwarf and get it up around 10 feet.

Let me know if you have further questions...

What are the dwarf retics that Bob Clark says stay under 8'. Does he have them advertised on his site.

That would be Super Dwarfs

Like this one:
http://mahn001.tripod.com/sitebuilde...ures/1sdw2.jpg

Ok so he just doesn't have them on his site. If he has any left and barring any unforeseen circumstances looks like I may get one. Would an 8ft retic be easier to handle than a 8ft boa.

I nearly bought a Bali Dwarf Retic last year. Handled it in the shop and it chewed (and I mean chewed) my hand. I didn't buy it. Even recently, the shop still has it and it just doesn't like being handled at all. I'm not sure if it's a trait with them all or that one just happened to have bad attitude but by contrast I've got 2 Boas (well 3 now as we recently got a baby Boa) and they are the gentlest snakes we've got.

It's all relative. An 8 foot Retic will probably weigh less than an 8 foot Boa, so in that regard yes. If it's wc or ch it might be flighty, but just ask Bob, or whoever you get it from. He'll tell you honestly what it's temperment is.

Whats the average size for females. Also what size cages would you use for adults.

Our adults are in 4 foot cages with plenty of room to spare. Our adult male and female are about the same size, but I'd expect a female Super Dwarf to get to 5-8 feet depending on how you feed.

How long would a 36"x24"x12" be good for. The ones Im looking at are 3'-4' right now. Also what temps should they be kept at.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greenmonkey51

How long would a 36"x24"x12" be good for. The ones Im looking at are 3'-4' right now. Also what temps should they be kept at.

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Depending on how big your individual animal ends up. I'd say it would be good for a while, if not permanently. 6-8 feet is deceiving because they are such slender bodied animals. A 6-8 foot Burm would weigh A LOT more. Super Dwarves, for the most part, have the body style of a Rat snake. You could easily keep a 6 foot rat snake in a cage of those dimensions...

I forgot temps...

I'd just give a gradient. 92 hot side, 80-83 cold side.

What would be a good sized tub for a 4' female. Also in general how does a retic personality compare to that of a ball python.

I love the Super Dwarfs. I need one!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greenmonkey51

What would be a good sized tub for a 4' female. Also in general how does a retic personality compare to that of a ball python.

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I'm not that good wit the tub sizes, but if it's as slender as I'm assuming it will be at 4', a 28 qt would be all right temporarily, but I would move it into the 36" cage you were talking about soon.

Difference between Retic and BP? Night and Day. There is really no comparison. There is nothing like either. BP's are so mellow, and move so little. That's why I find them a little boring (No offense guys). Retics are curious, agile, engaged and outwardly intelligent. You really have to experience them for yourself. It can't be described. But in short, they are more active and curious...

Thanks snakeman55 for everything. I saw you post with the albino retic, that doesn't look like a very big snake even though its 12'. I think I'm getting to hung up on size.

Most people do get too hung up on size. Good luck with it.