retic growth?

[scottyy]

so now that i got my retic to eat rabbits will she grow even more rapidly? i mean she grew about a foot in the last month and a half and that was when i was feeding her rats. i know that snakes in general grow the fastest when they r fed a larger meal once a week and retics grow really fast as it is. i mean only 7 months ago she was 3 ft and now she is 8ft going on 9.

[exwizard]

Yeah thats a Retic for you. I heard they get up to 26'.

[Jenn_06]

He is going to grow fast but if your already feeding rabbits I would slow down and feed every 2 weeks. Retics are slime and long not like Burms that are more round. I see too many reicts out there that are overweight.

[millertime89]

Yeah thats a Retic for you. I heard they get up to 26'.

only anecdotal accounts of snakes this big. The guiness record is 29ish feet however that wasn't exactly confirmed by modern standards...

He is going to grow fast but if your already feeding rabbits I would slow down and feed every 2 weeks. Retics are slime and long not like Burms that are more round. I see too many reicts out there that are overweight.

^this.

[scottyy]

well the 29' record was beat by some small phillipine village or something like that. they got a 49' 984 retic. they found it in the wild and now it is in a cage in the village for everybody to see. and yeah i was wondering when to slow down on feeding. i thought that i would slow down to every 2 weeks when she was like 1 1/2 - 2 years old.

[millertime89]

well the 29' record was beat by some small phillipine village or something like that. they got a 49' 984 retic. they found it in the wild and now it is in a cage in the village for everybody to see. and yeah i was wondering when to slow down on feeding. i thought that i would slow down to every 2 weeks when she was like 1 1/2 - 2 years old.

no they didn't, it was confirmed at around 21 feet. If it were possible for retics to get that big don't you think we'd see more of them in captivity?

[scottyy]

it was on one of them animal planet extreme animal things. and there is a prehistoric snake called Titanoboa cerrejonensis. got to be 43 ft and up to 2500 lbs. also in the wild they could grow larger because of certain adaptions. and idk bout that Indonesian snake cuz u say 21 someone else says it was 23 another 49. honestly from the video the snake is probably in the 30 ft range looks bigger than a normal 20 footer

[Gungirl]

it was on one of them animal planet extreme animal things. and there is a prehistoric snake called Titanoboa cerrejonensis. got to be 43 ft and up to 2500 lbs. also in the wild they could grow larger because of certain adaptions. and idk bout that Indonesian snake cuz u say 21 someone else says it was 23 another 49. honestly from the video the snake is probably in the 30 ft range looks bigger than a normal 20 footer

You need to do some of your own research before believing what you see on tv. Animal planet is wrong more times then they are right. I know the show you watched and there was so much wrong information in that and most other shows they do.

[Will0W783]

Scotty,

Reticulated pythons are capable of growing up to a foot a month. However, MOST will not achieve that. The average growth rate of a retic in captivity is more like 6-8 inches/month the first year and then 2-3 feet per year after that. If your animal is already eating rabbits, it does not need to be fed every week. You should be feeding once every 2-3 weeks. The food item should leave a sizable bulge in the snake and then you should not feed again until the animal has pooped. Feeding a rabbit every week is going to produce the fastest growth rate, but it is not necessarily good for the snake- the snake needs time to digest and absorb nutrients between feedings.

[Lankyrob]

You need to do some of your own research before believing what you see on tv. Animal planet is wrong more times then they are right. I know the show you watched and there was so much wrong information in that and most other shows they do.


This, there was a BBC documentary about 5 yrs ago that went around after about 20 different "sensational nature" shows and proved that they basically falsify and/or use camera angles/trickery to make things appear totally different.

[Will0W783]

For example, I own three reticulated pythons.

First is Calypso, who I have owned since last June. Calypso was 3 feet long when I bought her; she is now 6 feet long. She was fed once a week, small rat, until she hit 5 feet, then I put her on medium rats once every 2 weeks. She is now taking 2 medium rats, once every two weeks. She is not quite thick enough for a large yet, but one medium is too little.

Next is Curious George. He is a purple albino. I bought him in August at 10 feet long. He eats two large rats, once every two weeks. He has grown 3 feet and gained 3 inches of girth since I brought him home. He sheds once a month.

Finally I have Sprite, who is a half-dwarf retic. She was about 18 long when I bought her and I gave her a rat weanling once a week. She is now at 2.5 feet long and she eats a small rat every 1-2 weeks. She is a picky eater and will not always eat every week, although I offer it weekly.

So, my retics average 4-6 inches of growth per month. I am growing them up slowly and steadily, as this is often the healthiest approach. Rapid growth can lead to fatty deposits and a shortened lifespan.

[scottyy]

ok well. honestly im not really worried about the whole largest snake thing or whatever. but at the matter at hand here, i suppose slowing down her feeding would be ok. cheaper as well. could she still possibly grow really fast even with feeding every 2 weeks?

[Jenn_06]

she will grow at a normal rate, not too fast not too slow.

[scottyy]

im kinda happy about the whole 2 week feeding thing. that just saves me some cash and these days who doesnt want to do that.

[millertime89]

it was on one of them animal planet extreme animal things. and there is a prehistoric snake called Titanoboa cerrejonensis. got to be 43 ft and up to 2500 lbs. also in the wild they could grow larger because of certain adaptions. and idk bout that Indonesian snake cuz u say 21 someone else says it was 23 another 49. honestly from the video the snake is probably in the 30 ft range looks bigger than a normal 20 footer

I'm well aware of Titanoboa. My geology professor is Jason Head, do a search and you'll see just how important his involvement was in that little (pun intended) discovery. You should dig a little deeper, I've got a big long post about size in a thread where I discuss the scientific names of burms and retics. If there was an actual 30ft python out there, one of the big zoos would have it, they've got some outstanding bounties bounties posted for genetic anomalies (because lets face it, that's what a 30 ft python/conda is) that have never been claimed.
Giant Snakes | Biggest Crocodile on Earth | Reward (http://www.reptilegardens.com/reptiles/rewards.php)

You need to do some of your own research before believing what you see on tv. Animal planet is wrong more times then they are right. I know the show you watched and there was so much wrong information in that and most other shows they do.

Just about anything on animal planet is good for entertainment only any more. Discovery and NatGeo are far better if you want to actually learn something.

[scottyy]

ive been to that reptile gardens and they already have a 1200 pound american alligator there. funny the biggest one would be american huh? its a really cool place though.