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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Erie_herps's Avatar
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    Growth Rates of SD Retics

    I was considering buying a SD pied reticulated python and I was wondering what the necessary enclosure size would be at first. If I decide to get one I would likely get a male (if possible) and I was wondering what the initial enclosure size would be. If I fed him lightly about what enclosure size would he need at annual intervals (1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years). I was also considering breeding him in the future, about how long would it take him to reach maturity? Also, what would be the necessary enclosure size and maturity time for a female? How many eggs do they typically lay? Thank you.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran nikkubus's Avatar
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    There is not a simple answer to any of these questions I'm afraid. I would recommend watching some of Garrett Hartle's videos, especially this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjs6v3CDIjc but a brief summary would be that it very much depends on:

    -locality
    -percentage of that locality
    -which parent was which locality
    -like most snakes, how you feed them (to a point, don't believe the big breeders who act like you can just starve the poor thing to keep it 6' no matter the lineage)

    If the breeder does not plan their breeding program specifically to make the smallest ones possible (most breeders do not), they are going to be pretty close to mainland sizes. If you want them super small, you need to carefully choose a breeder with reputation specifically about SD or have the newer/smaller breeder provide you with some proof (my pair is from Andrew Acevedo, and I have receipts, the note he wrote me and sent with them listing the lineage, and Andrew is easy to reach out to and verify I did in fact purchase them from him). I trust Andrew and Garrett with anything they say about the lineage of their animals based on how they are willing to sell some animals for lower prices when they do not have the proof of lineage and the fact they have established themselves as people who breed for size the slow way, rather than throwing super dwarf males with mainland females to get the most hatchlings the fastest with the lowest percent SD blood to be considered SD.

    All that said, this is what you could expect from a pure Kalatoa (one of the smallest localities):
    -reaches breeding size around 4-5 yrs
    -clutches with slightly more eggs than BPs, average ~8-10
    -adult size close to the weight of BP's, but longer and leaner, males 5'-6', females 7'-8'
    -first year and a half 36"x18"x18" is a good size enclosure, 4'x2'x2' is a good intermediate size for females or end size for male, 6'x2'x2' end size for female

    They will utilize height and are very active unlike a BP, so providing them with room is a lot more important. Garrett does keep his hatchlings and juveniles in a rack, but in tubs much larger than you would for a BP, and he does provide them things to climb on in there. I will defend people keeping BPs in a rack all day, but I do not agree with people housing adult retics in racks like many breeders do. They will be out of shape and fat.
    7.22 BP 1.4 corn 1.1 SD retic 0.1 hognose

  3. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to nikkubus For This Useful Post:

    Alicia (06-01-2021),Bogertophis (06-01-2021),Erie_herps (06-01-2021),Gio (06-26-2021)

  4. #3
    BPnet Royalty Gio's Avatar
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    -like most snakes, how you feed them (to a point, don't believe the big breeders who act like you can just starve the poor thing to keep it 6' no matter the lineage)



    Very good point. I fed my SD x dwarf x mainland very conservatively, which also resembled a wild type feeding schedule.

    I had expected him to slow in growth dramatically at 3 years of age.

    That never happened and as a matter of fact, he seemed to have a growth spurt without upping the frequency of feeds or the size of the prey.

    Garrett is an expert and I'm glad he was referenced here.

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

    jmcrook (06-26-2021),nikkubus (06-26-2021)

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