New Addtion.. and it's not a ball!

[reptileexperts]

Nice pick up! Be ready for their wicked fast growth and amazing feeding response - i.e. feeding aggression. My mainland male is actually the most laxed in feeding in comparison to super dwarfs and dwarfs even. Heck my mainland grabs his food slow now, and my super dwarfs about attack me for opening the cage with rats in the room just to get them fed :-). Welcome to the giant owner kingdom! As with research that has suggestively been done. Remember a few things.

1) Feed feed feed feed. Not to overdue it and cause obesity by any means. But make sure you keep it fed. A well fed retic is a calm and happy retic. A hungry retic is VERY aggressive IMO. They let me know when I miss a feeding by 1 day.

2) Lead by example! With all the legislation bull attacking the community, be a responsible keeper from day one. Get in good practices and keep a well mannered properly housed snake. You'll need at least a 4x2 enclosure by the end of the year. I'm assuming it's a male? So you can actually house it it's entire life very comfortably in a 6x3x1.5 vision 632. Or one of the 6' Animal.

3) Forever means forever. A lot of people are under this odd assumption that when a retic grows too large they can simply move it on to another keeper or heck a zoo! It's not always easy finding homes for giants. I've seen more giants on kingsnakes that were 11-13' with no where to go and a $75 price tag just because the person needed it gone. Perhaps it was food cost, or housing capabilities. A retic is a commitment.

4) Use easy to change substrate. When these guys pee. . . its like Moses parting the red sea except it went all over your cage. A pile of feces is easy to clean, but its the pee that will keep you changing the substrate so make it easy on yourself! My bigger retics are kept on newspaper or recycled composite paper that I buy in rolls. Fast and sanitary!

5) Always respect. Always learn. Watch your snake. Grow with him as he grows. Get to know what his postures mean, how he reacts to certain conditions. These guys are one of, if not the, most intelligent species of snake. They are always inquiring around them. And they will read you so to speak. So read him. Learn how he says no to avoid accidents, and respect him when he says no.

6) Last one I promise, ask questions. Anytime something comes up just ask a question someone can help. Denial keeps retics on this forum and while he doesn't respond too often now, he's a good source. As is the retic nation group. These guys are passionate about retics and it shows. The support community that revolves around these giants is amazing.

and yes - genetically its a Tiger mutation and Albino Mutation combined.

cheers