Gerald Super Dwarf Ultra Ivory Retic Progression

[Gio]

Yes it was a joke.

And as for growth. I mean this is a perfect example. Caesar and Wallace. Caesar was fed small rats every 4-5 days, then medium rats every week and now large rats every 10 days. You feed Wallace a small rat every 7-10 days. Now with this different of feeding, both our snakes are the same size, about 5'. And yours is actually more dwarf than mine while mine is more mainland than yours. While I think food plays a good chunk of the snakes overall size, I think a lot of it also plays into the genetics and whether said snake takes on the attributes of mainland or SD. I personally would say it's a 50/50 mix.

And yeah I always go back to this for info from Cody. https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...nd-Information

And yes people looking for a smaller retic should just go 100% kalatoa. The introduction of dwarf and mainland blood is kind of a roll of the dice from what I've read as it depends how much of that blood the snakes 'uses' for lack of a better word in it's growth. As for the food, yes feed it as much as needed to keep it quiet and healthy. Not every snake is going to be the same and some react quite different to hunger as like I said, you see a huge difference in Caesar and Phyllis vs Riverrun and Wallace when it comes to wanting food.

And I'm jealous JM, I like that Ultra Ivory and you might be lucky and have one that isn't food driven like Caesar. Lol and heck, even after eating those rats last night, today I slide the doors open on Rosey and Vicky to stir their Eco Earth so it doesn't stay wet and packed down. I stand up and there is Caesar with his head popped out of his hide staring right at me lol. He is such a curious snake. Guess he felt the movement of the cages below and wanted to know what was up even with a full belly.

Oh and I forgot to add, Your snake is also a month younger than mine as Caesar was born 5-18 and Wallace was born June, yet they are the same size even with the age difference and feeding difference. Lol maybe you will end up with the bigger snake if Wallace uses more of his dwarf and mainland genes over Caesar haha. Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants. Think all of us would be floored lol.

Wallace is actually only about 13 days younger, and I'm guessing about 4' 10". June 1st 2017 will be his one year mark. I also fed him larger prey sooner than you did. You had recently upsized and upsized again and increased frequency. Caesar looks larger, and a thicker but its difficult to tell from photos. Wallace still fits in out royal python's baby hide so he's by no means big.

When you have the mainland blood, I feel the feeding will play a role and could influence which direction the snake will go. Cody's videos talk about it and he stated if you need a smaller snake get a male and he doesn't discourage "maintenance mode" feeding.

Anyhow, I'm not trying to start an argument here.

The thread is about JM's new, and beautiful retic. Every keeper should feed how the way that is best for their snake, and if they are looking for a healthy, "maintenance style" feeding schedule they should use it if the snake responds well.