New Little Retic Question

[Sauzo]

OP, I am just curious so please bear with me. If you want a docile snake, why did you buy a retic? I have heard of and seen relatively calm ones but in the same vein I have seen and heard of just as many nasty ones. While I can understand wanting an animal to be as manageable as possible and amusing myself by attempting to "tame" it, I would not in a million years ever trust a retic especially since a full grown one can do serious damage. I don't understand your expectations for the animal. I have no problem with people keeping them as long as they can manage them, but I would never have one if my expectation was that it would become mellow.

Well to play devil's advocate, most of those 'old' stories you heard about retics were wild caught ones which for obvious reasons didn't take to captivity well. Most of the retics you buy nowadays are a few generations into captivity and are much more used to people.

Also what some people might interpret as aggression are just a very food driven retic. Retics are not shy about food nor are they shy to show they like food. Caesar was VERY food driven as a baby and the minute you opened the cage, he was front and center ready to eat. Now that he is older, he still loves food but as long as he doesnt smell it, he is really laid back and most of the time during the day, he doesnt even poke his head out of his hide. I literally have to lift the hide off him and then if he doesnt want social time, he will just bury his head like a BP and ball up lol. Come evening though and he is ready for fun and will sit at the front of the cage pushing until a door is opened. Then he comes over to check me out and usually put his head on my arm. Then when he thinks I've let down my guard, he tries to slide down the cage stack and play on the floor haha.

Now i will say, there are some retics that are nasty. But they seem to have the most personality of any of my snakes although that also comes with the most activity of any of my snakes. He is a workout to take out of the cage and tote around. He also isnt that keen on being dragged around. He likes to say hi to me but doesnt like me picking him up that much and uses my whole body like a race track when i do pick him up haha.

[InherentResolve]

Just give her time. I would wait to mess with her until she has eaten a few times and seems more content. If you try and mess with her too early, i wouldnt be surprised if you got bit again lol. Retics definitely do what they want to do. I would give at least 2 weeks before trying to handle her. Let her see you arent a giant Godzilla monster that is going to eat her. She will for sure notice you going in the cage and changing water and spot cleaning and also will notice you're the one feeding her. So after a few weeks, she will most likely begin to trust you. Then you can work with getting her out.

Ill be sure to do that. She ate today, as it was her scheduled time and she was pretty upset with me. But ill just keep being patient and update everyone on how it goes!

[InherentResolve]

OP, I am just curious so please bear with me. If you want a docile snake, why did you buy a retic? I have heard of and seen relatively calm ones but in the same vein I have seen and heard of just as many nasty ones. While I can understand wanting an animal to be as manageable as possible and amusing myself by attempting to "tame" it, I would not in a million years ever trust a retic especially since a full grown one can do serious damage. I don't understand your expectations for the animal. I have no problem with people keeping them as long as they can manage them, but I would never have one if my expectation was that it would become mellow.

totally get that 100%. I am fully prepared if she never calms down, i mentored quite a bit with a friend of mine who keeps retics, hes got a very large tiger female who wants nothing more than to draw blood, and if thats how she wants to be then so be it, I wouldnt give her up because of that.

That being said, I know what my little one can be, and Id sure like to do everything I can to ensure she does mellow out. So dont get me wrong im not in a false reality that shes going to be the most tame snake in the world, I just want to do all I can to help her get there. Make sense?

[JodanOrNoDan]

Well to play devil's advocate, most of those 'old' stories you heard about retics were wild caught ones which for obvious reasons didn't take to captivity well. Most of the retics you buy nowadays are a few generations into captivity and are much more used to people.

Also what some people might interpret as aggression are just a very food driven retic. Retics are not shy about food nor are they shy to show they like food. Caesar was VERY food driven as a baby and the minute you opened the cage, he was front and center ready to eat. Now that he is older, he still loves food but as long as he doesnt smell it, he is really laid back and most of the time during the day, he doesnt even poke his head out of his hide. I literally have to lift the hide off him and then if he doesnt want social time, he will just bury his head like a BP and ball up lol. Come evening though and he is ready for fun and will sit at the front of the cage pushing until a door is opened. Then he comes over to check me out and usually put his head on my arm. Then when he thinks I've let down my guard, he tries to slide down the cage stack and play on the floor haha.

Now i will say, there are some retics that are nasty. But they seem to have the most personality of any of my snakes although that also comes with the most activity of any of my snakes. He is a workout to take out of the cage and tote around. He also isnt that keen on being dragged around. He likes to say hi to me but doesnt like me picking him up that much and uses my whole body like a race track when i do pick him up haha.

For my knowledge, since a big part of my ball breeding program involves attempting to breed for behavior...

Do you happen to know if the "aggression" was bred out of the animals or was it merely them being bred and hatched in captivity that calmed them down?

[Sauzo]

For my knowledge, since a big part of my ball breeding program involves attempting to breed for behavior...

Do you happen to know if the "aggression" was bred out of the animals or was it merely them being bred and hatched in captivity that calmed them down?

No idea but i would imagine, it is probably just being used to captivity. Just used to interaction with people. I dont think you can really breed the instinct out of the animal per say. I mean Caesar and the boas still become 'wild' when they smell food and i wouldnt trust any of them during that time lol. But if they dont smell food, they are all mellow. It might be because i also interact with them daily whether it be just petting them real quick or actually taking them out to 'hang out'.

I mean heck, even Gina who is the perfect example of a lounger, strikes at anything when she smells her mice/rat. Same with Rosey who didnt even so much as hiss when the vet took a sample of the fluid in her nose when she had a sinus infection. But come dinner time. she is cocked and loaded and slams her rat or rabbit with authority.