What do you wish you knew before getting into Retics/ Larger pythons.

[bcr229]

I have 80 snakes in my collection, including balls, some smaller colubrids, a carpet python, retics (both dwarf and mainland), a burm, various boas (BRB's, Dums, BI's, boa sigma, yellow anaconda).

The biggest mistake I see people making with SD retics is thinking that because they are small they are easy to deal with, especially the males. That's not the case; males tend to be very difficult, much more than the mainland males. I would rather deal with my 15-16 foot mainland females than my 100% SD male. My SD male has been for sale - quietly - for a few years and I give full disclosure to the potential new owner:

"He has a serious Napoleon/little man complex. I would not recommend him as a pet; just because he's small doesn't mean he's easy to handle - working with him is a two-person job. He also pees on you, the floor, himself, and whatever else he can hit once he's out of his enclosure, and it's deliberate. He will back up to you or wrap his tail around you if you are holding him, and then let fly with a load of musk/urate. He will threat charge if he's on the floor. Hasn't bitten but he makes you think he will."

Amazingly the people who have contact me ultimately pass on him, can't imagine why...

I could keep my mouth shut and not tell any potential buyers about his attitude if they don't ask, but I'm not about to put that snake in a position where someone can't manage him properly.

He was not like this as a baby or even during puberty, the behavior popped up when he turned four(ish) years old.

If you want a larger snake that is more alert/aware but still very manageable and fun to handle, especially by one person, I would suggest a boa imperator or locality, BRB, or carpet python over a giant python.