SD experience

[dkatz4]

Folks, as always, your insights have proven invaluable. Now i'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back because (unlike so many people i've known) i'm going to listen to the parts that i didn't want to hear and not get a retic at this time. I think they are so beautiful and exciting and, god help me, someday i'll have one, but not now.

Originally Posted by jmcrook
Dkatz4 yeah there's no real calmly chilling out when the Retic is out. She's constantly on the go, not in an annoying way, but you'll definitely not be just hanging out and doing other things when handling her. Like I said earlier, keeps me on my toes for sure but in the most engaged and enjoyable way possible.

At this point I almost always have to multitask, even if one task is watching a movie (i teach film), but more often one task involves tending to a kid - so right now a snake that requires 100% of my attention is not a good match.

Ball pythons have a strike range that is minimal, boas - have a strike range that is minimal, a 10' retic can strike 4' out of its cage in the blink of an eye if it wants to.

Again, back to the kids. My 4 year old loves snakes in no small part b/c our boa is so placid and tame and tolerates my boy's "exuberant" handling with aplomb (of course i always supervise and correct him if he's getting too rough with the snake). I know i can keep him out of the snake's range if he (the snake) is acting agitated, and he's pretty easy to read with his slow steady boa manners. The relative unpredictability and speed of the retic would, i fear, prohibit my kids from handling, which would be upsetting for all of us since i really want snake keeping to be a family experience.

Oh yeah, and the poop. I already have 2 cats who think of all the world as their litter box, a newly potty trained kid (read: accidents happen), and a baby in diapers - do i need another poop machine? And besides the yuck factor, the whole salmonella thing must be acknowledged with a baby in the house, and the more feces, the more risk. The boa, of course, eliminates only twice a month and combined with his ability to shed at even greater intervals and all in one piece makes him my most sanitary pet by far.


So please, keep posting pictures and stories of the awesomeness of retic ownership so i can try to experience it vicariously until i can have one of my own!