I wasn't sure where to put this as it touches a few different topics. I found it an interesting comparison of growth differences and effects of feeding. More and more people are asking about retics and giants so this might help people considering taking the leap.
I take no credit for the information below.
In 2005 David Bellis, a hobbiest keeper, took it upon himself to investigate theories surrounding the growth rates of “dwarf” retics on a period of six months. While not a scientific experiment the results are certainly intriguing and provide an insight into the viability of food related theories surrounding these fascinating sub-species.
He decided that in order to make his test as fair as possible he needed to establish a test group of rough approximate age containing both dwarf and mainland type retics. This test group was established using 3 “Super Dwarf” retics and a single mainland retic (an Amel tiger). All of these animals were born early to mid May in 2005.
In order to look at growth rates the logical factor to alter was the diet. As a result one “Super Dwarf” (Animal A) was fed once every other week, one “Super Dwarf” (Animal B) was fed once a week, one “Super Dwarf” (Animal C) was fed twice a week, and the Mainland (Animal D) was fed once a week. All meals were approximately 25% of the animals body weight.
Animals A, B, C and D are always displayed from left to right in the below photographs with the tables.
9/12/2005
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
70 Grams 85 Grams 106 Grams 622 Grams
10/10/2005
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
68 Grams 97 Grams 146 Grams 1026 Grams
11/07/2005
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
68 Grams 96 Grams 211 Grams 1387 Grams
12/12/2005
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
66 Grams 124 Grams 348 Grams 1969 Grams
01/09/2006
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
71 Grams 143 Grams 439 Grams 2811 Grams
02/14/2006
Animal A 1.0 SD - Animal B 0.1 SD - Animal - C 0.1 SD - Animal D 0.1 Mainland
65 Grams 142 Grams 498 Grams 3425 Grams
Conclusion
While the above results were by no means attained in a scientific fashion, they do give us an insight. They clearly show that, over a 6 month period, food intake does have a direct effect on the growth rate of the dwarf reticulated python. However, despite increased food intake, animal C was unable to match the size and growth of animal D.
So, in short, this test demonstrates that while diet does play a significant part in the allometry of these creatures, the defining factor involved is genetics.
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