Retic Studies

[jpsteele80]

Anyone know if there has been any studies done on retic's as far as having a faster metabolism rate than other snakes? I fed mine this last Saturday pretty substantially to where they had a nice bulge in the stomach and my female is already apparently starving " so she thinks". Just curious.

[CosmicOwl]

From what I've read, it does seem like they have a colubridish metabolism. In geneal, I think longer, more slender snakes have a faster metabolism than their more stout and heavy bodied peers. I could be wrong, though.

[millertime89]

Not that I'm aware of although it is generally accepted that they do have a very high metabolism for a non-venomous snake just based on observations by their owners. Observation is the second step in the scientific method after all. Hey look, we're halfway through it.
Do retics have a high metabolism?
They always act hungry and rarely refuse food if healthy and all of their other needs are met and are not in heat.
Retics act hungry because they have a high metabolism.

[jpsteele80]

It would be an interesting study, I'm convinced they do as mentioned they have an appetite that never seems to go away and seems that they digest food a lot faster than most other snakes.

[Moreau]

I don't think always being hungry is an indication of a high metabolism. Heck, I'm always hungry and I know my metabolism isn't very high lol!

But joking aside, my boa acts hungry a day or two after a big meal, yet she only defecates once a month or so, while my kingsnake is not a huge eater, and defecates several times a week. So my kingsnake has a higher metabolism even though my boa seems to be hungrier. My carpets seem hungry often as well, and they defecate every two to three weeks or so it seems, so their metabolism would seem to be somewhere between the boa and kingsnake. These are all older snakes, my baby carpets defecate much more often.
Just my observations!

[millertime89]

My retics poop a ton, I feel like my title is "Professional Poop Cleaner", heck, I might go change my FB occupation to that... lol.

[CosmicOwl]

I think there is a difference between opportunistic eating and hunger driven eating. A lot of snakes will eat whenever food is offered, but it doesn't mean they're really hungry. A hungry snake will be out on the prowl looking for a meal(unless they're a species that waits for prey to wander by). For instance, my grey rat is a bottomless pit. He digests 15% body weight in a day and is out looking for more within two days of eating. After three or four days, he will be out "hunting" multiple times per day. I think he may honestly need more food, but you don't want to over feed either. Sometimed it's difficult to figure out where the line is.