Need Help!!

[jay's reptiles]

I was wondering what you guys who have retics feed them.

like at 2.6 feet long Im feeding my retic small rats

What should i feed her at 6 feet and how often.


and at 10 feet i could be feeding her 2 big rats or a rabbit. I was just wondering whats the best?

[trailblazer295]

Small rats for snake under 3ft seems a bit much. I'll let more experienced keepers chime in though.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I was feeding my retic rat pups at 3' long, but that was before I moved up to 15-20% of her weight, she could have easily been on weaned rats. At 6' I'd say a large rat. As an adult I would favor a single prey item myself, but you could mix it up with multiple rats and single rabbits.

I fed my retic every 7 days when she was 1 year and under, once she was a little over a year and hit ~6' eating large rats, I moved her to every 2 weeks. I plan on feeding her monthly as an adult.

[jay's reptiles]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I was feeding my retic rat pups at 3' long, but that was before I moved up to 15-20% of her weight, she could have easily been on weaned rats. At 6' I'd say a large rat. As an adult I would favor a single prey item myself, but you could mix it up with multiple rats and single rabbits.

I fed my retic every 7 days when she was 1 year and under, once she was a little over a year and hit ~6' eating large rats, I moved her to every 2 weeks. I plan on feeding her monthly as an adult.

Thank you. I just measured her. She is 3 feet long. And the small rat is about the same size as the largest part of her body. its just a little bigger. It only took her 8 mins to eat it. so i'm guessing She will be fine?

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by jay's reptiles

Thank you. I just measured her. She is 3 feet long. And the small rat is about the same size as the largest part of her body. its just a little bigger. It only took her 8 mins to eat it. so i'm guessing She will be fine?

I would feed whatever 15-20% of her weight weekly at first, then move to every 2 weeks, and eventually just feed what leaves a lump. My retic was vastly underfed when I got her, so I don't have a reference for whether or not it's right for your retic. See how long it takes for the bulge to disappear and for her to defecate, and then weigh her after she's empty.

[jay's reptiles]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I would feed whatever 15-20% of her weight weekly at first, then move to every 2 weeks, and eventually just feed what leaves a lump. My retic was vastly underfed when I got her, so I don't have a reference for whether or not it's right for your retic. See how long it takes for the bulge to disappear and for her to defecate, and then weigh her after she's empty.

Alright. Because i had her on frozen large mice and the lump would be gone in 1 day and 6,7 hours.


So i moved on to frozen small rats. So ill see how long it takes.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by jay's reptiles

Alright. Because i had her on frozen large mice and the lump would be gone in 1 day and 6,7 hours.


So i moved on to frozen small rats. So ill see how long it takes.

A jump from large mice to small rats is a big one, but glad to hear she switched fine! I've heard even retics can get hooked on mice. With a proper-sized meal the bulge should only take a couple days to dissipate, and a baby should poop somewhere 7-9 days later. It's not an exact science but that's a rough outline. A bigger, older snake eating rabbits will take longer to poop than a young snake eating rats for example. Definitely weigh her when she poops and find what gram range falls within 15-20% of her weight and aim for rats in that range, whether weaned, small, or whatever.

[sattva]

I am new at this also... I am feeding George a small rat every 7 days now... He's about 5 feet now; 1 year 3 1/2 months old, and has a girth of about half dollar... I tried backing him down to one every 10 days but he was looking a little underweight to me so I bumped it back up...

I know weighting your snakes is probably more scientific but I think you can tell by their girth and the depth of the spine... I can't get my guys to sit still in my lap, much less on a scale... I guess I could do a large tub and take a tare and all that but then I have to have a place to set this up... I don't know?

I have been buying 16 small rats now at a time, from my local reptile store and then I sort those into small, medium, & Large and George "my retic" gets the smallest of those... It almost creates no lump what so every...But then again I want my guy to stay as small as possible and still remain health... Fred gets the mediums and Moe gets the large ones... I kind have to judge by head size and girth... Moe my JCP who is a few inches over 5 feet with a 3 inch girth diameter and a hug head "about half the size of my fist" when in comparison with Fred who is 6 1/2 feet with a 2 inch girth and a head the size of my thumb... So for me being new and all, each snake being so different, there is a little trial and error... And then there is Crystal who is a whole other topic!

[Aaron_S]

*moderator present*

Be forewarned

[sattva]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

*moderator present*

Be forewarned

I love your avatar... I bet I have seen that movie 100 times with my granddaughter siting my lap... She has a baby of her own now...
Brings back good memory's for me... Thanks!

[dannybgoode]

To be honest worth a retic the next viv I bought would be his adult one. No need to progress slowly up in size step by step.

The trouble is your statements are slightly contradictory. On one hand you're saying you don't want to power feed and that's good, on the other hand some of what you're saying suggests you're feeding him small meals so that he grows at a pace you can cope with and not at his natural growth rate which is not so good.

He should be fed appropriatelysized meals at the right frequency. No more, no less.

You've also very clearly said that if he gets above 10' you'll have issues housing him but there's a chance he might get bigger than this so you need a contingency if he does.

I get where you're coming from with the small snake thing but sometimes we have to let our circumstances dictate what we keep not our wants. I'd love a Burm-ain't going to happen though.

Finally from a safety point of view read the keeping giants sticky on the giant python section and also Dave Himself's thread on the discussion of safe handling of giants. A 10' + retic is to be respected once he gets that size and it's not just you that will need to be comfortable and more importantly confident in handling him.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

To be honest worth a retic the next viv I bought would be his adult one. No need to progress slowly up in size step by step.

The trouble is your statements are slightly contradictory. On one hand you're saying you don't want to power feed and that's good, on the other hand some of what you're saying suggests you're feeding him small meals so that he grows at a pace you can cope with and not at his natural growth rate which is not so good.

He should be fed appropriatelysized meals at the right frequency. No more, no less.

You've also very clearly said that if he gets above 10' you'll have issues housing him but there's a chance he might get bigger than this so you need a contingency if he does.

I get where you're coming from with the small snake thing but sometimes we have to let our circumstances dictate what we keep not our wants. I'd love a Burm-ain't going to happen though.

Finally from a safety point of view read the keeping giants sticky on the giant python section and also Dave Himself's thread on the discussion of safe handling of giants. A 10' + retic is to be respected once he gets that size and it's not just you that will need to be comfortable and more importantly confident in handling him.

+1 one here. I personally would not own a "mainland" retic if the possibility of the snake getting over 10' was a problem for me. They are not easy to rehome because of their size, and it's harder to screen for good homes because of that.

[dave himself]

To get back to the original post if your putting a small lump in your retic then the size of your feeders are fine there's no need to weigh your snake or feeders, you could do if you wanted to but I don't know of any other retic keepers or breeders who do this

[sattva]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

To be honest worth a retic the next viv I bought would be his adult one. No need to progress slowly up in size step by step.

Well here we go with the conflicting story's again... I thought if they were in to large of a cage they become insecure?

The trouble is your statements are slightly contradictory. On one hand you're saying you don't want to power feed and that's good, on the other hand some of what you're saying suggests you're feeding him small meals so that he grows at a pace you can cope with and not at his natural growth rate which is not so good.

Whats a natural growth rate for him?

He should be fed appropriatelysized meals at the right frequency. No more, no less.

Whats are appropriately sized meals at the right frequency for him?

You've also very clearly said that if he gets above 10' you'll have issues housing him but there's a chance he might get bigger than this so you need a contingency if he does.

It's not an exact measurement for me... It may be 12 feet... I don't know... If I have to move when the time comes, then so be it! I will cross that bridge when I come to it...

I get where you're coming from with the small snake thing but sometimes we have to let our circumstances dictate what we keep not our wants. I'd love a Burm-ain't going to happen though.

That's you! and your not fully aware of my circumstances...

Finally from a safety point of view read the keeping giants sticky on the giant python section and also Dave Himself's thread on the discussion of safe handling of giants. A 10' + retic is to be respected once he gets that size and it's not just you that will need to be comfortable and more importantly confident in handling him.

Ya I'v read most of this "twice now" I'm not sure what your point is here!

[dannybgoode]

You're right. I'm not aware of your circumstances. Sometimes though on forums it is necessary to make assumptions and at times raise points that the other person may or may not have thought of.

I hope by now from my general demeanour you can tell I do not mean offence to anyone but there are times when it is unclear from someone's posts (often across many threads) that makes me feel it worth raising certain potential issues and discussion points.

My point about safe handing was raised because you mentioned you were perfectly comfortable about handling your retic but made no mention of anyone else. Now, there's no particular reason you should necessarily but because it's such a vital issue I thought it best to raise it.

The same is the case with the rest of my post. As I say it is not clear from what you have put over a number of posts and threads exactly what your abilities, plans, desires, dreams-call them what got will-are so I was simply highlighting some areas you may not have considered. If you have fine but it would not be in the animals interests (or yours) to simply assume that to be the case and to stay silent on some very important issues.

As for the viv thing so long as the snake has plenty of hides there is no reason it could not go in its adult viv. There may be some particularly nervous species of snake that this would not apply to but a retic is not one.

As I say I mean absolutely no offence to anyone but we would never learn and never be challenged if we did not debate and discuss the issues pertinent to our hobby.