New retic owner seeking advice!

[dastefster]

Hey guys, First of all I am relatively new to the forum, so hello! I posted a few weeks ago because my new baby retic was not eating, the users who replied with advice were awesome! I got her to eat a few days ago after not eating for a month! Anyway, I just had a few questions for all you experienced retic owners out there: First of all, any general tips/advice? Something maybe you wish you knew when you got your first retic? I own a few adult Boas but never a snake this large. Any advice on handling? how often etc? I don't want to stress her out but I also don't want a un-handleable 17+ ft snake on my hands some day. My last question (for now) is: any suggestions on temporary cages while she's growing? I have her in a 36" long plastic tub for now but that was literally the biggest they sold at my local home depot. She's about 3.5-4 ft and 470grams now, I don't know how long she's going to fit in there and I don't want to keep buying appropriately sizes expensive cages as she grows I want to keep it as cost effective as possible until she's ready to move into her final home, which will be an 8ft cage. So any suggestions on housing for the time being would be awesome! Thanks guys!

[dastefster]

Oh and here's a pic of here when I first got her! Just cause..she's a beauty :)http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k286/Stefan_Hottel/photo_zps37b9e889.jpg

[jpsteele80]

I knew they were smart but I wish I knew how smart they were, every snake is a growing experience so just have fun with her, not sure how much you feed her but she will probably be Ready for that permanent enclosure by the end of the first year.

[dastefster]

I knew they were smart but I wish I knew how smart they were, every snake is a growing experience so just have fun with her, not sure how much you feed her but she will probably be Ready for that permanent enclosure by the end of the first year.

I feed her every 5 days for now. Obviously, that will change with age.

[jpsteele80]

Yeah if your feeding every 5 days that snake is going to hit 10 foot by the end of year 1, I'd extend that to ever 7 days

[dastefster]

Yeah if your feeding every 5 days that snake is going to hit 10 foot by the end of year 1, I'd extend that to ever 7 days

oh haha alright, yeah I've always fed my babies less than weekly for the first year. Just a habit I guess.

[jpsteele80]

Lol yeah but a retic isn't your average snake, there monsters and if you feed it like that it will take off faster than any snake you have seen, plus you want t to give the digestive track a little rest time, every 5 days it's almost constantly going

[dastefster]

Lol yeah but a retic isn't your average snake, there monsters and if you feed it like that it will take off faster than any snake you have seen, plus you want t to give the digestive track a little rest time, every 5 days it's almost constantly going

well, thats exactly why I posted this thread! Cause I have no experience with them! haha this is going to be an interesting journey

[jpsteele80]

well, thats exactly why I posted this thread! Cause I have no experience with them! haha this is going to be an interesting journey

No doubt it will be an epic journey, out of every snake I've ever owned my retic was by far my favorite :D

[dave himself]

As I said in your other post mate start tap training her now, and if she does tag you don't put her back into her viv straight away as said retics are smart. And you don't want her to get think that when she tags you she gets put back into her viv. I would give her short handling sessions to start of with and gradually increase the time you have her out. And be prepared for when her feeding response kicks in it took my little one about 3 months before she showed hers. Now when she smells rats anything that enters her viv is fair game. I've kept burms for over 8 years but if I could start over again I would have all retics IMO they really are the king of constrictors :)

[dastefster]

As I said in your other post mate start tap training her now, and if she does tag you don't put her back into her viv straight away as said retics are smart. And you don't want her to get think that when she tags you she gets put back into her viv. I would give her short handling sessions to start of with and gradually increase the time you have her out. And be prepared for when her feeding response kicks in it took my little one about 3 months before she showed hers. Now when she smells rats anything that enters her viv is fair game. I've kept burms for over 8 years but if I could start over again I would have all retics IMO they really are the king of constrictors :)

yeah, I did tap training on my motley boa and I got really good results with him. So I will definitely try that with her. Since she just got through mites, then not eating for a month I think I'll give her a week or so to herself to digest this mouse and get back to normal before I try to handle her again

[Sublimeballs]

What Dave said about tap training. Get started on tap or hook training; I rub mine with a snake hook and they lose the feed mode almost instantly, it's really quite cool. I only have pure dwarves so hook training is feasible for me but I'd go with tap training in your case(mainlands).

Also if you build an adult cage for her build a small feeding door into it so she doesn't associate the enclosure door opening with food. Or if you buy a cage simply use one door to feed and one to let the snake come out, spot cleaning, etc...

For safety get used to keeping a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her cage incase she gets you and you need it to get her off when she's got some size on her.

As for the cage for the time being I'd get a 48"x30" pvc cage for her for now. It can be used for a wide range of reptiles when she goes into her adult cage. Kinda expensive for a cage but over the Xmas tree tubs all cages arnt going to be so cheap.


I wish I knew that Retics are like chips. You can't just have one. They truely are the king of snakes. A very rewarding animal to have the pleasure of working with.

[Teal]

Your baby is gorgeous!

I don't think it can be said enough how smart they are. When my boy watches me, I know he's evaluating everything and learning. I am very lucky in that he doesn't have an insane feeding response as soon as the door is opened... he will come out slowly and check out my hands, then give me puppy dog eyes because there is no guinea pig lol. But if I were to start over with a youngster (I got him as an adult), I would definitely do tap training and a feeding hatch. As it is, I toss in food for Manny on the opposite side of where he's facing so he isn't watching me do it. The good news for you is you have, oh, about 10 months? to learn before your snake is large :D lol

[Tonka14]

What Sublimeballs said about the feeding door is one of the best things I would recommend, or doing something specific every time you feed. Right now I go from one side and only do a partial open of the enclosure so I don't get hammered every time I mess with him.

[MCB]

As the guys have said tap training is a must, they are clever and won't take long to cotton on. I adopted the left side for play/handling/cleaning and the right for feed, I'll use this method for all my future boys and girls as it works really well. Just pick a side for non feeding that he spends most of the time at as it'll be much easier when he's full size.
You'll get to see when he goes 'hunt mode' and is switched on to feeding, mine spends about 80% in this mode LOL! Just don't over feed especially at an early age, keep feed/weight records if you can as it's always good to keep track.
You'll be fine, and most of all ENJOY it!

[dave himself]

And I forgot 2 things

1st thing was you have a beautiful retic there mate and I really hope you enjoy her :)

2nd thing is growth I'll do a post to show you what I mean and to not hijack your thread :)

[Sublimeballs]

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

[dave himself]

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

:D :D ^^^^^^^ this

[dastefster]

What Dave said about tap training. Get started on tap or hook training; I rub mine with a snake hook and they lose the feed mode almost instantly, it's really quite cool. I only have pure dwarves so hook training is feasible for me but I'd go with tap training in your case(mainlands).

Also if you build an adult cage for her build a small feeding door into it so she doesn't associate the enclosure door opening with food. Or if you buy a cage simply use one door to feed and one to let the snake come out, spot cleaning, etc...

For safety get used to keeping a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her cage incase she gets you and you need it to get her off when she's got some size on her.

As for the cage for the time being I'd get a 48"x30" pvc cage for her for now. It can be used for a wide range of reptiles when she goes into her adult cage. Kinda expensive for a cage but over the Xmas tree tubs all cages arnt going to be so cheap.


I wish I knew that Retics are like chips. You can't just have one. They truely are the king of snakes. A very rewarding animal to have the pleasure of working with.

Yeah, like I said I got really great results from hook training with my boas and GTPs so I will definitely start that.

As the guys have said tap training is a must, they are clever and won't take long to cotton on. I adopted the left side for play/handling/cleaning and the right for feed, I'll use this method for all my future boys and girls as it works really well. Just pick a side for non feeding that he spends most of the time at as it'll be much easier when he's full size.
You'll get to see when he goes 'hunt mode' and is switched on to feeding, mine spends about 80% in this mode LOL! Just don't over feed especially at an early age, keep feed/weight records if you can as it's always good to keep track.
You'll be fine, and most of all ENJOY it!

Only problem with this is she's currently in a plastic tub so just opening "one side" is kinda hard with a plastic lid. But i'll develop some type of routine for feeding until I move her into her permanent home.

And I forgot 2 things

1st thing was you have a beautiful retic there mate and I really hope you enjoy her :)

2nd thing is growth I'll do a post to show you what I mean and to not hijack your thread :)

Thank you! I love her already!

I saw your post, thanks again! I was blown away by how fast yours grew. The size yours was in july looks to be about what my girl is now.

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

Haha! Yeah, my adult boa drops some suspiciously large dumps. I can only imagine what she will leave me some day.

[Sublimeballs]

For the tub you could get a second lid and cut out a square section, then cut a smaller circular section (big enough to fit the max sized prey she'll eat in this tub) out of the lid to be used and create a feeding door in the lid. But only if you're confident in your abilities to make it secure enough to prevent escape.


I just looked in my snake room and my female jampea(she's just under 10 feet) just left a poo the size of a jumbo rat in her cage(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?). Off to clean it. Anyone want a pic?lol.

[dastefster]

For the tub you could get a second lid and cut out a square section, then cut a smaller circular section (big enough to fit the max sized prey she'll eat in this tub) out of the lid to be used and create a feeding door in the lid. But only if you're confident in your abilities to make it secure enough to prevent escape.


I just looked in my snake room and my female jampea(she's just under 10 feet) just left a poo the size of a jumbo rat in her cage(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?). Off to clean it. Anyone want a pic?lol.

haha yeah, she's always trying to find ways to escape. She reminds me of a smarter version of a corn snake I had as a kid. But anyway, the hole idea is good! Thanks a lot! I might just do that, seems like my best option for the time being.

[Teal]

(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?)

My 10 ft, 15 pound male literally pooped what looked EXACTLY likepoop from my 65 pound dog after taking down two GPs in two weeks :o It was insane lol

[dastefster]

Should have titled this thread "Retic poop stories" haha :laugh:

[Sublimeballs]

Sorry to de rail the thread. Altough surprisingly massive "gifts" are the never ending less glamorous side to big snake keeping. You'll know what we're on about soon.

[Tsubaki]

Once had an adult dwarf female start pooping inside the vets office, everything came out.. everywhere (pooping while fighting 3 people trying to hold her).. it was like a pack of dogs had been pooping all over, and the smell was ghastly :D.

[millertime89]

I'm pretty sure there is a poop thread here somewhere... Boy do I have some stories. I'm lucky though, I found a rabbit breeder that is all about sustainable living and he'll trade me snake poop for rabbits.

Very nice supertiger you have. Odds are you won't need an 8ft cage though. Only truly monsters need cages that big. She'll probably fit happily in a 6x2 or 6x3 as an adult. A 4x2.5 or 4x3 right now will do nicely until she's 2-3 yrs old unless you're power feeding her.

[dave himself]

Once had an adult dwarf female start pooping inside the vets office, everything came out.. everywhere (pooping while fighting 3 people trying to hold her).. it was like a pack of dogs had been pooping all over, and the smell was ghastly :D.

I almost sprayed coffee reading this :D

[dastefster]

I'm pretty sure there is a poop thread here somewhere... Boy do I have some stories. I'm lucky though, I found a rabbit breeder that is all about sustainable living and he'll trade me snake poop for rabbits.

Very nice supertiger you have. Odds are you won't need an 8ft cage though. Only truly monsters need cages that big. She'll probably fit happily in a 6x2 or 6x3 as an adult. A 4x2.5 or 4x3 right now will do nicely until she's 2-3 yrs old unless you're power feeding her.

Thank you! Yeah, but even if she does not grow to be a "monster" when she's 2-3 old it's not like she'll complain about having an 8ft cage. Even if she doesn't "need" it, i'm still going to provide her with as much room as I can. And no, I definitely do not power feed my animals.