Anthrax x Dwarf/Super Dwarf Retics? - Help Me Decide On A Pair?

[Aedryan Methyus]

I have fallen in love with Retics, but I can't justify keeping/breeding/marketing giant mainlands. So, I have decided to pursue a dwarf/super dwarf project. Of all the stunning Retic mutations out there, Anthrax are my favorite, but I have not been able to find anyone, who has dwarfed Anthrax varieties available. In fact, I can't find too many breeders, who are even working with dwarfs or super dwarfs at all, surprisingly. After much searching around on the internet, i'm guessing that like a lot of breeders, a lot of them either just don't have websites or they can't be found on the search engines. So, firstly, can you guys share links to as many different dwarf/super dwarf Retic breeder's websites/Facebook pages as you can think of? If anyone knows of and breeders, who have dwarfed Anthrax varieties in particular or even dwarf 100% het Anthrax available that would be awesome!

Here are some initial questions and considerations:

- If I am not able to locate a dwarf line of Anthrax Retics and have to get a mainland I would only consider getting a male that I would hopefully be able to keep under 10' or so. If I end up having to go that route, what would you guys say would be the highest percentage dwarf (smallest size) female would be that I would be able to breed it to in order to create my own dwarf Het Anthrax in order to breed back to each other and create my own future line of dwarfed Anthrax?

- With regards to laws and the Lacey Act, I have not been able to find any information whatsoever about the laws specifically in Pittsburgh, PA (Allegheny County). Can anyone give me a link? I'm pretty sure Pittsburgh hasn't been affected by any bans as of yet and I don't believe we have any permit requirements, but I definitely need to know for sure. As far as selling animals, such as Retics that have bans in certain areas of the US, it would be the responsibility of the people buying the animals to check the laws in their areas, correct? And, I couldn't get in trouble for selling/shipping them to buyers in areas with bans, could I?

[cchardwick]

I actually breed super dwarf and dwarf retics. This is my first year breeding (one pair) and will be my first clutch of eggs if I'm lucky. I'm breeding a white albino with a purple albino, so all babies will be lavender albinos. They will be a mix of super dwarf and dwarf with a little mainland in the mix (all super dwarf and dwarf will have mainland if they have a morph other than Normal). I'll be sure to post photos if I get eggs and let everyone know how it goes. Eventually I'd like to get other morphs but really don't want to start with Mainlands, I'll have to hunt down some SD crosses. One of my snakes is actually 100% het Anthrax so the babies will be 50% het.

As far as I know the only state that bans retics is Florida. I don't think there are any other restrictions in place. The Lacy act used to ban interstate transport of retics but that was defeated, now you can ship across state lines (thank goodness!).

I know a lot of people stress the percentage of super dwarf in the snake but I think the size really depends on the percentage of mainland. My super dwarf is only 12.5% mainland and my dwarf is 50% mainland. There's a big difference in size! My babies will be somewhere in the middle, they should grow to be about the size of a boa.

[Sauzo]

I might be wrong but from what i remember, white, lavender and purple phase are all the same albino gene(clark strain). The only different one is amel. So breeding any clark strain to another one can give you any of the 3 albinos phases.

And you definitely want to know the percentages of your SD/D because you are going to pay for it in the price. Also size has to do with a lot of factors other than just the percentage of mainland blood. My 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf male is 18 months old and is a little over 7 ft.

And to the OP, some of the people i would check out would be Shannon Roepke, Bob Clark, Daniel Solis and join the super dwarf retic FB page. Lots of guys selling stuff there with percentages and everything. I'm sure you could find or find out if anyone has bred the morph you want. I know i was looking for a SD pied retic and after asking around there, i found out no one has made them yet but there were a few people working on them.

As for the Lacey Act, that has nothing to do with ownership. That had to do with interstate transport. You need to check your local city/county codes to see if they are legal to keep where you are.

[Aedryan Methyus]

I actually breed super dwarf and dwarf retics. This is my first year breeding (one pair) and will be my first clutch of eggs if I'm lucky. I'm breeding a white albino with a purple albino, so all babies will be lavender albinos. They will be a mix of super dwarf and dwarf with a little mainland in the mix (all super dwarf and dwarf will have mainland if they have a morph other than Normal). I'll be sure to post photos if I get eggs and let everyone know how it goes. Eventually I'd like to get other morphs but really don't want to start with Mainlands, I'll have to hunt down some SD crosses. One of my snakes is actually 100% het Anthrax so the babies will be 50% het.

As far as I know the only state that bans retics is Florida. I don't think there are any other restrictions in place. The Lacy act used to ban interstate transport of retics but that was defeated, now you can ship across state lines (thank goodness!).

I know a lot of people stress the percentage of super dwarf in the snake but I think the size really depends on the percentage of mainland. My super dwarf is only 12.5% mainland and my dwarf is 50% mainland. There's a big difference in size! My babies will be somewhere in the middle, they should grow to be about the size of a boa.

That's awesome, cchardwick! You must be sooo excited! I love all of the Albino Retic varieties, too! The snake in the one photo in your profile that is titled, "My HUGE albino dwarf retic" is exactly what I have in mind for the topped out, adult size dwarf Retics that I would love to be working with. Is that a boy or girl? How big is he/she, 8' or 9'? What are his/her Jampea/Kayuadi/mainland percentages? What was his/her age in that photo? You should share a bunch more photos of your Retics! It's a shame that both of your Retics aren't Het Anthrax or you might have been producing exactly what i'm hoping to find... I would definitely not rule out the possibility a pair of beautiful Albino Het Anthrax, though!

Boas have always had a special place in my heart and i've always said that if I had to choose only one species of snake to work with it would have to be Boas, but I can totally see dwarf Retics taking their place. In my opinion, no other species of constrictor even come close to the majestic colors and markings of Retics and they don't take 5 years to grow up!

[Sauzo]

Actually you want to work with super dwarfs. Dwarfs still can get pretty big. Super dwarfs are where its at though. About half the size of a mainland but all the personality of a full size retic. Plus there is limited morphs in them atm so if you get one of the desired ones like a cow or pied etc, you would be set.

[Aedryan Methyus]

I've been planning on trying to find a pair that are like 66% - 75% SD. A percentage where the females would top out around 8' - 10' (max) and males 7' - 8', etc. Something with a little size, but yet very handle-able... Wouldn't that size range fall somewhere within the 66% - 75% SD range?

[Sauzo]

I've been planning on trying to find a pair that are like 66% - 75% SD. A percentage where the females would top out around 8' - 10' (max) and males 7' - 8', etc. Something with a little size, but yet very handle-able... Wouldn't that size range fall somewhere within the 66% - 75% SD range?

Depends on the snake and what gene he takes after for lack of a better term. Caesar is 37.5% SD, 31.5% dwarf and he is just over 7' at 18 months old. He was also fed pretty heavily as he would push hard as a baby if not kept full. I personally think the best judge of the size is to look at the parents. I got Caesar from Kris over at Vital Exotics and his parents were 6' dad and 8-9' mom and like i said, he is 7' ish. Kris figured he would top out at 7' with 'normal' feedings and even with my heavy feedings, he is still around 7'.

I personally would probably shoot for something in the 50% SD range. 75% SD in some of the rarer morphs might be really hard to find as well as costing you an arm and a leg and your first born child. Cant hurt to look though. Like i said, i would join the Super Dwarf retic FB and ask there. More people there with retics to pull knowledge from, plus Jacob aka JMCrook is a member there as well as me. I thought Steve was a member there too but i checked and he isnt so i put in a pending invite for him lol. The FB page is called Super Dwarf and Dwarf Retics-Keepers and Breeders.

[jmcrook]

I've been planning on trying to find a pair that are like 66% - 75% SD. A percentage where the females would top out around 8' - 10' (max) and males 7' - 8', etc. Something with a little size, but yet very handle-able... Wouldn't that size range fall somewhere within the 66% - 75% SD range?

If that's your max size for a female I'd lean more towards a pure SD. My girl is from pure wild caught SD parents and she's already pushing 9' and about 13lbs at 21 months old.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cchardwick]

Here's a current photo of my retic. Her name is Lucy, she is a female and 50% Jampea (dwarf) and 50% mainland. She is just shy of 2 years old now and probably close to 30 pounds. I put a sharpie marker in the photo for a size comparison so you can get an idea of how big she is. She is a 'White Phase' (Clark) albino. The albino is associated with the purple and lavender albino. The Purple phase has two copies of the gene, the Lavender has one and the white phase has zero. It's kind of a separate but linked gene. So if you bred a purple albino with a normal you would get one copy of the albino gene and one copy of the purple gene, neither would be visual. If you bred a lavender albino with a normal you would get one copy of the albino gene (het) and a 50% chance of getting one copy of the purple gene.

When she was young I fed her pretty heavily and she probably grew twice as fast as others I have seen. Now that she is pretty much slowed down growing I feed her a large or jumbo rat once every 2-3 weeks and she is satisfied.

Also keep in mind that the more Mainland blood in the snake the more mellow and easy going it is. Super Dwarf makes them a bit skittish and aggressive by nature. You can work with them to get it out of their system but it comes naturally with Mainland blood. Also keep in mind that if you have a pure super dwarf you won't have any morphs at all. All of the color / pattern morphs come from crossing with Mainland. To reduce the % mainland you have to breed back to super dwarf. So to get this snake they probably bred a pure Jampea to an albino Mainland. Then bred the offspring together to get the visual albino.

[Sauzo]

Here's a current photo of my retic. Her name is Lucy, she is a female and 50% Jampea (dwarf) and 50% mainland. She is just shy of 2 years old now and probably close to 30 pounds. I put a sharpie marker in the photo for a size comparison so you can get an idea of how big she is. She is a 'White Phase' (Clark) albino. The albino is associated with the purple and lavender albino. The Purple phase has two copies of the gene, the Lavender has one and the white phase has zero. It's kind of a separate but linked gene. So if you bred a purple albino with a normal you would get one copy of the albino gene and one copy of the purple gene, neither would be visual. If you bred a lavender albino with a normal you would get one copy of the albino gene (het) and a 50% chance of getting one copy of the purple gene.

When she was young I fed her pretty heavily and she probably grew twice as fast as others I have seen. Now that she is pretty much slowed down growing I feed her a large or jumbo rat once every 2-3 weeks and she is satisfied.

Also keep in mind that the more Mainland blood in the snake the more mellow and easy going it is. Super Dwarf makes them a bit skittish and aggressive by nature. You can work with them to get it out of their system but it comes naturally with Mainland blood. Also keep in mind that if you have a pure super dwarf you won't have any morphs at all. All of the color / pattern morphs come from crossing with Mainland. To reduce the % mainland you have to breed back to super dwarf. So to get this snake they probably bred a pure Jampea to an albino Mainland. Then bred the offspring together to get the visual albino.

To correct a couple things, the only snake that is 'aggressive' is a black mamba. Snakes are defensive. SD retics as well as dwarf retics can be more skittish and on the go than mainlands but this depends on how the snake was raised.

Also super dwarf does have a single naturally occurring morph. It's anery.

And from what i have been told, tiger gene tends to make bigger retics and more mellow retics. The tiger gene also changes the patterns a lot. Here is Caesar who is also a white albino but he's also tiger het snow and super dwarf/dwarf and you can see how different he looks even though both are white albinos but one with tiger and one without.