Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 2,970

1 members and 2,969 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,446
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 21

Thread: Retic Feeding

  1. #11
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34
    FWIW I do have two mainland males. They're both 8 & 10 years old and about 13-14 feet long, so they're pretty much done growing. They're not any more difficult to handle than my females. I was more addressing the "if you want a small retic get an SD" comment, because they're often trickier to handle than their larger cousins.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

    jmcrook (07-27-2020)

  3. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-27-2018
    Posts
    122
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 121 Times in 56 Posts

    Re: Retic Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    FWIW I do have two mainland males. They're both 8 & 10 years old and about 13-14 feet long, so they're pretty much done growing. They're not any more difficult to handle than my females. I was more addressing the "if you want a small retic get an SD" comment, because they're often trickier to handle than their larger cousins.

    only reason I recommended a sd is because the op said he was looking to
    raise a smaller retic and looking at feeding advice on doing so. Just as power feeding is an issue, there’s a new thought process going around of “I’ll just feed less so it doesn’t get as big”. Not saying that’s what op is planning on doing. Just pointing out that “slow growing” can be harmful to
    the snake as well, and if a smaller retic is what he’s looking for, the a mainland might not be the choice for him. What you want should not come before the snakes needs.

  4. #13
    BPnet Royalty Gio's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-28-2012
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    4,724
    Thanks
    6,879
    Thanked 6,571 Times in 2,984 Posts

    Re: Retic Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    While not all will be combative/defensive/etc the experiences endured by 3-4 of us on here tell a different story. Best of luck and please have a sound strategy in place and a well prepared, extra set of hands for when/if things get out of hand and dangerous.
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...n-Semi-graphic


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    The sweet memories LOL!

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to Gio For This Useful Post:

    jmcrook (07-28-2020)

  6. #14
    Registered User Deanna's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-24-2020
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    17
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 38 Times in 10 Posts
    I didn't know retics were known to be a**holes, is it just the dwarfs that are like that? I follow this instagram account with two 15+ foot mainland retics that seem very very chill.
    Maxine & Luther - dogs
    Carlisle-male normal ball python (12ish years old)
    Travis-male normal blood python (1.5 years old)
    Alexis-female citrus bearded dragon
    Heather- adult zebra stripe knee tarantula (a. seemanni)
    Three-juvenile Mexican red leg T (b. boehmei)
    Steve Carell-adult curly hair T (b. albopilosum)

  7. #15
    Registered User Igotsmallballs's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-26-2020
    Posts
    139
    Thanks
    95
    Thanked 86 Times in 49 Posts
    Images: 5

    Re: Retic Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by Deanna View Post
    I didn't know retics were known to be a**holes, is it just the dwarfs that are like that? I follow this instagram account with two 15+ foot mainland retics that seem very very chill.
    I started to get one. Then decided to go the boa route. Most seem to be :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:s. I’m sure not all are :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:s. Let me be more politically correct “reactive”. It just personally wasn’t worth the hassle to me. Plus the enclosure thing. I’ve seen some YouTube vids we’re some seem to be docile. It might just be a matter of how much you are willing to work with them and how thoughtful you are about your cage approach.

    let us know how it goes. I’ve never owned one. Oh and I want to know how big those poops get!!

  8. #16
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34

    Re: Retic Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by Deanna View Post
    I didn't know retics were known to be a**holes, is it just the dwarfs that are like that? I follow this instagram account with two 15+ foot mainland retics that seem very very chill.
    Males can be, especially when they're more interested in finding a girlfriend than in letting you fool with them. The SD's just take it to an extreme.

  9. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

    Deanna (07-28-2020),Gio (07-28-2020),jmcrook (07-28-2020)

  10. #17
    BPnet Royalty Gio's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-28-2012
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    4,724
    Thanks
    6,879
    Thanked 6,571 Times in 2,984 Posts

    Re: Retic Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    Males can be, especially when they're more interested in finding a girlfriend than in letting you fool with them. The SD's just take it to an extreme.
    The males aren't always bad but I agree with this.

    And when you have a male, in my case Dwarf x SD x mainland, that comes of age and wants to challenge everything, working with it won't necessarily yield positive results.

    I did everything in my power to try to curb the aggression and modify his behavior.

    I am a one man show here with no real support from the other family members so the writing was on the wall. Risk VS. Reward was not in the favor of the household.

    Not ALL are like that, but having placed my guy with a well know and very experienced retic breeder and still getting reports that the snake is a jerk takes a load off my shoulders. It wasn't what I did wrong, the animal is just the way he is.

    This is a mainland male.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKnBVWZ8hA4


    This guy also supports the idea that males can get every bit as large as females.

    He has a couple of big males that are not the most friendly.

    He also has some more mellow males.


    Anyhow, as BCR stated earlier, 1 large rat weekly is probably just fine and after some growth you can up it to rabbits and space it out.

    You will end up with a snake probably the size of the parents.

    Keep in mind males are often bred at maturity and that doesn't equate to a FULL grown male. It just means it's mature enough to breed.

    I was told the father of my retic was 6 feet. What I didn't ask was what age was that and how big is that male now?

    You will want to discuss the age and sizes of the parents prior to purchasing.

    At 3 years old, my animal was growing rapidly with a very conservative feeding plan. I'd guess he'll wind up near 10.5 - 11 feet before he really slows.

    I'm hoping you hit the jackpot and get a smaller and more mellow male.

  11. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Gio For This Useful Post:

    gl1tterg0re (07-28-2020),jmcrook (07-28-2020)

  12. #18
    BPnet Veteran wnateg's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-25-2019
    Location
    TX
    Posts
    837
    Thanks
    684
    Thanked 1,020 Times in 465 Posts
    I have a female, so I cant attest to male aggression. But I can say they're all food aggressive, so practice tap training. But once she's out of food mode, she's sweet.

    On a healthy diet, they dont grow THAT fast. You're not going to wake up one day with a 10 ft snake, but you should be prepared for that possibility in the future.
    Start your own dubia roach colony with Roach Rancher!

    Instagram - @AliceAnaconda

    0.1.0 Cat "Anna"
    -----
    1.1.0 Emerald Tree Boa "Amanda & Samantha"
    0.1.0 Merauke Scrub Python "Victoria"
    0.1.0 Titanium Reticulated Python "Alice"
    1.0.0 Eastern Indigo
    -----
    0.0.4 Alligator Snapping Turtle "Deborah"
    0.0.2 Florida Snapping Turtles
    0.0.1 Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman "Caroline"
    0.0.1 100% Het Black Dragon Asian Water Monitor
    -----
    0.0.1 Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula "Katherine"

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to wnateg For This Useful Post:

    gl1tterg0re (07-28-2020)

  14. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-14-2020
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    2
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Re: Retic Feeding

    This is what I do based on my research and also, like you, not wanting to push its size any more than necessary.
    My female mainland tiger is almost 1 year old, 54" long and 500g.
    I've fed her 10% of her body weight, once a week so at the moment she's currently eating small rats (50g).
    As she approaches the year mark I'm cutting down to 10% every 10 days and I'll probably keep to this until she hits 2.
    Whilst less than the typical 'American' Retic schedule it certainly isn't starvation. She has good body tone, no saggy skin and has grown 2 inches each month and gains approx 50g a month.
    Everyone's talking about aggression so... mine hasn't shown any signs of aggression apart from when I bought her and she bit the shop clerk twice haha. I was just really calm and gentle in the beginning and I handle her everyday. Her food response was crazy at the start, but I disassociated 'opening the cage' with 'food' by opening the doors A LOT at first and even now I probably open the cage 5 times a day to stroke her/move a branch/change water, just to keep up the training.
    Please keep in mind I'm not a seasoned Retic owner so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
    You can see pictures on grimslyandbedbug on IG if you want to check out her general size.

  15. #20
    BPnet Senior Member CloudtheBoa's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-13-2014
    Location
    NC, USA
    Posts
    1,308
    Thanks
    533
    Thanked 1,189 Times in 620 Posts
    As others said, you're not going to be able to raise a small retic on a modified feeding schedule. The animal will get to whatever size it will get, which may be small, or may be large.

    I have a female, who is roughly 11.5'-12' at 6 years old. She's closing in on 40 lbs, but I don't have an exact length recording. About 10 lbs ago, I had her in the hallway and she was definitely over 11' and under 12' so I've been going with the 11.5' estimation. But she's also nearly put on 10 lbs now, so I guess it's time for another attempt. lol

    When I first got her, she was 6 months old, 150 grams and 3'. She was half the weight of a 3' male I bought a few years ago and then rehomed due to issues outside of the snake. The breeders were feeding her a single fuzzy mouse every 2 weeks. I believe I tried her on mice for her first meal just to make sure she'd eat, and then quickly moved to rat pups. Then, up to weaned rats and then smalls soon after. I was trying to keep to a 10-20% of body weight rule at the time. I stuck to her 14 day schedule for a bit at first, and she still gained 1.5' in 6 months. Then, I went to weekly for a short time until I got her onto rabbits/Guinea pigs. From there, I moved her onto a 3-4 week schedule. She's been eating 3-5 lb rabbits or chickens for awhile now, on a once a month schedule. 5 lb meals still leave a huge lump, but it's hard to get proper-sized chickens and rabbits without raising my own. Rodent Pro doesn't seem to keep to their sizing very well, and I haven't had much luck getting any kind of feeder from people on CL. But even at 6 years old, she is still gaining noticeable length and girth. She's getting close to filling up the holding tub I keep her in while I clean her cage, and at the beginning of this year she just barely covered the floor of it with some gaps all curled up. Now she goes up beyond the halfway point and has no visible gaps to the floor when at rest.
    8.3 Boa imperator ('15 sunglow "Nymeria," '11 normal "Cloud," '16 anery motley "Crona," '10 ghost "Howl," '08 jungle "Dominika," '22 RC pastel hypo jungle "Aleister," '22 pastel normal "Gengar," '22 orangasm hypo "Daemon," '22 poss jungle "Jinzo," '22 poss jungle "Calcifer," '22 motley "Guin")
    1.4 Boa imperator; unnamed '22 hbs
    3.3 Plains garter snakes
    1.2 checkered garter snakes (unnamed)

    ~RIP~
    2.2 Brazilian rainbow boa ('15 Picasso stripe BRBs "Guin" and "Morzan, and '15 hypo "Homura", '14 normal "Sanji")
    1.0 garter snake ('13 albino checkered "Draco")
    1.0 eastern garter ('13 "Demigod)
    0.0.1 ball python ('06 "Bud")

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1