What next?

[Gio]

Zig,

Keep in mind BIG doesn't always mean long I'm sure you know that. The same reason the anaconda beats out the retic as the "largest snake" is the same reason my boa makes my longer SD x Dwarf retic seem like a jump rope by comparison. At least right now.

Sniper is a male boa, and typically male boas are smaller but they can get to female sizes when certain circumstances are present.

Honestly I think you are best off getting a boa of some type and a retic of some type.

They are so different but both just fantastic to own. Honestly I juggle favorite snakes here daily, minus the royal, sorry I'm not into them, but of the other 3 here I can't pick a favorite.

Right now this guy is blowing me away.

He's almost 7 feet and in excellent condition and health.

[dakski]

I know I am VERY late to this post, however, I thought I would add my two cents.

First, wonderful family and Mazel Tov on the new house. Good luck on all fronts.

Secondly, if you are between a SD Retic and an Boa of some kind, I would lean more towards a Boa. I made that choice and I am incredibly happy.

Boa's generally have amazing temperaments and are often calm and easily controllable even when large/adult size. I got a female BCI in October of 2017 (Behira - who is a ghost BCI and will be two in June of this year). Right now she's about 3 1/2-4FT and about 900G. Far from where she will be. However, she is alert, interested, responsive, curious, and basically unafraid. When being handled she doesn't freak out and get head shy, but is calm and easy to read and predictable. Total sweetheart when out. As she grows, I imagine she will be even less afraid (although she is pretty fearless now). She also moves more than say, a BP, but her movements are slow and deliberate most of the time.

Feeding time is a separate issue. Strongest feeding response of any snake I have had. However, she happily eats F/T. Because of her temperament being awesome when out, but the strong feeding response, I hook trained her and that has been fantastic.

I am rambling here. However, SD Retics are awesome - don't get me wrong. Beautiful and intelligent and curious animals. However, I've heard of more issues/work with them.

Here is what I have observed, largely on this forum (Keep in mind I do not own a Retic of any kind - only a BCI, BP, and Corn Snake on the snake front).

1. They pee like crazy. Lots of cleanup.

2. They get antsy when they get hungry - often rubbing their face, for example, on the tank doors, walls, etc. Some people think it's part of their charm, but you need to be on top of it.

3. They are a handful. They may not be aggressive, but they move a lot and where they want. Handling an 8FT retic is work and requires strength and trust. A 7-8FT female boa is a predictable puppy dog comparably.

If you want a challenge - and can handle it. By all means, get a Retic.

However, if you want a large animal that you handle on your own and easily, I would be thinking Boa.

There are many choices of Boas, as has been mentioned, and you can get virtually any color, pattern, etc. you want.

Negatives on Boa's are their slow growth (if looking for a large snake fast) and, as mentioned, strong feeding response can take some getting used to. However, that can also be a big positive.

I think it was mentioned here the idea of getting a Boa and if that goes well, also getting a Retic later on. That seems to make a lot of sense to me.

I hope this helps and I also hope I didn't offend any Retic people. Please, if I am off base on my limited observations, feel free to correct me.

[Sauzo]

To sum it up with my experience with my snakes, retics are hands down more work. I have to clean Caesar's cage once a month and he eats once every 10 days. He also used to push badly and hamburger faced himself a few times but i think this was mostly from wanting to breed as he has pretty much quit pushing now. Also from his ungodly feeding response, i have had to unhook his upper lip from one of his upper teeth when he bit his lip. That was NO fun at all and Caesar showed me unhappiness by wrapping around my waist and down my right leg twice.

The boas go 2-3 months between substrate changes and while they are friendly and interactive, they are not nearly as personal as the retic. Like i said, Caesar is the only snake who seems to actually want attention and usually when he gets rambunctious, i just slide open a door and he comes right up to me and sits there while i pet him. Sometimes he will also sit on my arm while i pet his body. Weirdo snake for sure. The boas can be a little unclear when trying to 'read' them sometimes but Caesar is easy to read. He clearly lets you know if he wants to be left alone but pushing your hand away or just crawling off.

I personally feel you cant go wrong with either one but if i had to pick a favorite, it would have to go to Caesar the retic as he is almost as much of a character as my bearded dragon. Those 2 really make my day when i see them. Almost like reptile dogs in a strange way lol.

[EL-Ziggy]

And the boa takes a slight lead as we head into the backstretch.

[RickyNY]

Yeah!! Go Boa, Go!!
Sorry Sauzo, I know you love your Retics, but I'm rooting for the Boa.

[Sauzo]

Yeah!! Go Boa, Go!!
Sorry Sauzo, I know you love your Retics, but I'm rooting for the Boa.

Haha, i love boas too...i got 5 of them lol. Like i said, i dont think Ziggy would go wrong with either a boa or retic.

@Ziggy- Talk to a lot of people with BCOs and i would advise join a couple BCO FB pages and ask lots of questions about their personalities and temperaments. Also iirc, you said you are a member of a herp club and i'm assuming you go regularly. If so, ask them too. While all snakes will have their own individual personalities, each sub species will have differences. For example, my suriname, hypo bci, normal bci and sunglow bci all are really laid back and have been since about a week after i got them. Louie my BCL though was VERY shy when i got him and is finally warming up to me after almost a year. He never was shy was about food and is hands down the most forward and eager eater out of all the boas. A lot of people i've talked to who have BCLs and also breed them have said the same thing, BCLs tend to be a much more shy boa and take a lot more work to really get them to warm up to you.

This is assuming you are going with a BCO. I still am going to throw in a BCL though especially if you get a good bloodline one. They start out as ugly ducklings but with each shed, they get better and better until about 3 years old when they fully develop in color. They are like a GTP in terms of how much they change from babies to adults except unlike certain GTPs like biaks where you never know what you will end up with until about 5 years old when they are close to being done with changing and can look completely different from the parents, you can get an idea for a BCL baby from the parents.

Like here are the parents of Louie who were from a Meltzer/Lincoln line from Legacy Reptiles and a yellow line from Vin Russo. And you can see he is looking more and more like his parents with each shed.
Mom



Dad


And finally, Louie again.


BCLs are also an underrated boa which arent very easy to find. The three people i know who work with them that i would trust are Vin Russo, Jessica Fee and Sonya Koolmo who is who i got Louie from.

[richardhind1972]

I agree with sauzo bcl are very underated I have a great pair of bcl and such great snakes,there colour change is mad, this is my female bcl she was 2 in April,she had shed last night, I just opened the glass and she came out,loves being out hates going back , she has got a mad feeding response but I think that's most boas,lol


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[Sauzo]

I dont know, i personally think Louie has the strongest feeding response out of everyone...or he is just kind of special ed lol. He will stay in feed mode for anywhere from 1-2 hours and will strike the glass doors if you walk by too fast during that time. None of the snakes have that strong of a feeding response. Although i did beat the beast!! I gave him his normal weaned rat which he ate in about 20 secs flat and then went into ballistic mode and like clockwork, hit the glass a couple times as i was feeding the others. Well Dottie didnt want her small rat like usual so i played enne meene minimo and Louie won the lottery for extra food in the form of a small rat. I opened his door and the guy was all in my face for more food lol. I gave him the small rat and he lost it. He went banzai and grabbed it and packed that one in too. And now for the first time since i've had him in almost a year, he is quiet after eating. He is just sitting there half hanging out of the cool hide all relaxed. That is why i think i need to up everyone to small rats now. I tend to underfeed my snakes which might be why they get up in arms so much when they smell food.....or they are just snakes lol.

[EL-Ziggy]

Got through the closing. Move in a couple of weeks then start the critter search. I think I've made my decision but will keep it a surprise for now.

[Ax01]

congrats Ziggy! that's a big ol house! i bet Mainland Retic. a female!

...so if i get tix to Superbowl 53 thru u, can i stay crash on your couch and hangout w/ your animals?