Safe handling practice for large snakes - Page 3

dave himself · 07-26-16, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

Don't worry man, hard with text to pick up the tone. Cheers

No snakes are that cheap here but don't think the market for retics here is big enough. No breeders I'm aware of so any retics are expensive.

Though I've seen a lot of fish sold for cheap red tail catfish (3000g aquarium, couple hundred lbs) silver arowana (5ft and couple hundred gallon min tank) sadly these fish usually die. Unfortunately in the pet trade you can buy anything if you have the cash in your pocket. Even in a province where HOTS are illegal you can buy them if you know where to go and have the cash.

I'd never own giants or hots but keep the pics of your giants coming. Cheers.

Thanks buddy and I know exactly what you mean we had a case over here about 10 years ago when a 15 year old lad came on to one of the Irish reptile forums, posting pics of his hatchling purple tiger female retic. Luckily one of the Mods off the site lived not to far from him and she went round and explained just what mummy and daddy had bought for their son. But just think someone sold a kid who up to that point only experience was a dwarf boa, a mainland retic

DrSimonsSays · 08-15-16, 08:20 PM

My hubby and I have an 11 foot or so beautiful Burmese morph sold as a "jigsaw". He is close to 40 lbs. We have him out of the cage in our bedroom for much of the day, and we are both in contact with him at least 4-6 hours every day. I'm pretty sure he thinks he is human. Definitely the 2 person rule, but only when he is on the floor in front of his cage--as that is where we always feed him (on a towel).
Ours is about 95% potty trained. He has only gone in his cage when left in there while we were on a vacation.
When he needs to go, he pushes the door to our bathroom area open and crawls into the spa tub. We fill it with water, and watch his tail. Once it starts to flatten out and go up, I grab the butt and hold it over a large cup (he doesn't like ANY urine or feces in his bath water, he'll jump outta fast as an 11ft snake can) then he just goes in the cup. Sometimes I help express out the pellets by massaging his underbelly. Then LOTS of positive reinforcement, of course. If he hasn't urinated for a week, we'll put him in the tub, and he knows what we expect of him. After one "accident" on our Tempurpedic, that is all we wanted.
I'm thinking that potty training might only be possible on bigger snakes that are VERY well socialized; regardless, we are very happy to have a OCD clean snake!

dave himself · 08-16-16, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSimonsSays

My hubby and I have an 11 foot or so beautiful Burmese morph sold as a "jigsaw". He is close to 40 lbs. We have him out of the cage in our bedroom for much of the day, and we are both in contact with him at least 4-6 hours every day. I'm pretty sure he thinks he is human. Definitely the 2 person rule, but only when he is on the floor in front of his cage--as that is where we always feed him (on a towel).
Ours is about 95% potty trained. He has only gone in his cage when left in there while we were on a vacation.
When he needs to go, he pushes the door to our bathroom area open and crawls into the spa tub. We fill it with water, and watch his tail. Once it starts to flatten out and go up, I grab the butt and hold it over a large cup (he doesn't like ANY urine or feces in his bath water, he'll jump outta fast as an 11ft snake can) then he just goes in the cup. Sometimes I help express out the pellets by massaging his underbelly. Then LOTS of positive reinforcement, of course. If he hasn't urinated for a week, we'll put him in the tub, and he knows what we expect of him. After one "accident" on our Tempurpedic, that is all we wanted.
I'm thinking that potty training might only be possible on bigger snakes that are VERY well socialized; regardless, we are very happy to have a OCD clean snake!

got any pics of your snake mate

**Minkness** · 08-16-16, 08:24 AM

Omg that be AMAAAAZING to have a potty trained snake! Lol.

I have one that almost always goes in his water. I prefer this since it's way easier to dump and clean his water dish than to clean his cage.

Alsoooo, my leopard geckos all go in one corner, so I use a paper towel in that corner and just remove it when needed lol. All of my leos do this too.

So cool to hear about your dedication to such a large animal and how they, and you, have benifited from the unusual relationship.

I'm with dave though...we need pics!

Wish · 08-24-16, 10:28 AM

So, I'm sure many wont agree... But here's my situation in a nut shell. I have a Mainland (Sulawesi), male. A year and a half and he's pushing just over 8 feet. Before that, the largest snake I ever owned was a red tail boa, about 6 feet long. Just my wife to help, and she is not much of a fan of him. Never the less, I've always had a passion for retics! Once he hit 8 feet, I no longer open the cage unless my wife is home. I am in his cage 3 times a week, minimal. For water, spot cleaning and feeding. He comes out for everything except feeding. I've had him since three weeks old. His attitude is pretty chill, in my opinion. He occasionally takes a shot at me when his tank opens, for the most part he just retreats with out striking. Very normal retic behavior. Hook goes in first, then I pull him out. He's never struck at me outside the tank. I still show him the utmost respect, and always anticipate a strike just in case. I'm aware he will get a lot bigger. The conditions of me being the only hands on person with him will not change. With that said, I'm always prepared for anything. Bottle of spray alcohol, and like some one else mentioned, a sufficient weapon in case things ever go that sour. Which of course would only be used if it is a life/death situation. Let me also say I love my animal! I feel extremely confident that it will never come to that.---But one must always be ready. Bottom line, retics are predators. While many like them for their colors, beauty and size... they are hunting, stalking, large wild animals.--And they're not for everyone. Like anything else in life, no your limits and potentials. If your not comfortable dealing with large snakes, then retics aint for you. That goes for Dwarfs too. Retics are just a different kind of snake. I took many things into account before I purchased mine. One being that I would have to handle this animal for the most part by myself. It's something I feel I can handle. I come from a state where you can't find retics anymore. Nor is it easy to find others in the hobby locally. Most of all my research came from forums and youtube videos (pretty dangerous) lol. Still, I'm comfortable with my choice, and confident in providing excellent husbandry. The attached photo was taken months ago. He's a lot larger today.

dave himself · 08-24-16, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish

So, I'm sure many wont agree... But here's my situation in a nut shell. I have a Mainland (Sulawesi), male. A year and a half and he's pushing just over 8 feet. Before that, the largest snake I ever owned was a red tail boa, about 6 feet long. Just my wife to help, and she is not much of a fan of him. Never the less, I've always had a passion for retics! Once he hit 8 feet, I no longer open the cage unless my wife is home. I am in his cage 3 times a week, minimal. For water, spot cleaning and feeding. He comes out for everything except feeding. I've had him since three weeks old. His attitude is pretty chill, in my opinion. He occasionally takes a shot at me when his tank opens, for the most part he just retreats with out striking. Very normal retic behavior. Hook goes in first, then I pull him out. He's never struck at me outside the tank. I still show him the utmost respect, and always anticipate a strike just in case. I'm aware he will get a lot bigger. The conditions of me being the only hands on person with him will not change. With that said, I'm always prepared for anything. Bottle of spray alcohol, and like some one else mentioned, a sufficient weapon in case things ever go that sour. Which of course would only be used if it is a life/death situation. Let me also say I love my animal! I feel extremely confident that it will never come to that.---But one must always be ready. Bottom line, retics are predators. While many like them for their colors, beauty and size... they are hunting, stalking, large wild animals.--And they're not for everyone. Like anything else in life, no your limits and potentials. If your not comfortable dealing with large snakes, then retics aint for you. That goes for Dwarfs too. Retics are just a different kind of snake. I took many things into account before I purchased mine. One being that I would have to handle this animal for the most part by myself. It's something I feel I can handle. I come from a state where you can't find retics anymore. Nor is it easy to find others in the hobby locally. Most of all my research came from forums and youtube videos (pretty dangerous) lol. Still, I'm comfortable with my choice, and confident in providing excellent husbandry. The attached photo was taken months ago. He's a lot larger today.

Beautiful retic mate but I don't think it's a Sula

**Tsubaki** · 08-24-16, 11:13 AM

I have to agree with Dave, there are no pure Sula albinos.

Also agree that he looks great! retics are amazing

dannybgoode · 08-24-16, 11:15 AM

A story for you all. Was chatting to one of the guys today that runs the store I go to.

Regular customer of theirs been keeping giants 15+ years, snakes in general 35 years. Had a male Retic 16' long who was out and about whilst his viv was being cleaned. Never shown any aggression before.

Just went for the guys foot. He was only wearing some flimsy Nike trainers and the Retic very nearly had his foot off. Several months of reconstructive surgery and his foot is as good as it'll get but still pretty mangled.

He broke the 2 person rule and it's unlikely it would have happened if a second person had been there IN THE ROOM.

@wish. No good your wife being somewhere in the house- they need to be there with you. A spotter spotter would have a) probably seen it coming and could have controlled the head, shouted a warning etc and b) had the bite still happen, react immediately.

Also you say your wife is not fond of snakes-are you confident she would react in the right way if she came in to find a very large snake properly attached to you. I know my wife would not so no giants for me.

A Retic, rock pyhton or anaconda has the potential to attack however calm you think it is and regardless of how long you've had it. Burms not so much but still wise to be cautious.

macandchz · 08-24-16, 11:47 AM

love pogie's advice-"don't drink and snake". like to get a t-shirt with that on it! love the big ones but even with the small ones-an animal is an animal. you never know what they are thinking. they can change moods in a minute. my dog is sweet as can be, but he has snapped at me and shown teeth occaisonally. why take the chance-use 2 people.

Wish · 08-24-16, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

Beautiful retic mate but I don't think it's a Sula

I purchased him from Chase Dallas. To be exact, I was told by Chase he was a Lavender phase Albino and was a Sulawesi. Please, would love to hear your thoughts if you say it's not a Sula. I don't have the eye or knowledge to actually tell.

Wish · 08-24-16, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

I have to agree with Dave, there are no pure Sula albinos.

Also agree that he looks great! retics are amazing

Thank you! Would love to hear back on your thoughts if you feel he's not a Sula. I went with what I was told, and do not have the knowledge to know myself.

Wish · 08-24-16, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

A story for you all. Was chatting to one of the guys today that runs the store I go to.

Regular customer of theirs been keeping giants 15+ years, snakes in general 35 years. Had a male Retic 16' long who was out and about whilst his viv was being cleaned. Never shown any aggression before.

Just went for the guys foot. He was only wearing some flimsy Nike trainers and the Retic very nearly had his foot off. Several months of reconstructive surgery and his foot is as good as it'll get but still pretty mangled.

He broke the 2 person rule and it's unlikely it would have happened if a second person had been there IN THE ROOM.

@wish. No good your wife being somewhere in the house- they need to be there with you. A spotter spotter would have a) probably seen it coming and could have controlled the head, shouted a warning etc and b) had the bite still happen, react immediately.

Also you say your wife is not fond of snakes-are you confident she would react in the right way if she came in to find a very large snake properly attached to you. I know my wife would not so no giants for me.

A Retic, rock pyhton or anaconda has the potential to attack however calm you think it is and regardless of how long you've had it. Burms not so much but still wise to be cautious.

I appreciate your story Danny. For the most part, my Wife is there. The furthest she is would be 10 to 15 feet away. She's just not literally on top of me and watching my every move. Would she react how I want in the case of an emergency, 100% yes sir! Unfortunately, the snake would probably not be so lucky. I joke with her all the time and say "just don't kill my snake" lol. Cause given the chance, she'd happily do so . I tell you this though, I'd never have my retic just out and about while I'm cleaning the tank. When I clean, he goes in a separate holding tub. I don't even start cleaning until he's been relocated and secure.

I'm not saying it can't happen. Anything has the potential to snap and do something unpredictable. Just as I can make a mistake and provoke the undesired behavior. It's a risk! I'll take your advise, and always be cautious.

dave himself · 08-24-16, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish

I purchased him from Chase Dallas. To be exact, I was told by Chase he was a Lavender phase Albino and was a Sulawesi. Please, would love to hear your thoughts if you say it's not a Sula. I don't have the eye or knowledge to actually tell.

Sulawesi retics are Wild-type/normal retics mate they get their name from an island some people also call them Makassar retics their ment to be one biggest locals along with the Sumatrans from what I've heard from people, and if hes Sulawesi I can't see how he can be albino

dave himself · 08-24-16, 02:40 PM

I lifed this image off locality retics these guys are specialist in local retics this is a Sulawesi

bigsnakegirl785 · 08-24-16, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSimonsSays

My hubby and I have an 11 foot or so beautiful Burmese morph sold as a "jigsaw". He is close to 40 lbs. We have him out of the cage in our bedroom for much of the day, and we are both in contact with him at least 4-6 hours every day. I'm pretty sure he thinks he is human. Definitely the 2 person rule, but only when he is on the floor in front of his cage--as that is where we always feed him (on a towel).
Ours is about 95% potty trained. He has only gone in his cage when left in there while we were on a vacation.
When he needs to go, he pushes the door to our bathroom area open and crawls into the spa tub. We fill it with water, and watch his tail. Once it starts to flatten out and go up, I grab the butt and hold it over a large cup (he doesn't like ANY urine or feces in his bath water, he'll jump outta fast as an 11ft snake can) then he just goes in the cup. Sometimes I help express out the pellets by massaging his underbelly. Then LOTS of positive reinforcement, of course. If he hasn't urinated for a week, we'll put him in the tub, and he knows what we expect of him. After one "accident" on our Tempurpedic, that is all we wanted.
I'm thinking that potty training might only be possible on bigger snakes that are VERY well socialized; regardless, we are very happy to have a OCD clean snake!

This sounds like a troll post...especially since this is the only post they've ever made. A snake allowed to be out of its enclosure as often as this one would be dead, and essentially free-roaming an 11' snake? Sounds fake and dangerous.