Quote Originally Posted by Gio View Post
Every snake in the collection has bitten me more than once sans the royal. The carpet was no exception, and I do think it is fairly common. That said I now acclimate new snakes with a branch to crawl on early in the handling sessions so the have some security other than my arms or hands.

Carpets cover all the bases in my opinion.

I've had my metic for 3 years and have found the older he gets, the more of a prick he becomes. He was handled a couple of times a week when he was younger and was wonderful. Once he matured, he got his testosterone and isn't trustable. There are 2 other guys here on the board that seem to have experienced the same thing, and one of those 2 had nightmare type experiences with both his male and female. Neither of them keep the species any longer and I don't blame them. I can handle mine, but the experience isn't at all relaxing, and I'm always prepared for the potential bite.

I find very, very, few people that decided to "jump" into retics having much to say 3 or 4 years down the road. The species are demanding and different from almost every other snake.

I'm planning on keeping the retic, but would never recommend the species to anybody that isn't 100% committed to their LONG TERM care and prepared to deal with their habits. Family members, friends and other pets need to be taken into consideration. The species is a lot of work.

I can get everything I need in carpet pythons and boa constrictors without the irritants that retics come with.

Pardon me for changing the subject of my own post completely.

Thanks for the nice comments about the carpet. $80 at an expo is all she cost me, but she's priceless in the collection.
I guess I am lucky that so far, my 2 are easy to deal with for the most part. With that being said it's still extremely easy for things to get out of hand so vigilance and a healthy dose of fear and respect of them definitely goes a long ways. I'm grateful to have help on feeding days for sure. Also have help anytime I remove them from the cage for any length of time. They are intelligent bold creatures that have amazing strength and speed.

I have found something that even as small as a king snake can still be challenging. You have to keep in mind that you eat other snakes and cleaning your hands in-between handling them and snake she handled before them is important.

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