I moved out at the age of 16 because my fiance got pregnant and my parents would only let me stay if I talked her into an abortion. I refused and so I had to move out. I got a place and we moved in. I was very young and I have always been into animals always loved all of them and I have wanted a snake since I was a little kid but my parents refused so once our child was born my first fathers day my fiance bought me a ball python. And when I got home I had absoulty no idea what I was doing I didnt know how hot it needed to be I didnt know anything about them at all. So I stayed up all night reading and reading and reading but also at the same time I was seeing all these pictures of all these other snakes and I was just amazed at all the patterns and everything they had and I wanted so many of them. But when I found the giant snakes I really found my passion. I didnt have the ball long before I jumped into burmese pythons then I got green anacondas and then retics. I love my retics they are alot faster then the burmese pythons and anacondas and they seem to digest there food alot quicker also. I started very young but I worked my butt off I remember when I was going to school and then going to work at burger king and then coming home to care for a child and a room full of snakes lol. But It all payed off in the end. I dont think people should come to forums and ask if they are ready for a big snake or any snake for that matter. Because no one knows you better then yourself and you should be able to decide wheter you are ready or not to take care of a giant. I have a good number of snakes and it does get somewhat expensive. Its not to bad when you only have one or two but when you get into the 20's and 30's the food bill SKYROCKETS and when your retic goes from rats to rabbits it goes on up also lol. The food bill has gotten so bad with us we are actually in the process of breeding our own food. But you also have to include the electricity they use (our bill is insane every month. I actually shake when I open it lol) and make sure your really interested in the animal and you want this animal for its life. I will be the first to admit when I got my burms I couldnt wait for them to grow up I was going to show them off to everyone and I was going to be the cool kid with the big snakes. But now since I have the animals I will tell you from experience I hardly ever actually carry my animals anywhere. It becomes a struggle just to get them out of the cages to clean every week. We have to wrestle chloe into a rubbermaid to clean her cage and god forbid if she needs a bath or she has some stuck shed. We had to give zues antibiotics down his throat once and I hope I never have to do that again lol it was horrible. You have to have a partner because you cant concentrate on a syringe and a 12 foot angry snake at the same time lol. I spend alot of time with my animals just cleaning cages and disenfecting things and I spend even more money on them. But I wouldnt trade it for the world. I wouldnt know what to do if I didnt come home and not have someones cage to clean or water bowls to change. I consider this part of my life and its very rewarding to work with retics everyday. They are incredible animals and very smart. They have amazing feeding responses that can be very dangerous if you dont know what your doing. But I dont think you should take advice from people that have never met you to decide if you are ready for one of the worlds largest constrictors. Like I said the only person that can decide that is you. If you feel you are ready for that challenge then go for it. I wasnt ready when I jumped into them when I was 16 but I wouldnt change it for the world! Good luck with whatever you decide! Retics are great snakes and I think you would be pleased with it as long as you feel you are ready not people on the internet.
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