Juvenile Retic Aggression

[jonesaw77]

Good Afternoon,

I purchased a Bob Clark bred juvenile male 'Blonde Tiger Retic' last Saturday, which is my first venture into the world of Giant Python's. He is a stunning snake, and for the first couple of days was no issue to approach, take out if his vivarium and handle.

Maybe a bit too soon, I decided to feed him on Monday which he accepted more than gleefully. He gobbled down a small rat, to which there was still a slight bump in his belly on Wednesday. However, since being fed he has become rather aggressive, which I am guessing is not actual aggression but down to Retics more than healthy feeding response! ... Any movement around his vivarium, and particularly when I slide open one of the glass doors and he is right at me. I dealt with this last night by using a soft kitchen roll to touch his head, which he strikes at, and with then with the kitchen roll between me and Hugo (The name I have bestowed upon him) I managed to confidently take hold of him and lift him out of the vivarium. After a couple of minutes outside of his vivarium he calmed down, and is was fine to handle for a good hour or so.

I guess I am after reassurance that I am doing the right thing, and hoping with persistence and plenty of patience he will calm down. The last thing I want to do is stress him out, so I would really appreciate some guidance on dealing with 'snappy' juveniles.

I have previous experience with raising a red tailed boa to 7ft and a dumerils boa to around 6ft. Like I said this is my first python, and would appreciate some guidance.

Many thanks for taking the time to read,
Scotty

[millertime89]

Probably still in feed mode based on your description. It can be 2-4 days for them to chill after eating sometimes. Some animals are always in feed mode in their cage. I've got two such animals. Sounds like you're doing everything right though. I'm a fan of using hooks instead of the paper towel rolls, but whatever works for you.

[Kuamata]

From what you've said, you gave him no time to adjust to his new surroundings. It is generally recommended you do not handle them, unless for total cage cleans(which, from your description, is not necessary this soon), vet visits, etc. for the first 1 - 2 weeks.

Secondly, you fed him and then handled him soon after. It is not recommended you hold any snake after feeding and give them a few days to digest, not 1-2 days.

Chances are, he probably is stressed being placed in this new area and having this huge person constantly hovering and prodding him. Let him settle, leave him alone, and learn to read his body language. If he looks like he's going to strike, just let him be until he chills out.

Give us some specs about his enclosure and his surroundings, like the amount of human/other household pet traffic around his cage, cage wall visibility, etc. Then we can also determine if there are other problems causing his stress.

[Sublimeballs]

As its been pointed out you should always give an animal time to acclimate to its new environment.

I'm going with feed mode. As its been mentioned, some Retics are always in feed mode in their cage. I keep jamps(known for having one of the strongest feed modes in the Reticulated python world) and after you break the feed mode they're easy(for a big snake) to work with. I personally have adopted using the handle of my big hook to break feed mode. All I have to do is put the tip of the handle infront of my jamps; they tounge flick once smell it and turn away. I used to gently rub them with the hook on their necks but this has given me better results. As they don't throw coils at the handle.

My advice: Do a search on hook/tap training. Get a snake hook. And get as comfortable with the animal as you can as it grows; a 12 foot male in breeding mode can be a nasty force to be reckoned with.

I'd also like to hear about the enclosure.

[jonesaw77]

Hello,
Many thanks for your feedback. I have already started with the tap training, and he actually seemed to respond last night and this morning as I was able to mist his vivarium without a feeding response!

I take on board the need for patience regarding his settling in period. I live on my own and I am at work from around 7am to 6pm each day. He currently resides in my living room, however the room is a large open plan room and my sofa is a good 10 - 12 feet away from his viv. I use subdued lighting in the room when I am in the room, and avoid approaching his tank outside of misting , maintenance and the handling session I had on Wednesday. I plan to move him in to the spare 2nd bedroom but was keen to be able to cast an eye over him for the first few days which I can do from my sofa from distance.

He currently has a temporary wooden vivarium which is 90cm in Length, 45cm in height and 45cm in depth. The vivarium has glass fronted sliding doors. I have provided a hide in the middle of the vivarium, which I have not seem him use, and a ceramic dog water bowl in the cool end of the viv which he spends plenty of time soaking in. When not in his water bowl he is under his cage protected ceramic heating lamp. Temp of the viv is 90c at the warm end and 80c at the cool end. Humidity is around 65-70%. The one change I am going to make is to remove the current orchid bark substrate, and replace with Cypress mulch to assist with maintaining humidity levels. I am not using any vivarium lighting.

I have added a photo attachment of his vivarium, which I should have taken the photo before misting the tank! Hugo is in his water bowl in the photo. Please note that the lighting in the room is only bright for the purposes of the photo, I have it far more subdued usually.

He did his first poo since I got him overnight :-)

[Kuamata]

I uh... hope you meant 80F and 90F and not 80 and 90 Celsius... lol.

[millertime89]

I uh... hope you meant 80F and 90F and not 80 and 90 Celsius... lol.

Haha word... lol. Where's the cage from? Looks pretty nice.

[jonesaw77]

Doh! Yes I meant 90F and 80F!

I got the Retic and viv from this reptile shop in Gloucester here in the UK, they are soon to become the European distribution point for Bob Clark. Their female breeding Annaconda is one hell of a specimen, over 19ft!

https://m.facebook.com/Webbsuk?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWe bbsuk

[millertime89]

The Webbs are good people. I've spoken with Jen a lot. She's great.

[jonesaw77]

Yeah Jen is great, its a lovely new shop they have opened in Gloucester ... Excited to see how it grows. They have some amazing reptiles ...

Started the hook training this morning, firstly rubbing gently behind his head which he was a bit spooked by and got rather snappy, then gently rubbed his body before lifting him out with the hook and placing him in to my hand. After a couple of mins outside his viv he calmed down and was excellent to handle.

I placed him in to a plastic 50L storage box whilst I did some viv maintenance and changed his substrate over to cypress mulch. Even after only a few hours its noticeable how much better it is in retaining humidity levels :-)

I used the same hook method to remove him from the plastic storage box, again he was a bit snappy but calmer than he was when attempting to remove him from his viv. He seemed a bit nervous for a few mins, but I just waited for him to come out of his shell and eventually he started moving freely and confidently around my arms.

Anyway, here Hugo is chilling under his heat lamp with new substrate in his viv :-)

[Tsubaki]

Nice! I would suggest touching the body first in stead of too close to the head, it could cause a less 'spooked' reaction. :)