Kalatoa 100% Pure SD Retic Progression (Pic heavy...)

[jmcrook]

Yeah I don't like seeing them looking like they chugged a nerf ball lol. Though retics do seem to be able to handle much larger meals than most other snakes. Phyllis's next rat on deck is like 130-140 grams. About her upper limits right now in my opinion. I am always surprised how much smaller her food bump is compared to what I expect it to look like.
If she manages to poo bomb again me I'll be sure to snap a pic for you lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

Hahaha

[jmcrook]

Phyllis ate her biggest meal yet on Thursday. Took down a 130 gram rat no problem. Left a reasonable sized lump but not too big and three days later it looks as though it never happened. Aside from a slowly growing sausage butt lol. The metabolism of retics is unbelievable. Absolutely a bottomless pit. Here she is around her holding tub (80qt tall sterilite) while cleaning her cage. No noticeable lump at all after three days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gio]

Phyllis ate her biggest meal yet on Thursday. Took down a 130 gram rat no problem. Left a reasonable sized lump but not too big and three days later it looks as though it never happened. Aside from a slowly growing sausage butt lol. The metabolism of retics is unbelievable. Absolutely a bottomless pit. Here she is around her holding tub (80qt tall sterilite) while cleaning her cage. No noticeable lump at all after three days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What a great size!

If she stays lean and tops out between 8'-11' you'll have a fun snake.

[Sauzo]

Dang she looks pretty big. Didn't you get her a couple months ago? And didn't she fit in 1 hand?

[jmcrook]

What a great size!

If she stays lean and tops out between 8'-11' you'll have a fun snake.

She's a blast for sure! 8' is incredibly likely, if she passes 9' she might be among some of the biggest pure Kalatoas out there. I have a buddy that's bred them in the past and says once they hit 7' they tend to start packing on some girth and weight. Time will tell...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jmcrook]

Dang she looks pretty big. Didn't you get her a couple months ago? And didn't she fit in 1 hand?

I got her March 4th, so just over 8 months ago. She hatched out between February 11-14 so she was about 3 weeks old when I got her. I only started this thread in August I think though. But yeah, she fit in my palm and was maybe as big around as my pinky or ring finger at best and weighed 50ish grams when she got here. She's just shy of 1000 grams now if she hasn't actually reached 1k.

Her looking like a majestic beast lol, and her laying on a large exo terra rock hide for size reference


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jmcrook]

Haven't updated in a while. Had Phyllis out earlier to do a full cage cleaning and got a pic for a serp widgets measurement. I'm beginning to question the accuracy of that app because I've been using the same ruler every time and today she measured in at 5'6". Three weeks ago she measured 5'10" using the same 24" ruler for reference. No possible way she shrunk 4".
Still pushing a bit about 5 days after feeding. She's been metabolizing a medium rat in about 4-5 days now. Absolutely insatiable. Super chill for those first 4-5 days but as soon as she drops a deuce she's pacing the cage and pushing at everything. Digging under her hides, under branches, no abrasions though. I've still got the gap between the door and cage lip filled with foam core and mat board so she can't jam her whole head in there.


Side note, broke into my first block of actual reptichip (not an off brand) and I'm sold! Used maybe 1/4-1/3 of the block and covered two T8s and still have a good bit in a tub for spot cleaning. This stuff expands incredibly, has zero dust, and holds great humidity without being wet to the touch. Still my only criticism is that it's really dark so it's hard to see pee messes at a glance, but if you've got bright colored critters they'll look amazing on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gio]

Excellent on all fronts. IMO you are taking good care of that snake.

I'm not sold on Serp Wig either. I tried it once and did 3 measurements of the exact same animal with the same reference and got 3 different end results.

Too bad retics are so fast and furious because nothing beats the tape when it comes to getting a measurement.

You have a beautiful LEAN girl and she looks to be progressing just fine.

Well done.

I'm looking forward to spring when and I and Sauzo can shoot some outdoor pictures.

[jmcrook]

Thank you, Gio. She's the first snake that I've had as a brand new hatchling and as such I tend to treat her like she's my first born.
I'm with you on the serp widgets inaccuracy. Good for getting a ball park measurement but certainly not the best.
I'm really trying to avoid power feeding this gal, but her metabolism is un-freaking-real. If she's getting hungry she'll turn her cage upside down pushing at everything. Weirdly she never did this until I took the divider out of the T8 and gave her the full cage. I may try Cody's suggestion and give her a water bottle to push around and keep her occupied, but I'd definitely need to take out some cage furnishings to give her room to do so. I believe Bcr229 suggested wadding up some balls of brown craft paper for them to push around too. She's got plenty of room to exercise and move about but in hind sight I'm wishing I had gotten her something taller for more climbing options. We'll see how she is size wise around the 1 year mark or more and then try to decide between a 4'x2'x2', 48"x30"x18" or 72"x30"x18. I'm about a 4 hour drive from animal plastics so I could go pick it up if I need to order a T25 and save myself a good deal on the shipping.