New retic owner seeking advice!

[dave himself]

And I forgot 2 things

1st thing was you have a beautiful retic there mate and I really hope you enjoy her

2nd thing is growth I'll do a post to show you what I mean and to not hijack your thread

[Sublimeballs]

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

[dave himself]

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

^^^^^^^ this

[dastefster]

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

What Dave said about tap training. Get started on tap or hook training; I rub mine with a snake hook and they lose the feed mode almost instantly, it's really quite cool. I only have pure dwarves so hook training is feasible for me but I'd go with tap training in your case(mainlands).

Also if you build an adult cage for her build a small feeding door into it so she doesn't associate the enclosure door opening with food. Or if you buy a cage simply use one door to feed and one to let the snake come out, spot cleaning, etc...

For safety get used to keeping a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her cage incase she gets you and you need it to get her off when she's got some size on her.

As for the cage for the time being I'd get a 48"x30" pvc cage for her for now. It can be used for a wide range of reptiles when she goes into her adult cage. Kinda expensive for a cage but over the Xmas tree tubs all cages arnt going to be so cheap.


I wish I knew that Retics are like chips. You can't just have one. They truely are the king of snakes. A very rewarding animal to have the pleasure of working with.

Yeah, like I said I got really great results from hook training with my boas and GTPs so I will definitely start that.

Originally Posted by MCB

As the guys have said tap training is a must, they are clever and won't take long to cotton on. I adopted the left side for play/handling/cleaning and the right for feed, I'll use this method for all my future boys and girls as it works really well. Just pick a side for non feeding that he spends most of the time at as it'll be much easier when he's full size.
You'll get to see when he goes 'hunt mode' and is switched on to feeding, mine spends about 80% in this mode LOL! Just don't over feed especially at an early age, keep feed/weight records if you can as it's always good to keep track.
You'll be fine, and most of all ENJOY it!

Only problem with this is she's currently in a plastic tub so just opening "one side" is kinda hard with a plastic lid. But i'll develop some type of routine for feeding until I move her into her permanent home.

Originally Posted by dave himself

And I forgot 2 things

1st thing was you have a beautiful retic there mate and I really hope you enjoy her

2nd thing is growth I'll do a post to show you what I mean and to not hijack your thread

Thank you! I love her already!

I saw your post, thanks again! I was blown away by how fast yours grew. The size yours was in july looks to be about what my girl is now.

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

Also wish I would have known how big of dumps they take. I mean Its like there's an ivisible horse in the cage. And that thy paint it all over the walls.

Haha! Yeah, my adult boa drops some suspiciously large dumps. I can only imagine what she will leave me some day.

[Sublimeballs]

For the tub you could get a second lid and cut out a square section, then cut a smaller circular section (big enough to fit the max sized prey she'll eat in this tub) out of the lid to be used and create a feeding door in the lid. But only if you're confident in your abilities to make it secure enough to prevent escape.


I just looked in my snake room and my female jampea(she's just under 10 feet) just left a poo the size of a jumbo rat in her cage(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?). Off to clean it. Anyone want a pic?lol.

[dastefster]

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

For the tub you could get a second lid and cut out a square section, then cut a smaller circular section (big enough to fit the max sized prey she'll eat in this tub) out of the lid to be used and create a feeding door in the lid. But only if you're confident in your abilities to make it secure enough to prevent escape.


I just looked in my snake room and my female jampea(she's just under 10 feet) just left a poo the size of a jumbo rat in her cage(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?). Off to clean it. Anyone want a pic?lol.

haha yeah, she's always trying to find ways to escape. She reminds me of a smarter version of a corn snake I had as a kid. But anyway, the hole idea is good! Thanks a lot! I might just do that, seems like my best option for the time being.

[Teal]

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

(anyone notice larger poo from feeding guinea pigs?)

My 10 ft, 15 pound male literally pooped what looked EXACTLY likepoop from my 65 pound dog after taking down two GPs in two weeks It was insane lol

[dastefster]

Should have titled this thread "Retic poop stories" haha

[Sublimeballs]

Sorry to de rail the thread. Altough surprisingly massive "gifts" are the never ending less glamorous side to big snake keeping. You'll know what we're on about soon.

[Tsubaki]

Once had an adult dwarf female start pooping inside the vets office, everything came out.. everywhere (pooping while fighting 3 people trying to hold her).. it was like a pack of dogs had been pooping all over, and the smell was ghastly .

[millertime89]

I'm pretty sure there is a poop thread here somewhere... Boy do I have some stories. I'm lucky though, I found a rabbit breeder that is all about sustainable living and he'll trade me snake poop for rabbits.

Very nice supertiger you have. Odds are you won't need an 8ft cage though. Only truly monsters need cages that big. She'll probably fit happily in a 6x2 or 6x3 as an adult. A 4x2.5 or 4x3 right now will do nicely until she's 2-3 yrs old unless you're power feeding her.

[dave himself]

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

Once had an adult dwarf female start pooping inside the vets office, everything came out.. everywhere (pooping while fighting 3 people trying to hold her).. it was like a pack of dogs had been pooping all over, and the smell was ghastly .

I almost sprayed coffee reading this

[dastefster]

Originally Posted by millertime89

I'm pretty sure there is a poop thread here somewhere... Boy do I have some stories. I'm lucky though, I found a rabbit breeder that is all about sustainable living and he'll trade me snake poop for rabbits.

Very nice supertiger you have. Odds are you won't need an 8ft cage though. Only truly monsters need cages that big. She'll probably fit happily in a 6x2 or 6x3 as an adult. A 4x2.5 or 4x3 right now will do nicely until she's 2-3 yrs old unless you're power feeding her.

Thank you! Yeah, but even if she does not grow to be a "monster" when she's 2-3 old it's not like she'll complain about having an 8ft cage. Even if she doesn't "need" it, i'm still going to provide her with as much room as I can. And no, I definitely do not power feed my animals.