Wondering about a little giant

[boosh96]

I've put a little bit of consideration into getting a 50% or full super dwarf retic instead of a monitor lizard. Can you all tell me about dwarf/SD retics? I've heard that Retics in general have some extra personality and intelligence as opposed to most other snakes. Naturally I want to know all that I can before I make any decisions. I'm open to any questions or comments!

[Lankyrob]

My SD is my favourite snake by far. He can tell me its feeding day! He "knows" when feeding day is coming and goes into a heightened state, not full feed mode but you have to be careful arou d him, days before i even think of getting the rats out of the freezer.

Once the rats are out and defrosting he is a psycho, cant go near him, opening the viv is a dangerous thing to do.

So it sounds like i am saying dont get one? Not at all.

For the rest of the time he is the most docile "friendly" snake going, i take him to schools to meet kids. You can touch his head and he doesnt shy away. He has a lot of power but doesnt use it in a dangerous way. He is stupid enough that when you mist his viv he will strike the water spray but you can reach right in and take him out bare handed.

He is awesome!

[smy_749]

Retics are very smart. I like them better than burms because they are a bit more slender and the wild type pattern is prettier to me. They have large teeth though, and even the dwarfs are not small snakes by any means. I believe the smallest dwarf retics are 6 - 7 feet depending on male or female. Some 'dwarfs' are in the 13 to 15 foot range ....just for an idea.

Also if your looking at a SD with a high percentage of SD in him, you are looking to fork out much more than you would for an ackie.

However, I would also like to have a SD retic, so don't get the wrong idea.
I'm just holding off for a while so I don't buy something and then when it grows past what I 'thought' was a dwarf , I will be stuck with something I can't house or feed.

Best of luck.

[Freebody]

sounds about right, my dwarf female is the same way and by far my favorite snake I have ever owned and will ever own im sure. she is a special girl. very smart and alert, great feeding response, she can tell me from others, when I have her out, she will reach out from anyone handling her to climb onto me if im near, everytime, and when shes on me she never tries to climb off to another host, but she will take off to explore from anyone lol, sometimes when my dad in the snake room feeding his snakes, she will strike the glass and hes walking by in feed mode, yet she has never done this while im in front of the glass, but in feed mode with retics you need to be carful, they go crazy. and opening the glass in dangerous, I recommend having 2 sliding glass front for the cage, so when its sitting with its face infront of one side in strike pose waiting for food, you can simply open the other side and hope its already not striking as the glass slides open to get the food in FAST. retics are the Best snakes ever! :) Dwarf dark lavander albino retic python bathing. - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVx-RpthaF0) that is my Bella girl at about 4 years old.

[boosh96]

Can someone point me to a breeder of dwarf/SD retics?

[smy_749]

Bob clark, prehistoric pets, and reptile ave (not famous, I've bought from him in the past and he mainly works with retics, he may have some SD)

Don't buy from someone random on a classified, anyone can take a snake and slap the SD on it for more cash.

[millertime89]

Jason Reed and Travis Kubes are two of the best SD breeders around. Travis has a cluch of pure SDs in the incubator right now and his prices are lower than Bob and Jay (Prehistoric) because he's not Bob or Jay. I would buy from Bob before Jay too. Bob was one of the two people that originally imported SDs and has some really nice babies right now. Jay has some great animals too but his prices are higher than Bob's which are higher than Travis or Jason's. Ryan Parker just had a clutch hatch of 75% SDs too and he's another person I would buy from.

SDs are awesome and like most other snakes individual snakes can have different temperaments. My pure male is the most docile snake in my collection, I can touch him on the head even on feeding day when the room smells like rats. My 75% female and 75% SuperJamp (SuperDwarf x Jampea dwarf) are both cage defensive and my 50% Jampea Golden Child is still really skittish (she's only 2 months old). There's tons of great options out there, it really all depends on what you want and what your wallet will let you get.

Where are you located at? Bob is in OK, Jay is in CA, Travis is in NE, Ryan and Jason are in TX. If you're an east coaster there's a few people out there that might have SD stuff available right now and I know a few people that have some dwarf or Jampea stuff available right now.

[boosh96]

How much could I expect to pay for a regular phase, pure or 50% SD? What about a SuperJamp?

[millertime89]

Pure SD is going to be 4-600, 50% and superjamps are in the 2-300 area. Hit up Mike Chambers, he might have a few superjamps left.

[boosh96]

I found a regular SuperJamp for 200 on either Jason or Travis' site. Now how big should a SuperJamp of either gender get?

Edit: Yup it was Travis Kubes' site.

[millertime89]

Under 11 for females and under 9 for males.
That's his old site, he's in the process of updating it, I'm 99% sure he doesn't have any superjamps right now. At least he didn't have any when I was up there a month ago.

[boosh96]

How big can I expect a Jampea dwarf to get?

[millertime89]

Not necessarily the best question to ask, it varies about as much as mainlands do. Some jamps will stay under 8 ft, others have hit the 17ft mark. Usually 12-14 ft though. Not much of a dwarf in the grand scheme of things. MONSTER feed response. I've got both 37.5% and a 50% Jamp crosses and they just love to eat.

[boosh96]

Not necessarily the best question to ask, it varies about as much as mainlands do. Some jamps will stay under 8 ft, others have hit the 17ft mark. Usually 12-14 ft though. Not much of a dwarf in the grand scheme of things. MONSTER feed response. I've got both 37.5% and a 50% Jamp crosses and they just love to eat.

Yeah, I'd love to have a 17-foot long snake, but I just don't think I'm ready. I'm looking for a snake that'll reach 11 feet or less. Here's a question-if a Retic is labeled as a 50% Jamp, does that mean they're 50% mainland or 50% SD, or what?

[millertime89]

Usually if the other half is specified its mainland.
For 11ft or less check out superdwarf crosses. They usually top out under 10ft and are really awesome snakes.