Update on Xena

[Tsubaki]

Xena moved back into her terrarium, now with a rockwall background! So i took a few pictures, just phone pictures that don't do her much justice i'm afraid... She seems to be showing the dwarf blood i suspect she has, being 3 years old and still only 10 foot. Haven't put in the decorations yet, as most of them are still airing out from a deep clean. I took pictures of the rest too, i'll upload them later.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2074_zpsdgrl1rox.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2075_zps9dd9fge1.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2076_zpswuygcwxp.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2078_zpsjl5wafbm.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2079_zpswybzghzw.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2080_zpsbrviwiv0.jpg

[EL Ziggy]

She's gorgeous Tsubaki. I love it when you say she's 'only' 10 ft. :)

[Tsubaki]

Thx Ziggy, and yeah 10ft is pretty small for me haha. Not to worry though, Zuko is going to catch up.... :D

[dave himself]

She really is a beautiful girl and we really don't see enough pictures of her

[Tsubaki]

She is beautiful, thanks Dave.. And i'll try to upload more pictures of her as well :P i actually take quite a lot of pictures, i have just turned into a very lazy uploader..

[IW17]

She's a pretty girl. Any pics of you holding her for a size reference? My male Platty isn't quite ten feet but seems girthy in comparison. But honestly my male tiger is slimmer than him when he was smaller.

[Tsubaki]

Thanks! Will try to take a size reference picture later, getting ready to work. In my experience , with the retics i have had. (Mostly pure dwarves, few mainland morphs) The ones that were girty around this age, became noticably bigger than the ones that stayed slim until 4 sometimes even 5 years old. The girthy snakes seemed to have a more balanced growspurth towards the end, where the lengthy slim ones mainly got 'fatter' so to speak and added less in length. This is just an observation, the amount of retics that i fully raised from juveniles (7) are not much of a control group. And other circumstances like food are also a variable, still thought it was interesting to share :).

[Tsubaki]

Egh i haven't found anyone to help me take a handling picture, and she is about as easy to hold as water. Took a picture with a lighter as size reference, surprised i even had one! Also, had my DSLR camera and got a bit carried away taking pictures, she is pretty :D

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2082_zps9cjrxchf.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2081_zpsxropbwej.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2083_zpsyxyqp4fb.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2086_zps0544hfvw.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2084_zps3uibb0pb.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2085_zpse1026mv5.jpg

[reptiledude987]

Whats the substrate youre using for her?

[PsychoSnake]

She looks like she's posing in the fourth picture. Vey pretty girl!

[Tsubaki]

Whats the substrate youre using for her?


It's a mix of coconut, peat and a little sand.

[Tsubaki]

She looks like she's posing in the fourth picture. Vey pretty girl!


Thanks :D she does seem to be posing.

[reptiledude987]

It's a mix of coconut, peat and a little sand.

What does that mix keep for humidity?

[Tsubaki]

It works really well, holds it's moisture but doesn't feel wet. Humidity is in the 60/70's without spraying

[reptiledude987]

Nice im going to try that mix out. What does the sand do for the mixture?

[Tsubaki]

Structure, makes it a little looser (really rough sand) It's not really necessary though, i like the look and feel.

[IW17]

Very nice. She's a slim little lady :) I can't wait to get my new enclosures. I'm looking forward to enjoying my animals the way you do.

[Tsubaki]

Thx, and yes she is! She eats like a maniac though, large adult rabbits and she never declines :D and nice enclosures make for even better snakewatching!

[IW17]

Large adult rabbit? How often do you feed her? I still have my male on full grown rats. Somewhere in the 600 gram range or more. But I feed every ten days.

[Tsubaki]

She eats every 2,5 weekish. Sometimes a bit longer sometimes a bit less, depends on how hungry she seems... Adult rats don't even make a bulge for her anymore, would have to feed 2 or 3 to see them.

[IW17]

Wow OK she's definitely larger than she looks. I will be upgrading mine to rabbits soon but a extra jumbo rat still shows a bulge.

[Tsubaki]

She does seem smaller in the pictures, the rabbits she eats with ease are around 2,5 pounds (2KG)

[Pogie]

Pretty girl :)
"Only 10 feet", that's like 5 to many feet for me rotfl!

[Tsubaki]

Thx Pogie, :D

[IW17]

She does seem smaller in the pictures, the rabbits she eats with ease are around 2,5 pounds (2KG)

OK gotcha. The place I buy feeders from, the large rabbits are 4-6 lbs. I just assumed with out thinking about what's considered large to different people and suppliers. Have you noticed any growth changes since putting her on rabbits?

[Tsubaki]

OK gotcha. The place I buy feeders from, the large rabbits are 4-6 lbs. I just assumed with out thinking about what's considered large to different people and suppliers. Have you noticed any growth changes since putting her on rabbits?

So about the same??, 2kg=4,4lbs? Sometimes i get slightly larger rabbits, but they're not always available. She just kept growing steadily on rabbits, on rats it started to slow.

[IW17]

Good to know. I've got about 20 rats left and then I'll be making the switch.

[Tsubaki]

Just because she shed and i had my mobile phone handy, such a pretty girl :) Very shiny! i did promise to post more pictures, so yea here you go. After these pictures she gladly downed a 9lbs rabbit, thought it would take her a while but it was down in under 5 minutes. She's already begging for more.. bottomless pit this one.:Wow: P.s. she is having a massive growth spurt, she put on a couple of pounds in a matter of weeks.. Hope she keeps it up! She is currently still smaller than my average dwarf females were at this age, not by much but still. I'm at least hoping she gets the size of a full sized dwarf! (looking back at the pictures, it is so obvious she was maintenance fed before i got hold of her)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2087_zpsoo27thlg.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2088_zpsolxvk5xi.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2089_zpsor9p6pvz.jpg

Edit: On the first picture there seems to be a weird gray patch on her tail, didn't notice it until i uploaded here. Can assure you it is just a really weird shadow.

[Tsubaki]

Picture is a but bleaker than the last ones as she moved closer to the LEDs and i did not flash, just shows how hard it is to catch colors properly.. Just wanted to show the full belly of a content Xena
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2090_zpsu5tueg19.jpg

[dave himself]

She's really is a beautiful tiger and the LEDs really make her colours pop

[Tsubaki]

Thanks Dave, i wish she would park herself under that LED each time :D quite a sight. She often prefers the darker side though

[KSTAR]

So beautiful but we need new pics please! Lol

[bigsnakegirl785]

Just as a quick question, since you said she normally eats 4.4 lb rabbits, and a 9 lb rabbit is a large meal, at what size do 10 lb (4.5 kg) rabbits become necessary? Or are rabbits that big not necessary as a staple? Most of my father's rabbits average 6-8 lbs as adults, so I was wondering if I'd have to find another source for food for River when she gets bigger (unless her current small size means she'll end up a small adult).

Also gorgeous girl, Xena. ^.^ She's my favorite of 3 giants I've seen of your's (not sure if you have others).

[Tsubaki]

Just as a quick question, since you said she normally eats 4.4 lb rabbits, and a 9 lb rabbit is a large meal, at what size do 10 lb (4.5 kg) rabbits become necessary? Or are rabbits that big not necessary as a staple? Most of my father's rabbits average 6-8 lbs as adults, so I was wondering if I'd have to find another source for food for River when she gets bigger (unless her current small size means she'll end up a small adult).

Also gorgeous girl, Xena. ^.^ She's my favorite of 3 giants I've seen of your's (not sure if you have others).


They will eventually become 'necessary', even if she stays a smaller than mainland size. Xena is now 3,5 years old, pretty sure at age 5 or 6 4.4lbs's are going to be fairly small meals for her. Don't get me wrong though, even if she 'only' reaches adult dwarf size. The adult dwarf females i used to have could easily eat 10lbs+ rabbits, i am not sure if you ever held an adult female dwarf, they are nowhere near small. Dwarf only applies to them when you hold one next to a mainland, they are in no other way considered to be 'small'. Anyway, for my last pythons i had a lot problems finding any rabbit over 9lbs, and t.b.h i would have to be a little lucky to even find those. This is the single reason i would sometimes feed 2 prey in stead of one, if there simply aren't any bigger rabbits available at times you work with what you got.. 2 large rabbits is also an XXL, and thank god retics usually don't mind eating two.

And yes, i currently only own 3 giants, might get more might not depends on what i run into. Most likely not as many as i had before though, 7 adult retics was a bit much. (That and the boa's.. burmese pythons.. occidentalis's.. etc)

[Tsubaki]

So beautiful but we need new pics please! Lol


I will try to take some asap ;)

[bigsnakegirl785]

They will eventually become 'necessary', even if she stays a smaller than mainland size. Xena is now 3,5 years old, pretty sure at age 5 or 6 4.4lbs's are going to be fairly small meals for her. Don't get me wrong though, even if she 'only' reaches adult dwarf size. The adult dwarf females i used to have could easily eat 10lbs+ rabbits, i am not sure if you ever held an adult female dwarf, they are nowhere near small. Dwarf only applies to them when you hold one next to a mainland, they are in no other way considered to be 'small'. Anyway, for my last pythons i had a lot problems finding any rabbit over 9lbs, and t.b.h i would have to be a little lucky to even find those. This is the single reason i would sometimes feed 2 prey in stead of one, if there simply aren't any bigger rabbits available at times you work with what you got.. 2 large rabbits is also an XXL, and thank god retics usually don't mind eating two.

And yes, i currently only own 3 giants, might get more might not depends on what i run into. Most likely not as many as i had before though, 7 adult retics was a bit much. (That and the boa's.. burmese pythons.. occidentalis's.. etc)

Interesting, I was also asking because I know someone with a ~16'-17' purple who currently feeds her one 5-10 lb rabbit once a week (and she's got a decent bit of girth on her), and I've seen many people say retics over 15' are rare (regardless of sex). She started out feeding her 1-2 large rats weekly, or something like that. So thought maybe I was overguesstimating what I'd need for River.

[Tsubaki]

Once a week? That is very often imho. I fed my adults (5+ years) Once a month tops, some i fed even less really depended on the individual. I'll write out my 'feeding schedule' for you, might be easier to explain as my head is usually all over the place trying to explain something otherwise haha (not helping that i'm in the graveyard shifts and writing this stuff at 4am). Anyway, my motive about feeding bigger and less often... Constantly being digesting, constantly having 'reset' their stomach contents, constantly active bowels.. Also having to thermo-regulate specifically for that purpose, so not getting much opportunity to thermo-regulate for other purposes as their intestines are usually at work... It just doesn't seem healthy to me. I look at what the giants in the wild do, they gorge, thermo-regulate/digest, and then take a while before they feed again (unless there is easy prey available, they're still opportunists ofc) I know everyone has their own way, their own schedule.. I'm sure there are other perfectly fine methods out there. I'll just stick to the one i've tested for a long time, and got to experience it working.

This is the baseline i use for Retics (Not advised to use for other species). Every feeding is based on prey size 1,5 thicker than width of snake. I do not offer food in shed, i start looking at gender at about a year old, as i tend to slow down feeding males a little sooner if they're growing well.
0-6 months: 1 meal every 5-7 days. (Depending on growth)
6-12 months: 1 meal every 7-8 days. (Depending on growth)
12-24 months: 1 meal every 10 - 14 days (Depending on growth, gender)
24-36 months: 1 meal every 14 - 21 days. (Depending on growth, gender, body tone)
36-48 months: At least 21 days in between (Depending on growth, gender, body tone)
At 48- Adulthood. Very slowly start to slow down their feedings, some were fed once a month (tops), had one male that only got food once every 3 months and that worked great for him. If they started acting hungry, i would check if it had been at least a month. if it had they would get food, if not they had to wait.

No fat snakes, no lazy snakes, lean muscular bodies. Just the way i like them. The months really are a guideline, absolutely not in set in stone for me. for example: i put Xena on the 1 meal every 14/21 days even though she is past 3 years old, as she was fed so little by the breeder. When she catches up a bit i'll slow her down to where i think she should be. Zuko is on +/- 14 days in between currently, growing like a maniac so that's fine.

[Klaire]

I'm loving the iridescence on her. beautiful :)

[Tsubaki]

Thanks Klaire :)

[PatrickT]

Xena moved back into her terrarium, now with a rockwall background! So i took a few pictures, just phone pictures that don't do her much justice i'm afraid... She seems to be showing the dwarf blood i suspect she has, being 3 years old and still only 10 foot. Haven't put in the decorations yet, as most of them are still airing out from a deep clean. I took pictures of the rest too, i'll upload them later.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2074_zpsdgrl1rox.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2075_zps9dd9fge1.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2076_zpswuygcwxp.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2078_zpsjl5wafbm.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2079_zpswybzghzw.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Senna-Ichurin/Xena%2080_zpsbrviwiv0.jpg

She looks stunning!

[Tsubaki]

Thanks Patrick :D

[bigsnakegirl785]

Once a week? That is very often imho. I fed my adults (5+ years) Once a month tops, some i fed even less really depended on the individual. I'll write out my 'feeding schedule' for you, might be easier to explain as my head is usually all over the place trying to explain something otherwise haha (not helping that i'm in the graveyard shifts and writing this stuff at 4am). Anyway, my motive about feeding bigger and less often... Constantly being digesting, constantly having 'reset' their stomach contents, constantly active bowels.. Also having to thermo-regulate specifically for that purpose, so not getting much opportunity to thermo-regulate for other purposes as their intestines are usually at work... It just doesn't seem healthy to me. I look at what the giants in the wild do, they gorge, thermo-regulate/digest, and then take a while before they feed again (unless there is easy prey available, they're still opportunists ofc) I know everyone has their own way, their own schedule.. I'm sure there are other perfectly fine methods out there. I'll just stick to the one i've tested for a long time, and got to experience it working.

This is the baseline i use for Retics (Not advised to use for other species). Every feeding is based on prey size 1,5 thicker than width of snake. I do not offer food in shed, i start looking at gender at about a year old, as i tend to slow down feeding males a little sooner if they're growing well.
0-6 months: 1 meal every 5-7 days. (Depending on growth)
6-12 months: 1 meal every 7-8 days. (Depending on growth)
12-24 months: 1 meal every 10 - 14 days (Depending on growth, gender)
24-36 months: 1 meal every 14 - 21 days. (Depending on growth, gender, body tone)
36-48 months: At least 21 days in between (Depending on growth, gender, body tone)
At 48- Adulthood. Very slowly start to slow down their feedings, some were fed once a month (tops), had one male that only got food once every 3 months and that worked great for him. If they started acting hungry, i would check if it had been at least a month. if it had they would get food, if not they had to wait.

No fat snakes, no lazy snakes, lean muscular bodies. Just the way i like them. The months really are a guideline, absolutely not in set in stone for me. for example: i put Xena on the 1 meal every 14/21 days even though she is past 3 years old, as she was fed so little by the breeder. When she catches up a bit i'll slow her down to where i think she should be. Zuko is on +/- 14 days in between currently, growing like a maniac so that's fine.

I figured as much, I was planning on feeding River monthly as an adult anyways. I'm not sure why they feed their's weekly, but they've been changing the snake's diet a bit lately so maybe they'll start spacing it out? Idk.

And thanks for the feeding schedule, really sets my mind at ease.

[Tsubaki]

Glad you found any use of it, and yea for the animals sake i hope they tune down the feeding frequency.