SD Retic Breeders?

[reptileexperts]

She is being fed once every 4 days, minus shedding times. She started on Rat Pups when I first got her back at the end of September, and is on Medium Rats as of a couple of weeks ago. Leaves a massive lump and she has it completely digested after 3 days. This is her after a medium rat recently.

[Wes]

wow that is a hefty feeding schedule. What would you say would be a good feeding schedule to keep them as small as possible but still healthy? I was thinking 7-10 days for about the first year with a couple weeks off while in shed. Then after they get to small/medium rats slow down to once every 2-3 weeks.

[reptileexperts]

Feeding a sized prey that is twice the girth of the snake once every 7 days is considered a pet feeding schedule to keep it at healthy weight with slow growth. Retics metabolize food extremely fast, my girls will have a medium rat digested in 2-3 days and be asking for more food on day 4 like clockwork. My bigger stuff the girls get fed once a week an appropriate sized prey and the males get once every other week an appropriate sized meal. Hope this helps.

[sweballp]

I asked Garrett at Prehistoric pets how often I should feed my GS dwarf to keep her on the smaller side. He told me to feed every 7 days the first year, and every 10 days after the first year. The meals should leave a slight bump in the snake. Dont know if the same thing applies to mainlands, but I would guess so (although they will end up larger ofc).

Edit: spelling

[reptileexperts]

Jay posted a YouTube video a while back about how to keep retics small based on feeding schedule but it seems like they are being underfed and stunted. The retic nation pretty much all could not believe the video...

[gardenfiend138]

http://www.reticulatedpython.info/misc2.html

That site has a lot of good information, and the link takes you to a very small scale experiment on feeding and growth rates for SDs.

[sweballp]

Jay posted a YouTube video a while back about how to keep retics small based on feeding schedule but it seems like they are being underfed and stunted. The retic nation pretty much all could not believe the video...

So what would you as an apparent expert on retics and as a inofficial representative for the retic nation say is a suitable feeding schedule for a yealing retic whose owner would like to keep the snake on the smaller side without stunting it?

[reptileexperts]

As a keeper and someone who is more passionate about retics than most the true answer is they are giants for a reason. If you want a smaller retic you get the locales that are smaller and you feed them normally. I follow the same feeding schedule that is proven to work by Shane Castello.

You can feed retics every 7-10 days with no issues in life. You just need to ensure the prey items are large enough. 25-35% body weight during the first year is not uncommon for your food size. However mainlands should be fed every 4 days 25% of their weight for the first year. Super dwarf locales will eat a lot more food than a mainland in reality but they metabolize much faster allowing them to still not grow as large. All growth is related to food availability though. And "maintenance" feeding a retic is not ideal for the snake.

Anything else just ask or join us over at the retic nation.

Cheers

[cowbully]

I just don't understand why someone would be interested in raising a Reticulated Python and trying to keep them small by feeding them less..Why not choose smaller bodied breed and feed them the correct and healthy way?

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[reptileexperts]

Cow. The premise behind dwarf retics is it allows more people access to a very unique species of snake that is incredibly intelligent and beautiful. Sure you can get a Morelia of a closer size or a BCI or BCC but its not the same as a similar sized Retic. Dwarf and super dwarf populations are evolved to stay smaller. We do not impose their size limits unless you stunt them. My two year old Anery Pure Super Dwarf is only 4' long and pounds medium rats every 4-8 days! He's no where near underfed he just grows slow and metabolized very fast what he ate.

Retic personalities are very unique and the most interesting snakes in my collection of breeders. My Burmese is like a big lazy ball python. My carpets are only active during feeding times and at night. But the retics are always watching and appear to be learning. They come out of the tub when you open it up. They rest their head on your hand almost as a form of submission. They never miss a meal unless in shed and their are amazing paint jobs out there from tiger to cow ( phantom ogs). So adding the ability to offer sizes to meet all levels of keepers is an awesome thing. In my snake talks I use retics as a grand example of evolution on islands and island ecology from both a Darwinism and Lemark stand point on inheritance and evolution. So yeah... There's some reasons. Need I name more?