General care on retics and experiences with these amazing animals

[William Snakespeare]

I doubt a male that i dont powerfeed or feed to often will reach that size. I dont intend to breed in the future.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[Addiction]

I doubt a male that i dont powerfeed or feed to often will reach that size. I dont intend to breed in the future.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

I would not bank on that with a mainland, nor would I go into having a mainland thinking you don't need to feed them too often. Parent size will give you a good indicator. Most "breeder males" are smaller because they tend to eat less throughout the year and are maintenance fed, and are also using a lot of energy breeding. If you are never looking to breed and have your male as solely a pet, it will very likely get much bigger than Sauzo's Caesar. Is it possible to have an 8 foot male mainland? Sure. Is it likely in the grand scheme of things? Not so much. Look at how big mom and dad are, and that should give you a relative estimate with a moderate feeding schedule of what to expect size wise. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, but I wouldn't take that to the bank personally. This is also coming from someone who has had/has mainlands, dwarfs and super dwarf crosses for what it's worth.

As a general side note, I would be more worried about the bite of a male when he wants to breed over the size of the animal. I am always hesitant to recommend mainland males as an entrance into retics, because when they bite during breeding mode it can do some serious damage. I'd take 2-3 feet more in length of a female over breeding bites from males any day of the week.

[William Snakespeare]

Some things to think about then.

I like males because they wont get as big as females and may eat smaller meals.

Females on the other hand are your monsters. I dont want a retic that can reach 25feet or more. Plus they may require much bigger food

1 question will females get huge and at what size will they max out at?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

Some things to think about then.

I like males because they wont get as big as females and may eat smaller meals.

Females on the other hand are your monsters. I dont want a retic that can reach 25feet or more. Plus they may require much bigger food

1 question will females get huge and at what size will they max out at?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

There is no hard and fast rule to a size for the snake. On average though, you are probably looking at around 18' for a mainland female. They wont get 25' and i would honestly be kind of surprised if it got over 20'.

As for food, well a bigger snake will need bigger food. Thats a given. A guy here who builds local PVC cages and is one of the main guys at the local herp club and does rescues and stuff has lots of monitors and snakes and he an 18' female retic named Kitty who he feeds adult rabbits too. F/T of course.

Also any snake over 10', i would have a helper standing by or at least within screaming distance if something did go wrong. Caesar is only 7'+ but when he decides he wants to explore, there honestly isnt too much i can do other than to shove him back in his cage lol. He is just too long and too determined to wander that i cant reel him in fast enough and next thing i know, he is off me and wandering across the floor lol. He doesnt move super fast but he could. He just goes at retic speed lol.

And some males can get large too. An example is pertaining to boas. Gio who got his male Barranquilla BCI the same time i got my girl, is now larger than my girl. His male is 7' while my female is 6.5' and they are about the same age. So again like i mentioned before, you need to see the parents to get an rough idea of what you might be looking at.

[William Snakespeare]

My friend says his female is 6metres and males 3 metres

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[bcr229]

My friend says his female is 6metres and males 3 metres

The male may grow another foot or so depending on his age. My mainland males are all 12-14 feet. The female your friend has likely won't get a lot bigger.

Something else to consider is that a placid large female will be safer to work with than a male half her size that is willing to go through you because he's got lust on his mind. The former can hurt you but it's not likely unless you screw up while feeding her or do something really stupid, while the latter will put you in the ER if you don't read him right.

For a pet retic I would get a high percentage SD female over a male any day.

[William Snakespeare]

But how long will an adult female get? What will i have to feed?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[William Snakespeare]

This will also be my only retic, no other males or females. Will that have an impact or not?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

But how long will an adult female get? What will i have to feed?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

A rought guesstimate on a female mainland retic would be 18 feet. It might be smaller or it might be larger but that is the size i would plan for.

As for food, an 18 foot retic is going to be eating adult rabbits, very large guinea pigs, goats, small pigs etc.

What does your friend who you plan on getting a retic from feed his females? He would probably be the best person to ask as he will have the parents and should/can give you much more accurate info as well....he has the parents who are adults.

[Sauzo]

This will also be my only retic, no other males or females. Will that have an impact or not?

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Shouldnt if its a female. Some males when adults and ready to breed will get cranky or antsy during breeding season as they want a girlfriend. Some wont care. It's not something that you can just look at a baby male retic and say yes or no to. You would just have to wait until he becomes an adult and then see how it goes.

Plus males generally stay smaller and leaner while females get larger in both length and girth.