Dwarf retics..

[robert7107]

I'm interested in getting a dwarf retic or carpets. Leaning heavily towards the dwarfs retics I understand their a few varieties I'd be looking for something that could live in a 4ft or 5ftL by 2Wft by 18-24 H nothing huge.....
I don't have cage yet either but it would be from boaphile plastic or a custom built one made of melimine ..
I currently own ball pythons but use a rack unit .

Main concern are ambient temperature in a cage?
My ball pythons are kept in my room where winter temps are 72-74 so I use uth 11+11 to heat other side of tubs using a separate thermostat .. so they have hot spot of 88-92 and ambient of 78-80 for the colder winter months...
How do I achieve that in a cage?



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[jmcrook]

With that cage size you're definitely going to want to look more at a pure super dwarf retic, and more likely a male. Dwarfs still can reach 10-12' or more. I have a pure super dwarf female and she's a sturdy 8' at 18 months old.
A cooler room temp will mean you might want to look into RHP for heating a cage.



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[robert7107]

With that cage size you're definitely going to want to look more at a pure super dwarf retic, and more likely a male. Dwarfs still can reach 10-12' or more. I have a pure super dwarf female and she's a sturdy 8' at 18 months old.
A cooler room temp will mean you might want to look into RHP for heating a cage.



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For just a dwarf then I'd be looking at a 6ft cage ?
Not familiar with radeint heat panels never used them. I have seen a few videos of people using them mounting them inside cage at the top but it looks like they're using them as the hotspot heat source...
This would be a pet not for breeding...
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[bcr229]

I have a pure SD adult male in a 48"x30" enclosure and he's fine in it, I don't see him needing an upsize.

A "dwarf" retic will need a six footer at minimum.

Genetic stripe is technically a "dwarf" morph but my adult female is over 14', though I doubt she'll get much longer.

[jmcrook]

For just a dwarf then I'd be looking at a 6ft cage ?
Not familiar with radeint heat panels never used them. I have seen a few videos of people using them mounting them inside cage at the top but it looks like they're using them as the hotspot heat source...
This would be a pet not for breeding...
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Depends on the individual animal but yeah, some dwarfs can still get to be impressively sized. I've got my super dwarf girl in a 6' cage as of yesterday. I could probably have kept her in a 4 footer but she would have needed a taller height than I had for her and I like to give my critters some space. Some people keep 15' snakes in a 6' cage just fine but I like them to have room to cruise around. Yes, RHP creates a hot spot, but also heats objects under them and in turn they give off heat and increase the ambient temps. Not trying to dissuade you from looking into retics, I love them. Just need to be aware of their growth potential and housing needs.
Edit: just saw bcr post. Yeah, some "dwarfs" are still decent size.

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[robert7107]

Thanks..
Id rather have all the info I can before buying any animal...

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[jmcrook]

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...nd-Information
This is a really great thread on super dwarf retics that's worth a read. There's a few of us on here that have ongoing threads about our dwarf and super dwarf retics as well. They're long progression threads at this point but we've been making an effort to keep decent records of growth rates, feeding schedules, and habits of our animals over the last year or so. "Wallace" is a good thread by Gio, "Caesar" has a nice progression thread by Sauzo, "Gene" has a thread by Stearns, and I've got two threads for my two SD retics "Phyllis" and "Gerald". Feel free to keep asking any questions and hopefully some of the folks I just mentioned will chime in. They're super fun and interesting snakes to keep but are definitely different with their own sets of challenges.


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[Sauzo]

Prepare for a big snake and you wont be surprised. Retics are not something that can easily be rehomed especially if it grows large.

Caesar is my 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf and 31% mainland male white tiger het snow and he is easily 7' and almost 1.4 years old. You can control size to an extent with feeding only if the retic agrees with it. Caesar for example was VERY food driven as a baby and he was eating every 5-7 days or he would push and mess his face up. Now that he is bigger, he can do real damage to his face if not fed every 10 days. He eats either a colossal rat or XL guinea pig every 10 days.

He is a huge lush though and seems to like interaction with me and will come over to me when i pet him and sit there for 30 mins or more and put his head on my arm or under my arm. I'M not sure if this is normal retic behavior but he is actually very friendly until he smells food. Then he is seriously dangerous and I have to triple check everything i do so i dont get bit. He strikes first and tastes second.

As for cage size, I would say plan for a 6' cage at least. If you dont need it, then you got extra cash. If you do need it, at least you will be ready. Caesar lasted about 7 months in a 4x2x15 cage. He is now in a 6x3x18 cage and he might have to be upgraded again to a 8x3x18 cage next summer depending if he grows more.

If your room gets that cold in the winter, you will need a RHP.

Bottomline is if you got a hard limit on what you can afford or keep, then a retic might not be for you. If you want something under 10', get a pure Kalatoa super dwarf. The only morph with a super dward retic is anery so anything else is going to have percentage of dwarf or mainland in it. Higher the dwarf and mainland, bigger the chances of having a larger snake. I have also been told tiger gene alos tends to produce larger animals. And also feeding but like i said above, it depends if the animal agrees with it.

Here is Caesar to give you an idea. He is only 1.4 years almost.