Meet "Sixx" - The 25% Kalatoa SD Lavender Motley Albino Retic (Pic Heavy!)

[Ax01]

he does indeed look sssinister! his eyes say "dude don't let your guard down."

do u think he's at that size b/c of his bloodline, a maintenance diet or something else? anyway awesome looking snake.

Edit: also is the other one gonna be named Nikki?

[Aedryan Methyus]

he does indeed look sssinister! his eyes say "dude don't let your guard down."

do u think he's at that size b/c of his bloodline, a maintenance diet or something else? anyway awesome looking snake.

Edit: also is the other one gonna be named Nikki?

Yesss... Sssinister Sssixxx indeed! LOL! My daughter also suggested "Nikki" for the female's name. I've been thinking about "Von D" (ie; Kat Von D), since her and Nikki were a thing for awhile. I can't decide on a name for her yet, though...

As far as this pair's SD percentages, feeding schedules and sizes (current and future) go, I have discussed all of that at pretty good length with both of the breeders. The first factor is that neither of either of these snake's parents were larger than 10'. Another factor would be that the eggs they hatched from were exceptionally small, supposedly. So, being that both of these animals derived from smaller parents and they hatched from small eggs, they have those factors working in their favor. I'm still a bit confused on where each of these animal's SD parents fall on the Filial generations scale, but if I understand their history correctly, each of their parents on the SD side are either 2 or 3 generations out from the original SD x mainland breedings. So, I believe their SD parents are probably either F2's or F3's. I will be talking with the breeders more about that, because I think that's pretty important information we should always know about these dwarfs and super dwarfs when it comes to breeding and selling. Regardless of their parent's, since these guys derived from 50% Kalatoa x mainland parents, they would still just be F1's, right? Then since both of these guys are SDs, once I breed them together, I believe their offspring would be F2's, is that correct? But, I would presume that if Sixx and his girlfriend's SD parents were F2's or F3's, that would also play a huge role in their smaller sizes even though they are only 25% SD. Wouldn't you guys think so? Either way, It's a pretty safe bet that their offspring will be even significantly smaller that these guys.

With regards to their feeding schedules, the breeders have had them on a 14 day feeding schedule (rat pups currently), so yes... I would consider that a maintenance feeding schedule to some degree. BUT, how much more than that would they be eating out in the wild on the Kalatoa Island or even on the mainland, right? The breeders recommend that I keep them on a 14 day feeding schedule for their first 2 years then switch them to a monthly feeding schedule at that point if I want to have them top out around 5 - 7 pounds. They claim that I would have to really power feed them and actually TRY to get them to reach monster sizes. When breeding time comes down the road it was recommended that I take the female off of food completely for a couple of months leading up to breeding season then when they actually start breeding start putting the food to her, so all of her energy will be put towards breeding instead of growing. I have heard Jay Brewer say the same thing, essentially. Basically, if you don't time their feeding schedules properly during the breeding seasons you can end up with monster size Retics, because all of that food and energy will be spent on growth, etc...

Myself, I would be perfectly happy if they topped out around 10' and perhaps 20 pounds with a healthy, yet manageable size girth and I don't want it to take 4 whole more years to be able to breed them and i'm definitely not going to power feed them. So, I am shooting for a happy medium. I am going to put them on a 10 day feeding schedule for the first 2 years instead of 14 and i'll go from there after the 2 year mark. Perhaps a 3 or 4 week feeding schedule at that point... My goal will be to have them up to a healthy, manageable breeding size by fall 2020... Does that sound reasonable to you guys?

[Ax01]

^ i think i notice a different approach to feeding and size maintenance between an SD Retic pet vs. SD Retic breeder. the Retic gang will chime in but i've noticed they can reach "full size" by 2years. jcrook's 100% pure SD is already 9ft but i'm not sure he's breeding that one but i think i read he had planned to breed his boy SD Ultra Ivory which is smaller.

anyway how about naming the girl Needle b/c u know Nikki's history and he is the author of The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. just a different suggestion.

[Tigerhawk]

He looks great, please keep the pictures coming. It will be nice to see how they grow.

[Aedryan Methyus]

I will be trying to take some pictures of his girlfriend soon. No clue how i'll get her to sit still for long enough, though! lol

[Zincubus]

I will be trying to take some pictures of his girlfriend soon. No clue how i'll get her to sit still for long enough, though! lol

Just posted this elsewhere but ...


Just use the old photographer's trick ...

You pick the background spot on the table -ideally dark or black card / plastic / glass .... or whatever ..

Have a suitably sized box / food mixing bowl ready and place it over the top of your snake ... you can put the bowl / box down and carefully feed the snake underneath .You or someone may have to hold the cover down ...

Leave it be for 5 minutes maybe less but don't take your eyes off the snake / bowl .

Have your camera all set up - ideally on a tripod ..

Take the cover off and the snake will usually be curled up nicely ( especially if you use a bowl ) . They generally stay still for a minute or so for some peculiar reason ...


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[jmcrook]

^ i think i notice a different approach to feeding and size maintenance between an SD Retic pet vs. SD Retic breeder. the Retic gang will chime in but i've noticed they can reach "full size" by 2years. jcrook's 100% pure SD is already 9ft but i'm not sure he's breeding that one but i think i read he had planned to breed his boy SD Ultra Ivory which is smaller.

anyway how about naming the girl Needle b/c u know Nikki's history and he is the author of The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. just a different suggestion.

Yes, Phyllis is a solid 9' and ~16-17lbs and 100% F1 kalaotoa SD. Sure her parents were small (dad and mom 5' & 7' respectively) but they were WC imports. Had feast and famine on that tiny island. Phyllis is spoiled rotten in captivity by comparison. Sometimes they just grow...
I've actually been considering breeding her and my SD ultra in the next year or two. We'll see though. Only if I have the time to devote to it.


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[Aedryan Methyus]

Just posted this elsewhere but ...


Just use the old photographer's trick ...

You pick the background spot on the table -ideally dark or black card / plastic / glass .... or whatever ..

Have a suitably sized box / food mixing bowl ready and place it over the top of your snake ... you can put the bowl / box down and carefully feed the snake underneath .You or someone may have to hold the cover down ...

Leave it be for 5 minutes maybe less but don't take your eyes off the snake / bowl .

Have your camera all set up - ideally on a tripod ..

Take the cover off and the snake will usually be curled up nicely ( especially if you use a bowl ) . They generally stay still for a minute or so for some peculiar reason ...


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Thanks, Zincubus. That will definitely work for taking some photos of her laying down. The problem will be getting her to sit still long enough to take some photos of me holding her to have for good size comparisons in the future. She's definitely a little scaredy cat! lol Do Retics that are this flighty usually settle down eventually with a lot of handling?

[Aedryan Methyus]

So... Sssinister Sssixx claimed his first victim today and i'm happy to say it wasn't me! lol One of my local breeder friends (and member of the forum here) came over to see my snakes today and he wanted to see Sixx. I pulled his tub out of the rack and as I was reaching for my hook I said, "I don't trust these guys yet" and my friend was like, "Ehhh... Ef that" and proceeded to reach right in to pick him up and he got nailed... LOL!

Please see exhibit A:

[CALM Pythons]

only funny cause it wasn't me ...


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