Python Reticulatus Wallace Progression!

[Gio]

I will need a new photo prop for outdoor photos this spring/summer.
Wallace is just too quick to be trusted if he is not in my hands or wrapped around something. It is a shame because some of my easiest and pictures are taken off of our deck rail. I honestly don't think I can photograph him there because if he heads for the ground he'll be under the decking, and that will be about it until he decides to come out.

I'm going to have to work with some other options in a more open area limiting/erasing the possibility of escape. He is "colubrid style" fast, and if he runs, and I chase, I have to grab him quickly. When he's excited he always seems to have a "little in the tank" just for me. Usually Pee, not really musk, but I don't like either.

He's over 5 feet long which somewhat bums me out as I really don't want him to be large I was hoping 4 to 4.5 feet at the year mark on June 1. At 6 to 9 feet he will be plenty challenging to handle. At 10 feet, I will likely need a spotter depending on his girth. I don't know how many people think long term when it comes to retics, whether they are mainland, dwarf, super dwarf or a combo. I love the challenge, but they are NO JOKE, and I'm recognizing it very early on.

If you delve into the species without long term thought and preparation, you will probably run into issues if your animal ends up on the larger side. I already have "some" precautionary safety gear in place, and more will come if I start seeing a larger than expected pet. I'm not being a sissy, I'm quite in shape, active and I know how to take care of myself but I'm also not oblivious or arrogantly, over confident to the point of thinking I'm never going to be in a bad situation. That's all I'll say on that because this isn't supposed to be a negative post. I'm just relaying some initial experiences, and thoughts.

Don't get me wrong, Wallace has done nothing since the little bite a couple of months ago to turn me off to him, but he is a snake that I will not take lightly or trust. He doesn't make it easy on me getting him out of his cage. Of course he's in a 48" x 24" x 14". 14" tall isn't as easy to reach into as a taller unit. He'll be in a 2 foot tall cage this summer which will make things easier.

Frequent handling of this species seems to be rather important. Obviously working with any snake tends to make interactions in the future more relaxing and predictable for all involved.

I continue feeding every 10-14 days and surprisingly he is still fine with small rats. I will keep that up until he hits a year, and then I'm planning medium rats every 2 weeks. I've been reading a lot of the UK retic boards and they like to keep their males and females nice and lean and a lot of them feel some of us here in the US tend to push the feeding too much.

Wallace shed out yesterday and looks absolutely beautiful today. I was checking him out and have not been able to find his spurs. I know Kris would not have sold me a female at a male price and I know his reputation is impeccable. I'm just curious if Gerald, Gene or Caesar have spurs.

He was very active today so the pictures were difficult to take. For reference however, he is perched on an olympic barbell. He is about the same thickness maybe a touch thicker at his most girthy spot.

His coloring is good today.




Too bad he was zipping all over. This would have been a decent head photo. The scales match the knurling of the barbell.


The length is coming. Another terrible, one handed picture, but this is his coloring without a flash. I think I'll dump the flash for photos in the gym. It is plenty bright in this room. This is actually pretty close to what his coloring looks like. You don't see the iridescence here, but he has it all over when the light hits him right.


Thanks for checking in.