Quote Originally Posted by cchardwick View Post
Those super dwarf retics at three years old are still pretty small, maybe even smaller than a boa constrictor of the same age? Personally I'd like my retics to get a bit bigger and more impressive. I really like the size that Lucy is at, I would be happy if she stayed about the same size or slightly bigger but not too much bigger. She is still small enough to where I can handle her by myself but big enough to be incredibly impressive. After seeing the video of a three year old 50% super dwarf I'm not sure I want that much SD in my snakes, I prefer a snake that is a bit bigger than a boa.
I really like the size of your Lucy girl, too. Anything that would top out somewhere between the size of Addiction's girl and Lucy would be perfect for me. I'm definitely still going to go with 50% + SD, though. I would rather have Retics that I might have to feed a little more to get up to size than end up being paranoid about creating a giant un-handle-able beast... lol I'm very curious about what kind of prey sizes and feeding schedules you and Addiction have had your females on to keep them at their sizes.

As I mentioned in my last reply, Jay Brewer is constantly stressing how you can completely control the size of Retics (and other species) with a combination of prey size and feeding schedule and breeding cycles. Here is a great comparison video of his that I just stumbled across tonight while researching and he really goes out of his way to prove his point:

The female he pulls off of the eggs is still much larger than I would care to have, but she is a breeding size pure mainlaind and much smaller than the big female he showed at the beginning. Something else this video made me aware of is that Anthrax is actually the largest Retic gene. So, I would definitely want at least 50% SD if I get Anthrax just to be safe...

Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post
Depends what your definition of 'outgrow' is. I know breeders who keep their 6-8' boas in 4x2 cages. To me, that is unacceptable. But like i said, i try and give all my snakes cages they can stretch out in. My belief is if you cant afford them proper care, then you have too many snakes. Kind of the reason, i am kicking the idea of my next and probably last reptile. I am running out of space unless i take over the upstairs too lol. So i'm debating on a 50% SD ultra ivory retic, gila monster, Peruvian BCC, male Rio Bravo Pokigron Suriname, or female meltzer/Lincoln line Peruvian longtail BCL. Also been thinking of a male pied retic if i have to get Caesar a 8x3 cage since i can stack 3 of those like my 6x3 cages which would mean 1 for a pied retic and the last one would be for my Pokigron Suriname girl when she gets big.
Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post

Retics are a lot work. No way i could keep up with 4 of them as well as my other snakes. It would become just a job to me and it would lose the personal feel i have with all my snakes. I personally pride myself on having snakes that i would trust with pretty much anyone as i interact with them all the time. I mean Caesar is a handful but only because he loves to cruise around, not fast but just nonstop lol. The only time he sits still is on the bed sometimes when relaxing or the first time i gave him a bath. He sat there with his head on the tub edge while i wiped him down with a wet paper towel. He loves the attention which is kind of surprising to me. When i look in his cage, he will come out and sit at the front with his head on the litter dam looking at me. Not a food look either as i can open the cage and reach in and he just cruises over to the open door and hangs out by me lol.


I feel the same way, Sauzo. I think 6' is the max length a snake should be for a 4' x 2' enclosure. I live by the school of thought that an enclosure's combined length + width shouldn't be any less than the length of the snake. That's one of the reasons why I don't want Retics that would exceed 8' or 10'. I think a 10' Retic would be the very max size I would feel humane keeping in a 6' x 3' enclosure and I don't want 8' enclosures. I also feel the same way about the personal "relationship" I have (or at least FEEL) with my snakes. My collection is only at 13 at the moment and I already feel horrible only handling each of them for 5 - 10 minutes (sometimes longer), 3 or 4 times per week. But, for me, this is also a sideline business endeavor and with a little luck, possibly a retirement gig in the future. So, I think having a decent size selection of species and mutations is necessary...