Im in loooove! lol

[BFE Pets]

I finally got to handle my first retic the other day. WOW what else can be said about these curious little (hehe) worms. I love handling my dumerils boas and the babies I got to play with was every bit as much fun! I am no where near ready to care for a mainland but i'm thinking maybe a SD. No time soon mind you but down the road. I've already begun phasing out my bps to get back into boas but maybe down the road i'll find that SD that wants to come home with me. Also I live in Ohio so it would have to be a SD or maybe dwarf. with the new laws anything over 12 feet is pretty much a no no without a boat load of insurance and permits. which the average person cant afford or those that can may or may not be approved for. So anywho when its time it'll be a SD for me. Anyone want to give up some quality links for me to do some homework on genetics and just good retic knowledge. I'm not being lazy. I know how to do my home work and research but I don't want to have to weed out the bs for the good (correct) info. Just be nice to get the right know how the first time. Thanks folks!

[Mike41793]

Talk to reptileexperts and Simple_Man. They both have them.

[Tfpets]

Honestly, they aren't that much different from a BP or boa. Maybe a large cross of the 2? I wouldn't recommend jumping into an adult, but if you get one young and it grows up with you, you know each other and you really don't notice the size! Mine is still young, maybe coming up on adolescent. He loves to be pet and fall asleep on me. I only assume he falls asleep because he stops flicking his tongue, slows his breathing and holds completely still. He is my only snake that does that! I look forward to him getting up to the size of my burm!

[TheSnakeGeek]

my retic is quickly becoming my favorite snake. i get him out more than anybody else because he is by far the most fun to handle. he hates going back in his tub though. when i manage to get him back in there and shut the lid quick he's always franticly sliding around the tub trying to get back out. lol so much personality for a snake.

[reptileexperts]

Places to get involved are the retic nation facebook page, Super Dwarf and Dwarf Retic Keepers facebook page, and also browse over at RFUK - Reptile Forums UK. The UK is alot further advanced than we are when it comes to information on super dwarf and even dwarf locales.

For the gist know this -
All mutations have mainland blood. There are exceptions Genetic Stripe which originated in dwarf locales, and Anery which originated in both Super Dwarf and Dwarf. NO PURE Super Dwarf or Dwarf Albinos exist. They all contain mainland blood, but the % is what matters after that . . . this is also true for other mutations such as Tiger, Anthrax, Motley, Goldenchild, OGS, Phantom Stripe, etc etc.

The term Super Dwarf was coined by Bob Clark when he received some unknown locale retics from an import. These retics were small, laying eggs at 6', and very diffused in pattern. He called them Super Dwarf as a marketting ploy, and it stuck. But be warned that not all super dwarf are super dwarf. Try and learn locale information when you can. Kalatoa is the best from staying small. Kaydui is larger, as is Honey Island. . . Dwarf Locales include Jampea, Seslayar, Bali (Yellow-heads, probably the largest growing dwarf).

Little more on crosses -
50% is the most common cross done, it can be hit in one generation crossing a mainland to a pure SD and results in very nice offspring. They usually have a strong diffused back pattern on the neck, and max around 9 ft for females. Travis Kubes has a video of his adult female getting eggs pulled from her this season. Its posted a few weeeks ago on his facebook page. Check it out to get an idea of full size visually. My 50% Tiger Adult male is roughly 9 ft, but he is very well fed.
75% is generally where people draw the line as being the same size as pure SD. While there will be some descrimination in this, and size potential will obviously be greater. You would be hardpressed to get a female past 8' with steady feeding. They will go obese before growing out further in length.

Final thoughts on Dwarfs -
Denial has said plenty of times "I don't consider a 16' snake a dwarf" . . . be careful with Dwarf Locales. The best option is going to be a trusted SD cross, or a pure Dwarf from a very reputable breeder. Bob Clark sells pure Jampea Dwarf retics for $300 typically. These max around 9-11 ft for females when fed properly, and around 8-10' for males (some even smaller). It's not impossible to get them larger with ample food supply, but it is a controllable factor that can be done with a healthy snake. Don't feel the need to meet their constant apetite with constant food and you'll be ok. However, due to your 12' limit. I would advise staying away from dwarf x mainland anything crosses. 75% Dwarf crosses have bee known to get 14' fairly easily - Stephanie Laumeyer has a couple that are either 62.5% or 75% Seslayer and are 14' for the girls and 12' for the boys. So be careful and best avoid. - However. Super Jamps should be considered. These are Super Dwarf x Jampea crossings. They are abnormal in coloration, and stay slightly smaller than a 50% SD when done right. These are kind of the new happy middle ground. Just always make sure you can talk to the breeders about lines. This is still very important.

Feel free to message me questions, I do my best to keep up with the community and talk to most of the keepers daily. I work with 4 Super Dwarf Crosses, 1 Pure, 2 Dwarf, and 1 Mainland locale wise, and I can tell you that they are all just amazing!

Cheers

[BFE Pets]

Thank you for the info reptileexperts! Looks like I've got a lot of learning to do. I've always liked the looks of retics and all the morphs available but never had a chance to actually handle one. Doing so was a mistake... now I really want one but certainly not an animal to rush into. When i'm ready i'll be getting a baby and i'll have to do some homework to determine what locality it will be. I don't do the facebook thing so i'll see if the people you mentioned have actual websites. I know bob clark does so that's probably the best place to start.

[Wes]

Retics are amazing! I handle mine so much that I think my other snakes are starting to get jealous. So curious and not the least bit scared of anything.

[reptileexperts]

http://reticulatedpython.info/me/pap...tedpythons.pdf - little bit of history

http://www.reticulatedpython.info/me...ic%20paper.pdf - classification history - pretty much the definition for reticulated python locales or the bridge that started them!

http://www.thereticnation.com/ - we are trying to get more informative post going on here. So keep checking back there

http://www.bobclark.com/articles/200207.html - the article that got me hooked back in 2002, I still have this issue on my shelf :-)

http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...e-Constrictors - Another place to look that gets updated often

and facebook has some of the best discussions IMO since a lot more users are active on the groups than the actual forums. But this should give you a good bit to start with.

[BFE Pets]

http://reticulatedpython.info/me/pap...tedpythons.pdf - little bit of history

http://www.reticulatedpython.info/me...ic%20paper.pdf - classification history - pretty much the definition for reticulated python locales or the bridge that started them!

http://www.thereticnation.com/ - we are trying to get more informative post going on here. So keep checking back there

http://www.bobclark.com/articles/200207.html - the article that got me hooked back in 2002, I still have this issue on my shelf :-)

http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...e-Constrictors - Another place to look that gets updated often

and facebook has some of the best discussions IMO since a lot more users are active on the groups than the actual forums. But this should give you a good bit to start with.

great info in all of those links! thanks a million!