Time to move on. Semi graphic.

[Skyrivers]

I really hate you had such a bad experience with him. I know you did everything you could. Every day I am more and more grateful for my 2 girls being calm. Best wishes with your future endeavors.

I can't paint the whole species as bad eggs, but I've noticed that I'm not the only person to have issues. The SD ingredients and male testosterone addition seem to make a bad combo. I know breeders want to sell, but the average keeper should not take the species lightly and impulse buy a pretty morph or color pattern. A lot more comes with the purchase.

The breeder I placed my fella with said he was scaling back and noted that the demand for retics was dwindling. I don't really know, but I would not be surprised.

I typically see the progression that I had. The first few years are interesting and great. Then things get real and people find out quickly that the species is long lived, demanding and requires help. If you watch the boards, the threads go blank. I figured I'd just let people know I'm done.

Had my guy been food aggressive only I would have likely held on to him but food wasn't the answer.

The constant challenges and face-offs were a huge turn off. He was handled and cared for very well early on and into his "teens". He changed drastically with maturity and I simply wasn't interested in that type of experience without a second party to help.

For the right person, retics are the most interesting, demanding and rewarding species but they require 100% commitment IMO.