well a lot of people say its not a good idea to handle any snake over 6ft alone. im comfortable handling snakes up to 8ft alone (im 5'5") but i still make sure there is someone else home and within earshot, even if the animal is "tame" they can still be unpredictable. my 12 foot female burm has never shown aggression and never even attempted to bite me or other people but if no one else is home and i need to clean her cage or give her water, etc. i wait untill someone comes home and stays in the room with me while i take her out just in case anything ever did happen. and its definatly a good idea to have someone nearby when handling a large retic, ive been bitten by my retic when he was only 8ft and it happened without any warning what so ever and he wasnt an aggressive snake either, all it takes is one mistake on your end.