SD experience

[jmcrook]

That velvet is gorgeous yodawagon! Also can't believe your Kalatoa is already 5'. Haven't measured my girl in a little while so she may be over 4' at this point. Still amazingly tiny for a "giant" species
Dkatz4 yeah there's no real calmly chilling out when the Retic is out. She's constantly on the go, not in an annoying way, but you'll definitely not be just hanging out and doing other things when handling her. Like I said earlier, keeps me on my toes for sure but in the most engaged and enjoyable way possible.


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[cchardwick]

Eight feet and 12 pounds, that thing is a monster for a super dwarf! I think the tiger pattern is my favorite too. I have a 50% Jampea dwarf albino and I've had her for about four weeks now. I'm power feeding her twice a week, seems like the first rat is a huge aggressive strike, then I follow up with a few adult mice. Every mouse seems to get a bit mellow and the last mouse is hardly even a strike at all. Seems like giving them a lot of food keeps them fat and happy and a bit lazy too, really mellows them out. How much do you feed this guy? I'm thinking that a hungry retic could be a lot more aggressive and more unpredictable. I'll probably slow down the feeding once she gets to a good size. I may breed my retic some day to a super dwarf albino, maybe a male SD albino tiger sunfire goldenchild (if I can even find such a snake LOL). That would make some really cool babies.

As far as feeding a ball python and having patience, most balls want live food and will take it within 20 seconds. I try frozen thawed for about 30 seconds and give up, then give a live rat pup and they always eat the live rat pup almost immediately. I'm convinced that some balls just need live.

[Yodawagon]

Eight feet and 12 pounds, that thing is a monster for a super dwarf! I think the tiger pattern is my favorite too. I have a 50% Jampea dwarf albino and I've had her for about four weeks now. I'm power feeding her twice a week, seems like the first rat is a huge aggressive strike, then I follow up with a few adult mice. Every mouse seems to get a bit mellow and the last mouse is hardly even a strike at all. Seems like giving them a lot of food keeps them fat and happy and a bit lazy too, really mellows them out. How much do you feed this guy? I'm thinking that a hungry retic could be a lot more aggressive and more unpredictable. I'll probably slow down the feeding once she gets to a good size. I may breed my retic some day to a super dwarf albino, maybe a male SD albino tiger sunfire goldenchild (if I can even find such a snake LOL). That would make some really cool babies.

As far as feeding a ball python and having patience, most balls want live food and will take it within 20 seconds. I try frozen thawed for about 30 seconds and give up, then give a live rat pup and they always eat the live rat pup almost immediately. I'm convinced that some balls just need live.

Don't power feed her. You will end up killing her with fatty liver disease. These snakes eat very sparsely in the wild, and still get big. All you're doing is slowly killing it. 1 feeding every 5 or 6 days of an appropriate sized rat is plenty.

[Yodawagon]

That velvet is gorgeous yodawagon! Also can't believe your Kalatoa is already 5'. Haven't measured my girl in a little while so she may be over 4' at this point. Still amazingly tiny for a "giant" species
Dkatz4 yeah there's no real calmly chilling out when the Retic is out. She's constantly on the go, not in an annoying way, but you'll definitely not be just hanging out and doing other things when handling her. Like I said earlier, keeps me on my toes for sure but in the most engaged and enjoyable way possible.


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She went through a growth spurt. Every time I take her out, she seems a little bigger.

[jmcrook]

She went through a growth spurt. Every time I take her out, she seems a little bigger.

Likewise. Can't believe that snake was 50ish grams and 22" when I got her. She looks like a totally different animal now but with the same personality


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[reptileexperts]

I feel the need to add something here

For those thinking a 10' snake is nothing major... you really need to reweigh that thought process and work with a 10' snake first hand to see exactly what you're getting into. Ball pythons have a strike range that is minimal, boas - have a strike range that is minimal, a 10' retic can strike 4' out of its cage in the blink of an eye if it wants to. One of my males that recently dropped his skin and turned calico has turned into the devil of retics. Worst attitude in any snake I have. Even doing something as simple as changing his water last night kept me on my toes and ended up dodging a few strikes. This male was the most laid back snake when I got him almost 5 years ago, and now...

I am a strong supporter that anyone can and should own a retic, but I'm also a strong supporter of know what you're getting into. While it's good to see what other snakes are reaching in length, its not always the extremes that need to be considered (short or long) but the potential. And that potential is potentially shorter or longer than you expected. I highly recommend carpet pythons as a transitional species. They are addicting and have great attitudes if raised with frequent handing from a young age, even a grumpy adult is not impossible to settle down. Reticulated Pythons are an advanced species. We need to keep that tidbit in mind.

[Yodawagon]

Agreed .

[dkatz4]

Folks, as always, your insights have proven invaluable. Now i'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back because (unlike so many people i've known) i'm going to listen to the parts that i didn't want to hear and not get a retic at this time. I think they are so beautiful and exciting and, god help me, someday i'll have one, but not now.

Originally Posted by jmcrook
Dkatz4 yeah there's no real calmly chilling out when the Retic is out. She's constantly on the go, not in an annoying way, but you'll definitely not be just hanging out and doing other things when handling her. Like I said earlier, keeps me on my toes for sure but in the most engaged and enjoyable way possible.

At this point I almost always have to multitask, even if one task is watching a movie (i teach film), but more often one task involves tending to a kid - so right now a snake that requires 100% of my attention is not a good match.

Ball pythons have a strike range that is minimal, boas - have a strike range that is minimal, a 10' retic can strike 4' out of its cage in the blink of an eye if it wants to.

Again, back to the kids. My 4 year old loves snakes in no small part b/c our boa is so placid and tame and tolerates my boy's "exuberant" handling with aplomb (of course i always supervise and correct him if he's getting too rough with the snake). I know i can keep him out of the snake's range if he (the snake) is acting agitated, and he's pretty easy to read with his slow steady boa manners. The relative unpredictability and speed of the retic would, i fear, prohibit my kids from handling, which would be upsetting for all of us since i really want snake keeping to be a family experience.

Oh yeah, and the poop. I already have 2 cats who think of all the world as their litter box, a newly potty trained kid (read: accidents happen), and a baby in diapers - do i need another poop machine? And besides the yuck factor, the whole salmonella thing must be acknowledged with a baby in the house, and the more feces, the more risk. The boa, of course, eliminates only twice a month and combined with his ability to shed at even greater intervals and all in one piece makes him my most sanitary pet by far.


So please, keep posting pictures and stories of the awesomeness of retic ownership so i can try to experience it vicariously until i can have one of my own!

[o.r hill]

Eight feet and 12 pounds, that thing is a monster for a super dwarf! I think the tiger pattern is my favorite too. I have a 50% Jampea dwarf albino and I've had her for about four weeks now. I'm power feeding her twice a week, seems like the first rat is a huge aggressive strike, then I follow up with a few adult mice. Every mouse seems to get a bit mellow and the last mouse is hardly even a strike at all. Seems like giving them a lot of food keeps them fat and happy and a bit lazy too, really mellows them out. How much do you feed this guy? I'm thinking that a hungry retic could be a lot more aggressive and more unpredictable. I'll probably slow down the feeding once she gets to a good size. I may breed my retic some day to a super dwarf albino, maybe a male SD albino tiger sunfire goldenchild (if I can even find such a snake LOL). That would make some really cool babies.

As far as feeding a ball python and having patience, most balls want live food and will take it within 20 seconds. I try frozen thawed for about 30 seconds and give up, then give a live rat pup and they always eat the live rat pup almost immediately. I'm convinced that some balls just need live.

He has managed to grow on a rat or equivalent in poultry per week. Now he is taking large size. I would like to get him onto fewer bigger meals but he knows if I feed the other snakes and I am afraid he would get himself in state if he did not get fed too. After that he is twitchy for a day or so. A few days after that he will either mess his enclosure and want to get away from it or just want to get out and he shows his sweet side and he is fine to handle. He likes to roam so much I can use it as behavioral reinforcement.

[o.r hill]

...

Again, back to the kids. My 4 year old loves snakes in no small part b/c our boa is so placid and tame and tolerates my boy's "exuberant" handling with aplomb (of course i always supervise and correct him if he's getting too rough with the snake). I know i can keep him out of the snake's range if he (the snake) is acting agitated, and he's pretty easy to read with his slow steady boa manners. The relative unpredictability and speed of the retic would, i fear, prohibit my kids from handling, which would be upsetting for all of us since i really want snake keeping to be a family experience. ....

Oh yeah, and the poop. I already have 2 cats who think of all the world as their litter box, a newly potty trained kid (read: accidents happen), and a baby in diapers - do i need another poop machine? And besides the yuck factor, the whole salmonella thing must be acknowledged with a baby in the house, and the more feces, the more risk. The boa, of course, eliminates only twice a month and combined with his ability to shed at even greater intervals and all in one piece makes him my most sanitary pet by far...


So please, keep posting pictures and stories of the awesomeness of retic ownership so i can try to experience it vicariously until i can have one of my own!

I totally on board with this. I would never just let a kid carry a retic round the house. A four year old with their erratic movements would be even more nerve wracking. I am really thankful for Happy the ball python for putting up with handled by elementary school kids (one of whom liked him so much that she became a snake owner) and assorted relatives. Like your boa, too big and slow to disappear immediately from the grasp of little hands but not so big that they can really do serious damage.